The Church People Want vs The Church People Need

2 Timothy 4:3-5

Immanuel – 8/9/26

Leading his church in communion, holding the bread aloft, a pastor said, “Believing this is the last season, the last month you will be broke in your life, won’t you take and eat the body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Then a woman led the congregation in drinking the cup. She said, “A centurion soldier took a spear and pierced Jesus in the side, that same side where you carry your pocketbook, that same side where you carry your purse, where some of us carry our money. Jesus was pierced in that same side, which means I don’t have to pinch pennies. We drink together remembering Jesus was pierced in the side so I don’t have to be pinched anymore.” (From New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, GA)

          Absolutely stunning. I can hardly believe something like that is being taught. This is shamelessly overt prosperity gospel, and it is blasphemous! Yet this church boasts multiple thousands of weekly attendees.

          No! Jesus was not pierced for our pocketbooks! He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; and upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. With his wounds our condemned and broken souls are healed; for on him the Lord has laid our iniquities! (Isaiah 53:5-6)

          But so many people want a Jesus of their own making, one to suit their own desires, who scratches their itching ears. So far in 2 Timothy, we have heard Paul say much against false teachers. Today he speaks strongly against those who give their ears to false teachers, seeking teachers who tickle their passions.

          Main Point

We don’t need a church that tells us what we want to hear, but one that faithfully tells us what God has said.

          Before we get into our passage, remember chapter 3. There, Paul warned Timothy of imminent difficulties. Counterfeit Christians will be lovers of self rather than lovers of God; impostors will deceive and be deceived. Now, in chapter 4, Paul returns to that danger—but this time he focuses not on the false teachers, but on the people who want them.

Read vs 3

People will not endure sound teaching.

“I don’t need theology; I just need Jesus.” “Doctrine divides; love unites.” “We just need to follow Jesus.” “God cares about your heart, and not whether your theology is correct.”

On the surface, these expressions seem right – even good. But that’s how a counterfeit worms its way into hearts. Statements like these can sweep away innumerable teachings in the Bible. When you hear them, recognize the danger beneath. They create a Christianity in which sound doctrine can be dismissed whenever it becomes uncomfortable. And Paul says there will come a time when people will no longer endure sound teaching.

Again and again in his letters, Paul beats the drum of sound doctrine, which Timothy must know and teach. For healthy doctrine produces healthy Christians.

But people do not endure sound teaching because it confronts us. Sound teaching reveals your pride, and commands you to be humble. It exposes your sexual immorality and shouts, “Flee!” It shows your greed and says, “You cannot serve God and money.” It tells the self-righteous, “Your righteousness cannot save you.” And to the independent and self-sufficient it speaks, “You are not your own.” God’s Word confronts you, sinner, and commands you to repent. For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

But that kind of hearing is hard, and many people refuse to believe they are not good people. So they choose not to endure sound teaching. But having itching ears they accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. Or, as some translations render it, they want to have their ears tickled.

People have an itch they wanted scratched, a desire they want tickled, and one dubious teacher is not enough for the job. So they heap up a surplus of them. They create their own buffet of false teachers and counterfeits, gorging on deceptions as they pick and choose their self-gratifying beliefs. Indeed, as Paul said earlier, they are lovers of self rather than lovers of God.

And that’s the point: itching ears are the symptom of a heart diseased with selfish desires.

In our day, the options for a buffet of counterfeits are endless: Teachers peddling views on sexual behavior, radical reinterpretations of the Bible, sensational religious experiences, special anointings, faith leading to wealth, hair-raising tales of the end times, and all kinds of other titillating claims.

And even if you can quote from the 1689 London Baptist Confession, you can still develop an itch in yours ears. You can accumulate teachers who confirm your theology, your politics, your parenting, your grievances, your view of the culture – teachers who expose everyone else’s idols while leaving yours untouched. Oh, the blessing and curse of YouTube!

Just a little scratch on the ear, a light tickle, nothing too challenging. “Make me feel good. Stir my emotions. Tell me what I want to hear.” And the masses eat it up. The more that come to get their ears tickled, the more the wealth of the counterfeit teachers grows.

Peter wrote about this too. There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies…And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.                                                               -2 Peter 2:2-3

Passions fueling passions. Self-gratification and exploitation. Counterfeits turning the Scriptures blasphemous.

Read vs 4

Notice the progression: first, sound doctrine is too demanding, too searching, too deep. They become weary of hearing the truth. They refuse to endure it.

Next, they accumulate teachers who affirm their self-gratifying passions. Instead of submitting to God’s Word, they seek messages that are easy, entertaining, inspirational, fascinating. They want stimulation rather than transformation.

Then, they turn away from listening to the truth altogether. Oh, what a terrible state! For as Paul says,

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  

-Romans 10:17

Turn away from the truth and you are not merely rejecting doctrine—you are rejecting the Christ whom that doctrine proclaims. How many times did Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear.” But to their own eternal peril, these will not hear.

 Finally, they wander off into myths. Myths are fantasies. Myths are falsehoods mixed with enough truth to sound convincing. Myths are counterfeits.

In Paul’s day, myths related to genealogies and obscure Jewish teachings. In our day myths can be wild conspiracies, trips to heaven or hell, miracles that no one sees, unverifiable discoveries proving someone’s pet theory, new revelations. How many have wandered off into these myths? There are people I could name today who have left our church for these very things. Some in your families too.

To wander is to leave the path. They deliberately turn away from the truth, but they do not control where the wandering takes them. They are like those Paul mentions in Ephesians 4:14 – tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Listen: for us, the point isn’t just so we can explain why people leave good churches. This is also a warning for you who are listening: Who have you given your ears to? What kind of listening are you doing?

The culture – even Christian culture – is pushing counterfeits. People are lining up to the buffet. Passions feeding passions. Self-gratification and exploitation. This is the church countless people want.

But it’s not what they need.

Read vs 5

The contrast couldn’t be more stark. The spiritually promiscuous are seeking whatever leader will tickle their ears. Timothy is not to be one of those teachers! He is to be sober minded, willing to sacrifice for Christ and his church, working to spread the gospel, with unwavering focus on the ministry. It was true for Timothy then, it is true for elders and pastors today.

Always be sober-minded; or, keep your head in all situations. While others are intoxicated by passions and carried away by myths, Timothy must keep his head. He must not get swept up in every excitement, controversy, fear, or fascination. He must remain clear-eyed and steady, governed by the truth.

Endure suffering. There’s an irony here, because while people in the church turn away from what is hard, the pastor is to embrace it. While they run from what costs them, Timothy is to be faithful especially when it costs.

And this is a bell Paul has repeatedly rung in 2 Timothy.

Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord…but share in suffering for the sake of the gospel by the power of God.                                       -2 Timothy 1:8

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.     -2 Timothy 2:3

All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

                                                                             -2 Timothy 3:12

Trials will come. People will turn against him. Reputation, relationships, livelihood, and even life may come under threat. Do not let your faith falter, nor your love be quenched, but endure suffering. As Jesus said in Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Do the work of an evangelist. If faith comes by hearing, then Timothy is to keep proclaiming! This happens within the church and where people have never heard, around the corner and around the world. Pastors and elders must work to advance the gospel.

(Parenthesis)

As an aside: there are people whom God has given a special gift of evangelism. But because there are gifted evangelists, that does not exempt you from evangelizing. If you are a new creation in Christ, then you are also an ambassador of Jesus Christ. It is your identity. And Jesus has commissioned you to make disciples of all nations. It is your identity and your command. You are to do the work of an evangelist also!

If you have ever said to yourself, “Evangelism really isn’t my gifting,” I implore you: Do not let that tickle in your ear mute what the Scriptures say!

(Close Parenthesis)

Now, if every Christian is to bear witness about Christ, how much more so those who lead the church?! As it was for Timothy, so it is for me and the elders of Immanuel.

Fulfill your ministry. Do not lose focus. Leave nothing undone. Maintain standards of high fidelity to Christ – as Paul has taught in this letter. Fulfill your ministry.

Next week we will hear Paul’s famous words, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Paul is passing the baton to Timothy and Timothy is to race with the finish in sight.  “Don’t change the message when people stop wanting it. Don’t abandon the work when suffering comes. Don’t get distracted by myths, controversies, and novelties. Persevere, persist, complete the ministry Christ entrusted to you.

What kind of church do people need? One where pastors keep their heads, endure suffering, proclaim the gospel, and fulfill their ministry. The beating heart of that ministry, as Paul told us in verse 2, is to “Preach the word.”

Elders of Immanuel, and those that may one day be elders: the pulpit is no place for your ideas, nor the latest fascination. You must not cater to whatever is popular in culture. And your teaching must not be shaped by the desires of the congregation. Preach what God has spoken. Preach the Word!

Church, I and the elders owe you something better than what makes you comfortable and happy. We owe you our prayers, and we owe you God’s word faithfully taught.

While preparing for this sermon, I thought about naming churches in the Mohawk Valley that are all about scratching itches. There are many. Instead, I though it better to commend faithful men who do not and will not scratch ears.

Andrew Avella, Geoff Christian, Dave Fuller, Erik Gallagher, Eric Moore, Dave Nauss, and Josiah Stevens. Bring your questions to them, and their answers will be filled with Scripture. Bring your needs to them, and they will pray for you. They are – each one – sober minded, sacrificing for Christ and his church, and spreading the gospel. I am grateful for their commitment to fulfill the ministry God has given them.

Church, you owe us, the shepherds, something too: don’t ask us to scratch your ears. Don’t resent us when Scripture confronts your sins. Don’t demand we affirm your opinions, your politics, your grievances, or your desires. Demand only this: “Tell us what God has spoken!”

And what has God spoken? It is certainly not that Jesus was pierced to prosper your pocketbook. He was pierced because you desperately needed something money could never buy. You needed your sins forgiven. You needed peace with God. You needed a righteousness not your own. You needed life from the dead. Turn not from his Word, but turn from your sins! Repent and believe the gospel! May thousands upon thousands more hear and believe!

And this is why we must never trade the truth for what itching ears want to hear. Pastors must refuse to scratch the itch. Churches must demand the Word. Because we do not need a church that tells us what we want to hear, but one that faithfully tells us what God has said.