Itch, itch, itch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Ever have an itch that you couldn’t quite scratch? What am I saying…of course you have! What begins as a little tickle quickly escalates into an all-consuming search for relief. You’ll do whatever you can, use anything available, or ask whomever is around to help.
Itch, itch, itch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Your Spiritual Thumper Leg
What a wonderful sense of immediate relief when you finally can. A little to the left…up just a bit…right there…oh yeah! AHHHHHH! At this point, a smile spreads across your face and your eyes close. If you’re not careful, your leg will start thumping like your dog Bootsie does when you scratch him in the magic place.
There are lots of causes for itching. That irritation is actually a symptom of something else. Poison ivy. A bug bite. A rash. An allergy. Eczema. Did you know that can even be an indication of more serious problems like food allergies, kidney failure, or even lymphoma? Just another reason to stop making regular visits to WebMD and see your own doctor!
A Symptom of Something Deeper
While Paul’s not a doctor and never played one on TV, he warns Timothy that appears to be a simple itch is actually a symptom of a deeper spiritual disease. “For a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths” (v3-4).
The apostle delivers a scary prognosis for what appears to be only a slight tickle on the ear. It begins innocently enough. You scratch that itch by listening to what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. You suddenly find yourself searching the internet and downloading podcasts of preachers and teachers who pump your ties and make you feel good.
Itch, itch, itch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
It doesn’t matter that what you hear isn’t true and full of, shall we say, “alternative facts” (seems to be a lot of that going around these days). The next thing you know, you’re pulled off a sinful spin called the reverse repentance. It’s way more dangerous than anything you see in Olympic halfpipe snowboarding. Hard to believe it all started with an itty bitty itch. That’s because the itch is a symptom of a much deeper disease.
Itch, itch, itch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
The Last Letter
Before we go any further, let’s pump our brakes and take a quick look at why Paul is writing this letter in the first place. It’s somewhere between the years 64-67 AD. We find the apostle behind bars (2Tim 1:8, 16; 2:9). That’s nothing new. The message he brings upsets people so often that you might think he’s traveling the Mediterranean Rim reviewing local jails and prisons for VRBO or TripAdvisor (Acts 16:19-24; 22:23-29; 24:23, 27; 25:14, 21, 27; 26:31-32; 27-28; Eph 4:1; 6:20; Phil 1:17; Col 4:4, 10, 18; Phm 9-10, 13, 23).
But this is different. This time, he’s run out of time. He’s on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). Historians believe he’s walking the Green Mile in the Mamertine Prison, Caesar’s SuperMax. With time quickly running out, the apostle writes one last letter with two purposes. One, pass the baton of the Gospel to the young pastor at the Ephesian megachurch (2Tim 2:1-4:5). Two, beg Tim for one last visit before it’s too late (2Tim 4:9, 21).
Don’t Get Blindsided
As he wraps up his instructions about ministry, Paul gives Timothy a very important heads up about what he can expect. “For a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching” (v3). The mentor doesn’t want his protege to get caught off guard. Don’t let it blindside you. It’s going to happen. Don’t let it throw you off your game when it does.
Wearing Steel-Toed Boots to Church
Two thousand years later, the story is still the same in the local church. There’s going to be times when a percentage of people will have little patience for tough but necessary teaching. Oh, we love it when sermons go after the sins of others. Oh, I wish so-and-so could hear this! I need to send them a link ASAP!!
But then there are those days when I wish I’d worn steel-toed boots because the pastor is suddenly stomping all over my toes. The message has gone from preaching to meddling. As the old saying goes, church is there to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. When things get uncomfortable, will I hang in there and let God’s Spirit do His work in my heart? Or will I bail? Will I submit to God’s work in my life? Or will I hightail it for the nearest exit?
When the Going Gets Tough
The word “endure” is the Greek verb ανεχω/anecho. It means to exercise self-restraint, tolerate, or hold up under adversity. It means to stand tall no matter what. Paul uses this term when he encourages us follow Jesus “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with (Gr. ανεχω/anecho) one another in love” (Eph 4:2). We’re to hang in there in love because our Savior hung on the cross out of love.
Too many times we don’t tolerate the tough truth of God’s Word. Too many times when the going gets tough, we get going…right out the door! We tune out. We check out. We shut down. That’s when we minimize the Bible app on our phone and open Facebook. Instead of the messy business of conviction of sin, let’s see how many likes I got on that snarky comment I posted about the election!
A High Protein Diet
Paul wants us to know it’s not bad teaching that folks are tuning out. It’s actually “sound teaching” (v3). The apostle uses a word here he may have picked up from his old friend Dr. Luke. “Sound” (Gr. ‘υγιαινω/hugiaino) is a medical term that means healthy or the state of wellness.
Luke actually uses it that way twice in his biography of Jesus. When the religious police freak out when Christ hangs out with the spiritual riff raft, our Savior says, “Those who are well (Gr. ‘υγιαινω/hugiaino) have no need of a physician, but those who are who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:31-32). Later when Jesus heals Roman military officer’s servant without even making a house call, folks back at the house “found the servant well (Gr. ‘υγιαινω/hugiaino)” (Lk 7:10).
So “sound teaching” (v3) is actually healthy doctrine. It’s not spiritual junk food that does us more harm than good. It’s good for you. It builds you up. It gives you the fuel you need for spiritual growth. Think of the high protein diet a high performance athlete needs. A big part of getting ourselves in top physical shape, is eating healthy. It’s the same in our walk with Jesus. A healthy diet is loaded with the protein of “sound teaching” (v3).
Scratching the Itch
When we regularly consume the spiritual superfood of the Gospel, it prevents us from “having itching ears” (v3). Paul uses an interesting little word we translate as “itching” (Gr. κνηθω/knetho) which describes to scratch, tickle, or even titillate. This is the desire something for something pleasant.
You know how you scratch your dog in that one spot that gets his thumper leg going? Oh yeah, right there! That’s the ticket! It’s the very same with us. We want our ears tickled. We want our itch scratched. We want to hear what we want to hear. Stop trying to give me what I need. Too many times we’re only interested in what feels good.
Itch, itch, itch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Collecting in the Medicine Cabinet
We see that when folks start scratching that spiritual itch “they will accumulate for themselves teachers for their own passions” (v3). In other words, people begin kicking their own pastor to the curb for preaching truth. Then they replace him with a handpicked assortment of teachers who tell them exactly what they want to hear.
They surround themselves with voices who don’t bruise their egos. And it usually takes a small army. The apostle drops the word “accumulate” (Gr. επισωρευω/episoreuo), which can mean to persist in or insist on something. But it literally paints a picture of gathering in big piles. Think of a hoarder. They’ll completely surrounded themselves with teaching that will never challenge their sin or question their behavior.
The best comparison I can think of is that place where we store over-the-counter medicines that don’t really work. That medicine cabinet, closet, or drawer where OTCs go to die. We’ve got that nagging itch that just won’t go away. We bring home another new ointment, cream, spray, or pill every time we go to the drug store. We accumulate them. They pile up.
My latest purchase might provide a little relief from the itch but the truth is they don’t really work effectively. Why? Because they only treat the symptom and not the deeper problem. The same with my itching ears. I have a bigger issue that must be addressed. Until then, I’ll keep surrounding my self with all sorts of teaching that simply skims the surface and never does serious spiritual surgery.
Virtual Preaching Leads to Virtual Obedience
The New Living Translation says how folks will “look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear” (v3 NLT). Let’s face it, with the internet and countless podcasts available to us, we do this now more than ever. We may listen to the teaching from our own pastors on the weekend. But too many of us are more devoted to what someone like Chuck Swindoll, Matt Chandler, or Andy Stanley has to say. Hey, I’m just as guilty as the next person here.
There are a couple of dangers when we do. First of all, we have a habit of looking for itch scratchers and ear ticklers who tell us only what we want to hear. We want a “feel good” gospel that provides pleasure without any pain. Grace without any of that nasty talk of sin. God’s love without any mention of God’s wrath. John MacArthur says it’s wanting blessing without forgiveness or salvation without repentance.
The other danger is more subtle. When we gather our dream team of digital pastors, we slowly start shifting our submission their way. There’s an almost imperceptible transfer of authority to those teaching on smart phones and tablets from preachers who lead our local congregations. Before we know it, our own pastor supplements what we hear online, not the other way around.
When this happens, who will ever know if you’re applying the teaching? There’s very little opportunity for accountability. Virtual preaching leads to virtual obedience.
You Can’t Handle the Truth!
Scratching those itching ears eventually results a radical move that will leave your head swimming. We’ll “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (v4). Call it reverse repentance. Instead of spinning from our own sin and toward Jesus, it’s just the opposite. We do a 180 away from God’s truth and find ourselves falling for something phony. From Good News to fake news. From spiritual truth to alternative facts.
According to Paul, some folks have little stomach for what they need to hear. Remember that famous line from “A Few Good Men”? You know the one. Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup yells, “You can’t handle the truth!!!” Same for some of us in the local church.
Tearing an ACL
When God’s truth starts hitting a little too close to home, we must be careful not to tuck our tail between our legs and head the other way. When we do, we’ll find ourselves sliding down a slippery slope and “wander into myths” (v4).
It’s interesting to note that the Greek word the ESV translates as “wander” (Gr. εκτρεπω/ektrepo) means a whole lot more than a mindless stroll down the greenway. It’s actually another medical term that describe an injury to the ligaments of a joint, a dislocation or a joint pulled from the socket. Think season ending ACL tear.
The writer of Hebrews uses it when talking about having a healthy walk with Jesus. “Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint (Gr. εκτρεπω/ektrepo) but rather be healed” (Heb 12:13). Picture a radical and painful twist. Your arm or leg suddenly heads in the wrong direction.
Swerving toward Pleasure
Instead holding the course when biblical teaching gets uncomfortable, our tires screech and we run toward fun and pleasure. The irony is that God wants us to experience the ultimate joy and the only way to get there is through our submission and obedience to His guidance.
Don’t turn away. Don’t wander. Avoid reverse repentance. The best way to do that is to not scratch that itch in the first place. Let’s realize this is the symptom of a deeper problem. Chances are there’s an area of my life that I haven’t fully submitted to Jesus. When people do, “they’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages” (v3-4 The Message).
Take It from Jeremiah
To stop the itch means curing the problem behind it. Stop filling your medicine cabinet with salves and ointments. Take Jeremiah’s recommendation and try the Balm of Gilead (Jer 8:22; 46:11). It doesn’t come in a tube or a tub. You can’t buy it at Walgreens or Walmart. It’s the true healing that only comes from Christ.
Following Jesus’ lead and obeying God’s commands will be hard at times. But remember two things. First, it is the source of true blessing and joy of the overflowing life that our Savior came to bring us (Jn 10:10). Second, Christ gives each one of us His Spirit to live in us to give us the power to do everything He asks.
This doesn’t mean the itching will stop forever. But we’ll have the supernatural strength to keep from scratching.
Itch. Itch. Itch.
Stop.
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