"For the 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 off into myths." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Paul urges Timothy to be faithful and diligent in rightly proclaiming the Word of God and then he explains why it’s so important and urgent: "Because the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching...”
That time is certainly upon us now. In our day, anyone who stands up for what is true is rejected, ostracized, canceled, shouted down, and fired from their job; not just in the areas of theology and morals but even in biology, physical science, and mathematics. “Experts” are now claiming that teaching students that there is one right answer to a math problem and that other answers are wrong is “evidence of systemic racism.”
We are told that loving other people means never criticizing them or telling them that they’re wrong or doing anything else that might make them feel bad. If you point out that reality disagrees with someone’s idea, you are labeled a “hater.”
People are now saying (with a straight face) that there is no absolute truth. People talk about “my truth” and “your truth” as though we were living in parallel universes with different laws of physics, different moral codes, and different gods, all of which are perfectly true and valid at the same time.
People listen to experts who tell them whatever they want to hear if it allows them to hold on to their sin and feel good about themselves. This is what the Bible means by “accumulating teachers to suit their own passions.”
How do we respond to a world that has become detached from reality?
First of all, we respond with prayer, because this is above all a spiritual problem. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Only the Holy Spirit can free them from this blindness.
Second, we respond by doing what Paul was telling Timothy in the verse just before this one: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2). The Holy Spirit will use His Word to free people from this spiritual deception..
We just have to be sure that as we preach, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, we do it “with all patience and teaching,” not with self-righteous crabbiness! Lord Jesus, people I love are being blinded and deceived by the spirit of these times. Oh Lord, have mercy on us. Holy Spirit, open their blind eyes. Show me how to speak the truth into their hearts in love. Deliver these precious souls from the kingdom of darkness. Bring them into the marvelous light of knowing You. Amen.
Pastor Dan Giles