Monday, November 16, 2015

Oh Those Itching Ears!



"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Tim 4:3)

I can say with absolute certainty that we are now in that time. Many who are reading this post find themselves in the company described in the above scripture, and they don't even know it. It has been my experience, especially in online discussions, that sound doctrine is a rare commodity these days.

Why do we find ourselves at such a place? Well, mainly because the Scriptures say it will happen. Another reason is because way too many preachers and other church leaders (and I use that term loosely) are for too interested in keeping butts in the seats and not offending anyone (all in the name of "love") than they are in preaching the truth and building the kingdom of God.

Not too long ago I was in one such church and picked up one of their brochures. On the brochure was their stated goal of providing a "casual and hassle-free atmosphere" for people to "experience" God. So, "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15) has become "casual and hassle-free", and "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matt. 28:19) has become, "let them 'experience' God"?

So how does one know if they're one who wants their itching ears scratched (or are the ones doing the scratching)? If you're about to jump into the comments section to refute or argue with what I just said, there's your answer.

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