Itchy Ears
Sermon Review
21 January 2001
2Timothy 4:1-8There is an old phrase, ‘playing to the gallery’. An old theatrical term coined when actors would modify their presentation to suit the particular audiences in open tiered galleries. It means to deftly stay on the right side of the crowd by dramatically making a show of mutual agreement, or assuming appropriate attitudes, and generally reinforcing what people already believe or hope for.
Playing to the galleries is often done for popularity, money, or more ominously, to control, manipulate, and to achieve one’s own hidden agenda. When this happens, who is the bigger fool? The one playing to the crowd, or the crowd wanting to be played up to? I suggest that the crowd are the bigger fool for the one playing up to them is generally quite well aware of it, while the crowd is keen to believe what they hear and so deceive themselves into accepting the specific spin on what is being sold to them.
Paul indicates that this problem of wanting to be played up to is very old, and one that the church is not going to be exempt from. He called it ‘itchy-earedness’. It is a desire to not hear unpleasant truths, or be discomforted by doctrines and teaching which challenge and confront, or to have cherished and comfortable opinions or views contested. It is a desire to want only pleasant and comforting and positive things said or required of them
At the beginning of a new year it is always good to evaluate how ‘itchy-eared’ we are, for it is a dangerous condition to be in. The truth is that we all need correction at times, we all need to adjust our lives to suit God at times, for the welfare of ourselves, and for the benefit of the spread of the gospel and work of the Kingdom Christians are called to do. Correction is as important as encouragement.
Identifying Itchy-Earedness
Now I suppose that most of us here would say that we don’t suffer from ‘Itchy-Earedness’, but is this true? Itchy-Earedness has all sorts of close cousins eg. selective hearing, the seeking out of people who will not criticise or condemn our attitudes or actions; deliberate rationalising that evades accountability before God or people; the contriving of justifications for our own behaviour or the construction of reasons we should be the exception to the rule etc.
The truth is that ‘Itchy-Earedness’ plays a part in all our lives. I assume that most of us are able to listen to unpalatable truths and uncomfortable challenges which call us to adjust our lives to suit God, but when it comes to actually adjusting our thinking and behaviour in appropriate ways, we tend to balk. Now this is a problem. ‘Itchy-Earedness’ is a most powerful, penetrating and destructive device that allows a person to listen to uncomfortable truths about one’s self, yet remain unwilling to make any appropriate changes. To listen is one thing; to do something about what is being said is another.
Jesus said that it is he who hears and obeys who is the wise person who builds his house upon the rock, not the one who simply hears. God’s advice to Joshua was to meditate on the law day and night so that he would do everything in it, not simply so he would know all about it! Jer.1:8. Prov.15:5 ‘A fool spurns his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.’ As Ecc.5:5 says, ‘It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke, than to listen to the song of fools’
Last Year’s Challenges.
Last year we focused on the need to build community, to help build closer and more caring ties with each other – to learn to be emotionally connected to God and each other so as to be able to laugh with those that laugh, to weep with those that weep etc. We received the challenge of prayer, to appreciate the necessity for it, and to actually do more of it corporately. We confronted the need to be more authentic in our relationships with ourselves, others, and God. In serialised form we were challenged about spiritual realities and spiritual warfare both within and without, and many other things.
Now I am sure that God brought challenges to everyone at some point in our journey together last year, not only publicly, but also privately through your Bible readings, circumstances, and even life’s obstacles. So the tests of ‘itchy-earedness’ are what have you done, or are currently doing, to adjust your life to each of those challenges, or any of those challenges? There are two good reasons for doing this evaluation:
- God’s work is progressive, and He builds on what goes before. The settlement of Canaan was not a spontaneous event that had no preceding preparatory steps, neither was the Exodus, nor the coming of Christ, nor the beginning and the expansion of the early church. God works towards goals by series of intermediate steps on both the macro and micro levels. So if we want to continue journeying into God’s future for us as a church and as individuals, we need to seriously respond by adjusting our lives at each stage of the journey. Missing these changes is like trying to climb a ladder with missing rungs – a rather precarious and awkward practice. In fact, too many rungs missing and it is impossible. To change the metaphor, remember that platforms with important supports missing make poor foundations for building on.
- Most Challenges Require Ongoing Application. The time of the Judges are a prime example. The fledgling nation of Israel were continually exhorted to follow and obey God and the law, yet they kept forgetting and slipping into idolatry and social oppression till God allowed their enemies to harass them so much that they would repent and again seek Him. Then He would send a deliverer, and the nation would once again begin to obey Him, till they started the same cycle over again. Many of the challenges God brings to us require more than a one-off response, but rather ongoing application. Think of prayer. A one-off binge of personal or corporate praying is not what God is looking for. Rather it is an ongoing appreciation and practice of praying – as Paul says, ‘pray without ceasing’. Community does not occur by a small one-off attempt at building bridges to others, rather a long term practice of determined, prayerful caring and personal growth. Being real and authentic does not occur overnight, but requires long term continuing efforts at being honest about oneself to oneself, God and others.
For these two very good reasons, we need to be asking ourselves what we have done, are doing, or intend to do to make sure God’s challenges have their desired effect. Poor carry through is another relative of ‘itchy-earedness’, and almost as bad in the long term as not trying to respond to God’s challenges at all.
Dealing with Itchy-Earedness
Paul’s advice for dealing with ‘itchy-earedness’ was to direct Timothy to perseveringly preach the word, whether convenient or not, to patiently correct, rebuke and encourage, and discharge the responsibilities of his calling. This is good advice. Scripture has both pleasant and unpleasant parts – they are given to not only encourage, but also to rebuke and correct. 2 Timothy 3:16. Jeremiah 23:29 Says God’s word is like a hammer and a fire. Paul said that it is the ‘sword of the Spirit’ Ephesians 6:17. The writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews 4:12) called it a double-edged sword which God uses to penetrate deeply into the heart and mind of a person. The person who sees himself in a mirror but walks away and does nothing about what he sees, is foolish, as far as James was concerned James 1:22-25.
What we see here though is more than advice to Timothy to preach the whole truth. What we see is that Paul believed the best antidote to ‘itchy-earedness’ was to speak the truth, and obviously, for those listening to be open to receiving the truth about themselves, their lives, and Gods call on their lives, and doing something about it. Simply listening to the truth would have been quite lopsided in Paul’s view – hearing and responding was the balance that he sought – and the one that God continues to seek.
Conclusion:
It is a new year. No doubt God has new things to teach us, new experiences, probably new tasks and perhaps new directions. However, these will not be strange and unrelated to what has gone before, but will build on last year’s experience. Therefore we need to pause at the threshold of this year, and consider the Paul’s warning about avoiding sound doctrine and listening only to that which suits our own desires. The condemnatory statement at the end of Judges says it all, ‘In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.’ 21:25.
When Jesus is not Lord, people do as they see fit. This is a dangerous trap to fall into. In order to avoid this, it may mean going back to some things which you have not dealt with, or not dealt with properly; to challenges you have managed to ignore, truths about your life that you have not wanted to face? It definitely means recalling the challenges of the past year and checking that you have been continuing to appropriately adjust your life over the long term, and not run out of puff. And it most certainly means remembering what the challenges of last year were so that we can continue on to the next stage of God’s journey for us.
No recollection means poor preparedness for God’s next work among us, in us, and through us. If we want to ‘fight the good fight and finish this year’s race on the winners podium, we need to make sure that we have appropriately dealt with, or are appropriately dealing with last years challenges now. Ask yourself these questions:
What do I need to do to make sure that God can continue to build effectively in my life this year?
What do we need to do to make sure that God can continue to build effectively in the church this year?
Blessings