The Needle In the Haystack - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

   For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

    What could be harder to find than a needle in a haystack? A church which follows sound theological doctrine. Don’t believe it? Just walk into a local church on any given Sunday morning with a pad and a pen. Now note every time you hear the minister say any of these words: hell, judgment, wrath, sin, punishment - you get the picture. But I think the ink in your pen will dry up before you ever get to use it.
    Far too many ministers today want to “tickle” their congregation’s ears. “Don’t want to upset them because, after all, their tithings put me in that new Lexus!” The false teachers will always be with us but the deeper problem, I believe, lies in the hearts of the congregation.
    In the subject verse, Paul is referring to the people, not the false teachers; “they” are the people. And these people are intent on finding a ministry where their erroneous understanding of Christianity is pandered to by an unscrupulous preacher. None of these “Christians” could sit for more than a minute in the churches of Jonathan Edwards or Charles Spurgeon. These people want to feel good about themselves when they walk out of church; they don’t want to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
    Where do people first encounter this worldly doctrine of high self-esteem? The media, the government, the educational system, the popular culture. It surrounds us from the cradle to the coffin; it is everywhere! Is it any wonder that these people are bringing their preconceived notions of self-worth and their positive affirmations into the house of God? Christ, Himself, said as much. “When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” - Matthew 9:12-13.
    When you inject a pandering minister into this already poisoned atmosphere you wind up with a false teacher preaching falsehoods to an erroneously self-absorbed congregation who spend less time considering the precious blood of Jesus Christ and their eternal salvation than they did deciding what to wear to church today!
    The state of many churches in the world today appears to be a pretty bleak picture when viewed from this perspective. But, it is what it is. All joy is not legitimate joy. All praise is not worthy of God, no matter how loud or flamboyant it is. If this sounds eerily familiar to you perhaps it is time to reassess whether or not your minister or pastor abides by the instructions of Paul to the teachers - “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:2.