The Pastor's Charge and the Church's Calling
salvation is found in Christ alone, not in ourselves. Because of this, the natural man does not endure it. The fallen human heart has "itching ears."
The image is vivid. Itching ears are ears that crave something other than the truth. They want to be scratched with messages that affirm sin, that promise health and wealth, that place man at the center, that remove the offense of the cross. When people will not endure sound doctrine, they do not cease to be religious. Instead, "they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." The Greek word for "accumulate" means to heap up, to pile in large numbers. It is a picture of a consumerdriven spirituality. People shop for voices that will justify their desires rather than submit their desires to the authority of God's word. The result is a wholesale exchange: they "turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Myths are plausible-sounding stories that have no basis in reality. They are spiritually fatal because they give false comfort. A house built on a myth will collapse in the storm.
The Pastor's Charge and the Church's Calling In light of this coming rejection of sound doctrine, Paul does not tell
Timothy to innovate, to adapt the message, or to find a less offensive way to communicate. His command is the opposite: "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete