Scripture
2Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 2 Timothy 4:2-4
Observation
Notice Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to “preach your words, your opinions, your stories, your hot takes on that current event.” Paul solemnly charges him, with the same language as a man before a judge in court is charged to speak the truth, to preach the word of God. It turns out that our 21st Century culture isn’t so different from the 1st Century culture. They equated scripture with so many other myths, stories, ideas and opinions from that time. So, if the “story” of Jesus telling us how we should spend our money, who we should sleep with, or how we should worship get’s in the way of our lifestyle we just move on to a speaker who tells us what we want to hear. The “itching ears” of Paul’s day have grown even more so in our day. The insatiable hunger for variety, entertainment, and most importantly agreement with our pre-conceived and personally-shaped truths grows more every day. Biblical scholar David Guzik puts it this way, “Once people leave the Word of God they often then embrace fantastic fantasies. When a man rejects God’s truth, it isn’t that he believes in nothing; he will believe in anything.”
Application
As a culture we have left behind the word of God and chosen as replacement the ideas of man. As John Mark Comer points out in his book “Live No Lies”, “Ideology is a form of idolatry. It’s a secular attempt to find a metaphysical meaning to life, a way to usher in utopia without God… to take a part of the truth and make it the whole. In doing so, you imprison your own mind and heart in lies that drive you to anger and anxiety. It promises freedom but produces the opposite. It does not expand and liberate the soul but shrinks and enslaves it.” There’s a lot of anger and anxiety right now in reaction to the overturning of Roe V. Wade. Though God’s Word clearly calls us to fight for the innocent and to be a culture of life, this truth was left behind in the 1960’s in favor of chasing the fable of the “sexual revolution.” If we stop for a moment and step away from the rhetoric we can see the fruit of chasing this fable. Comer does the research:
Happiness levels have been in decline in the US since the 60’s
Divorce, while cited as an example of liberation from the patriarchy, has been shown to disproportionately benefit men.
Those who cohabitate before marriage are less likely to marry, are more likely to get a divorce if they day, and often develop long-term trust issues.
25 percent of children spend a portion of their childhood without a father in the home. Overwhelming evidence indicates that this experience is damaging to both boys and girls.
The much-documented but little-talked- about data not he effects of abortion on women’s mental and physical health.
The stats on the epidemic of sexual addiction across the West.
Porn is becoming increasingly violent, misogynistic, and cruel and is now a multi-billion dollar industry, intentionally targeting children.
Sexual assault and abuse is increasing with one out of every four women experiencing sexual violence at some point tin their lives.
When we stop chasing Jesus and his truth, we start chasing fables we fall for the oldest lie, and the first lie that tripped up the first man and woman of creation, “God is holding out on you. He doesn’t really love. His word can’t be trusted. Take what you want and you will be like God.” It worked with Adam and Eve and it still works to this day!
Prayer
Jesus, forgive me for the times when I have held back from preaching the whole truth because I knew it would be offensive to many and would cause people to get mad and leave the church. This isn’t about my popularity or opinion, it’s about the true North of Your Word. It’s only your word that will equip us “for every good work.” In a world running out of breath to be heard what we really need to Your God-breathed word! Give me the wisdom, compassion, and clarity on how to preach Your Word without compromise even when many don’t want to hear it. Let me hear the hearts of those who have been deceived and not just talk at them. Break my heart for the things that break yours.
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