Jump Start # 2203

2 Timothy 4:3 “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.”

Up here in Indiana, fall has finally begun. The air is cool and in one day we’ve gone from air conditioners to furnaces. This happens every year. We expect it and we are ready for it. We’ll soon be getting out sweaters, jackets and before long, winter coats. Change is in the air. Paul’s words in our verse today speaks of another coming change. It wasn’t the weather, but it certainly was the temperature. The temperature of a congregation was changing. “The time will come,” speaks of a shift in thinking and a change in the temperature. What was changing was the heart, faith and dedication of a congregation. They were no longer putting up with sound doctrine. They had enough. They were making changes and they were going to find someone who would preach what they wanted to hear.

Several things drop out of these thoughts.

First, there was a time when they did endure sound doctrine. The expression, “The time will come,” indicates a change. It’s not that they never believed this. Nor, were they this way all along. No, there was a time when all was well. Timothy is at Ephesus when Paul writes these words. Read Ephesians. Read what is said about them in Revelation two. There was a time when they seemed to be clicking on all cylinders.

Second, something changed. We are not told how or what. But they no longer tolerated sound doctrine. Was there a discipline problem among them? A moral issue within one of the families? Not only would they not tolerate sound doctrine, but they would not tolerate those that taught sound doctrine, and in this specific setting, that meant Timothy. The days were coming when Timothy would be on the outs. He would be replaced. He would no longer be wanted, accepted or used.

Third, that change in the heart of the congregation is what is so important to catch and identify. The change from enduring to no longer enduring doesn’t happen in one sermon. Things brew for a while. People put up with things they don’t like for a while. Change is hard. Changing preachers is hard. But there comes a breaking point, and then the flood waters flow and immediately it becomes evident that they were holding all of this in for a long time. Now that it gets out and in the open, there is no holding it back. Private feelings become proclaimed publicly. Others jump on the bandwagon. Those that could go either way, go the way of the majority. And before Timothy’s eyes, is a different congregation. They don’t want commitment, faithfulness and devotion to Christ. Too much doctrine. Too much expectations. They want a softer, kinder religion that doesn’t offend any and is easy to follow.

It’s essential that elders and preachers recognize the change before it gets to the point of no return. Listen to what people are saying. Pay attention to what folks are reading. Notice what they are liking on Facebook. Timothy didn’t have any of these things. He didn’t have religious bookstores that sold every flavor of idea. He didn’t have social media as we do. It is too easy to assume that everyone is following along just fine. Changes were coming for Timothy. Paul was warning him. Paul had warned the elders of this same congregation. Changes were coming from among them. That’s where most of this started. They changed and the congregation followed the changes.

Fourth, it is also interesting that the changed congregation did not quit completely. One would think that if they were finished with sound doctrine that they would walk away from the Lord, the Gospel and just go back to the world. But they weren’t doing that. They remained as a congregation. They simply wanted things their way. They were interested in a different choice, another brand. Something less of doctrine and more pleasing to the ear.

What tickles our ears? Hearing our names in a positive way. Hearing that we are amazing. Hearing that we are doing a great job. Laughter tickles our ears. Funny stories tickles our ears. Cute stories that warm the heart tickles our ears. Hearing that everyone lives happily ever after tickles our ears. Hearing that we don’t have to change a thing, just keep doing what you’re doing, tickles our ears. Paul had told this congregation in his letter of Ephesians, to lay aside falsehood. They were not to sin when angry. No more unwholesome words. They were to forgive others. They were to walk away from the old self. Sound doctrine. Change self or change the message? They changed the message.

Fifth, Paul’s solution to this coming storm was to keep preaching the word. In season and out of season simply means when they want to hear it and when they don’t want to hear it. Hardships would come. They won’t like this. Timothy was told to endure even when the congregation no longer endured. Timothy wasn’t to make adjustments. He wasn’t to turn down the dial on sound doctrine. He wasn’t to give them a break from this form of teaching. Preach on, are Paul’s words.

The situation Timothy faced is repeated in our days. People that started off with the Lord change. They no longer accept what first brought them to the Lord. They don’t want to go entirely back to the world, so they find some who will tickle their ears. Good preachers are let go and replaced with those who have no backbone, conviction or heart. They know who butters their bread and they can preach any way the money flows. And, those kind of preachers are a dime a dozen. They love to be loved and to tickle ears. And as they and the congregation have a great time together, the faith of these people becomes more shallow and weaker. In time, any little storm will blow them over. In time, their watered down faith will be of no use to them and of little help to them. In time, this too, will be a waste of time.

How does a congregation change like this? It happens one by one. No one notices. No one tries to stop it. And it spreads like mold on a wall. Once it’s noticed, it’s almost too late because it has spread so far and so deep within the people.

So, we must hold the mirror up to ourselves. Do we still endure sound doctrine? Even when it knocks the shine off of our shoes? Even when it means we must change? Even when it calls upon us to do things that are uncomfortable to us, such as forgiving others.

The church changed because the people changed. That’s where it always begins.

Roger

Jump Start # 2153

2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.”

These past few Jump Starts have been looking at common complaints that I hear all too often all across the country. First, we addressed, “I don’t like my church.” Then, “I don’t like the singing.” There remains one more, “I don’t like the preaching.” These feelings are often expressed by those who are discouraged. Sometimes no one listens to what they say and often little is done to make things better. But, one must understand, while some are saying “I don’t like my church,” there are others at the same time who are saying, “I love this church.” Some cry, “I don’t like the singing,” and others, “I love the singing.” The same is true about the preaching. Why the opposite feelings? It may have to do with backgrounds, experiences, what one has been through, where one is at the present. This always presents issues for the leadership. There are some who are wanting to change worship, the songs, the number of times worship is offered, and there are some who are very happy to leave things the way they are.

Some live their faith through the church. Outside of worship, they don’t have much on their own. So, if things are going well down at the church house, they are on top of the mountain. But if things seem stale, dull and lifeless, so is their faith. That’s a problem. Our faith must stand independent of what happens down at the church house. I cannot let the actions of others dictate the well-being of my faith. So the singing stinks, sing at home. So I don’t get much out of the Bible classes, do your own study, which you ought to be doing anyway. Do not let the atmosphere of the church worship determine the temperature of your faith.

Having said that, let’s now consider, “I don’t like the preaching.” This is one I’m sensitive to because I preach. Preaching comes in all kinds of styles. Some are loud. Some use a lot of illustrations. Some use humor. Some stick with the text and dive in very deeply. Some are very practical. Some are short. Some are long. Some seem more like an informational lecture. Some make you squirm in your seat. Some are easy to listen to. Some, you have to work at it to stay with him. Some take you on a journey and it takes a while before you figure out what this is all about. Others flow like an outline, point to point, all clear, logical and easy to see. Some use fill-in-the-blank note cards. Others don’t. Some use powerpoint. Others don’t. Now, with all these various ways of preaching, every person has their own definition of a good sermon. Everyone has their own favorite preacher.

When someone says, “I don’t like the preaching,” there may be volumes of reasons. Can I learn from this preacher, even though he may not be my favorite? Is he true to the book? Is he helpful in getting me to see things? Am I growing?

Some preachers are hard to listen to. Some preachers ought to and could lower the nets deeper into knowledge. Some are so generic that they could use a spoonful of practicality once in a while. Some need to be plugged in to get a bit more passionate. But, there are tons of preachers who are doing amazing work. They are pouring long hours and every ounce of their heart and souls into what they are doing. They love you and they want you to know the Lord, to walk closer to Him. Their very lives are given to make the best sermons that they can. They take their work seriously. They don’t turn to short cuts. They write sermons with you in mind. They want you to excel spiritually. So many of these preachers, young and old, could make a lot more money if they were in the secular work place. They are doing what they do because they love the Lord. They work day and night. On vacation, they are thinking of sermons. They are reading constantly. They are taking notes all the time. They are studying with individuals. They are working on classes to teach. You see them on Sunday, with the finished product. They make their work seem so easy. But to follow them throughout the week, to walk in their shoes is amazing. How do they fit all that they do in a day, a week? Where do they get all the ideas that they have? How is it that they can take something so complicated and make it seem so easy to understand? They continue to work on being better at what they do.

There is an old country song that goes, “Mama, don’t let your babies grow to be cowboys.” In college, several of us would change the words of songs to fit preachers. That was one. “Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers,” is how it came out. “Love on the rocks,” became “Church on the rocks.” Preaching isn’t for everyone. Giving a lesson a couple of times a year isn’t the same as preaching. I nailed a couple of boards together recently. Does that make me a carpenter? No.

Now, some of this falls upon the lap of the listener. We must try. Coming to services tired just about guarantees not much is going to stay with a person. Sometimes that happens, especially if you have small children at home. But a lot of this is because we are staying up way too late on Saturday night, giving little thought to being of heart, mind and presence for the Lord the next day. Some are a bit too touchy. The wrong word said, and immediately the sermon is shut down in our minds and we get upset. Most times, the preacher has no clue what you went through this past week. He makes some parting reference to something and you assume that he is talking about you. You get mad. You don’t listen anymore. You miss a lesson that could help you.

Maybe your preacher is hard to listen to. Stay with him. Take notes. Suggest a topic that you’d like to hear a lesson on. Instead of fighting him, work with him. Be careful about making comparisons to other preachers. Also, be careful about making corrections. We often judge the value of a sermon by the performance, rather than the content. A good public speaker does not necessarily make a good preacher. The value of a sermon is in it’s truthfulness, and ability to help us. In our modern techo world, there are zillions of sermons one can listen to on line. Do that. Find you a variety of preachers that you like. Listen. Learn. Grow.

Don’t try to change your preacher into Joel Osteen or Rick Warren. Cotton candy preachers of the religious community are cute, clever and not very accurate with the word of God. They bend the rules, abuse Scripture and are more interested in filling an arena than they are in teaching the word of God. Ours are not like that. They are not cut from the same cloth. Ours are in step with the Master. They model themselves after the preaching of the apostles.

When I was a young puppy preacher, I had a guy criticize me at the door in front of a bunch of people. He loudly said, “You had all week and that’s the best you could do?” I melted. He sure knew where to hit a guy. He wouldn’t stop. Finally, I said, “Tell you what, you take next week’s sermon and I’ll learn from you. But don’t forget, you have to teach the Sunday class, also, you’ll need to preach the PM sermon. Don’t forget you’ll have to write and print the bulletin for next week. And, there’s the Wednesday class that you have to take care of first. Now, there’ll be several phone calls, emails and other things that you need to get to as well.” The man said, “Well, I’ll need more time than a week to do all that.” That’s when I said, “That’s all I have. One week, and it all starts all over again.” He hung his head, apologized and realized that he had spoken like a fool. I was a nervous wreck.

I don’t like the preaching. That’s a concern. Do you like any preaching? Is it that your toes have been stepped on? Could you try harder? Could you look at things through the perspective of your preacher? Is it that he’s teaching doctrine and you are not a fan of doctrine? You need to be if you are going to stand with God. You need preaching. You need to hear the word of God. Get to know your preacher. You’ll find he’s a friend you can count on. Spend some time with your preacher. You’ll see that he takes his work very seriously and he’s always trying to be the best that he can be.

Now, before you ask, I am not going to put this series into a booklet. I can just see it now, send me the “I don’t like Jump Start book.” No, that’s not going to happen. I don’t like my church. I don’t like the singing. I don’t like the preaching. I don’t like, I don’t like, I don’t like. Maybe we ought to start with asking, “What do you like?” Count your blessings. What’s working well with you spiritually? Maybe that can help us just a bit.

God certainly likes preaching. From Moses, through the prophets, apostles, and even Jesus, they were preachers. It was God’s design not to send videos, but the preached word to save a dying world. Keep that in mind before you declare, “I don’t like the preaching.”

Roger

Jump Start # 1953

2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

This week we have been talking about balance. We understand this in other areas of our life. When our tires are out of balance, it sure makes the journey bumpy. We balance our checkbooks. We try to have a balanced diet. We juggle and balance our schedules, running kids to practice, the dog to the vet and picking up a few groceries on the way home. Balance is important in life.

There are areas of spiritual balance that are important. Let me share a few with you.

Balance in preaching. This is important for us preachers to get. Some do better than others with this. First, there is the balance with what we preach and teach. Not just negative and positive, which is important but the very topics we bring to the pulpit. We need to preach what is needed for that audience. Jesus always did that. It’s easy to spend 26 weeks preaching about the family. But there’s more to our journey than just family. There are some folks in the pews who have no family. Talking about the church is essential, but not all the time. We need Jesus, that’s for certain, but there are still other things. Explain the text. Answer common questions. Persuade men. Balance in what you are preaching. Make it useful, practical, relevant and helpful. Sermons are more than college lectures. They are faith building. They are leading people to a better understanding about Christ. You are moving people to be closer to the Lord.

Second, with preachers, is the balance between studying and being with people. That’s a hard one. This one brings grief and guilt to most of us. Too much time in the books and we don’t know the people and our lessons may be out of touch with what is going on in their lives. Too much time with the people and our sermons suffer. They lack substance and depth. It’s a balance. Being with people and being with the Word of God. Some like to study more than they like being with people. For others, it’s just the opposite. It’s not a choice, it’s a balance.

Balance among shepherds. Paul told the elders at Ephesus to “be on guard for yourselves and for the flock…” Be on guard. For yourselves and for the flock—there is a balance concept found in that. Shepherds have to balance their work. All planning for the future may miss some things that need their attention right now. Only working with problems will miss those that do not have problems but still need to be fed, led and encouraged. Balance in their approach with the flock. They don’t want to come across as the mean and bad guys. They are shepherds who are to be loved, trusted and followed.

Balance in our work as a church. It’s easy to focus only on evangelism. Seek and save the lost. Very important. But if the new Christian isn’t developed and taught, he may immediately return back to the world. Encouragement is important. It’s one way we strengthen one another. But encouragement only, will not save the lost. They need to be taught. Balance. Balance in what we do. Balance in our time. Balance in our focus.

It would be wonderful if the Lord just gave us weekly schedules. Pray for these people on Monday. On Tuesday do this. Preacher, here is your topic for Sunday. Elders, here is what you need to do this week. Oh, life would be simple if we just had it all printed out, nice and neat. But life isn’t like that. Things happen. Some things need attention immediately. Some problems pull all of our resources and energy. The key to balance is to always be looking at what you are doing. Make adjustments, just like you do when you are driving down the highway. Your car drifts a little to the right, so you turn your steering wheel a bit to the left. Too much, and you must make adjustments the other way. We do this because we are always looking at the road. Our eyes are on the road. It’s the distracted driver that drifts across the center line and has a crash. So, you are I are always looking at what we are doing. Maybe, Mr. Preacher, you have been out too many nights lately and you need to spend some time with the family at home. Adjustment. Maybe you’ve been preaching a lot on problems. Working on those things pretty hard. Maybe it’s time for an adjustment. Elders will look at what has been taught. Maybe a lot of topics lately and we need to get back to some textual studies. Adjustments.

Balance—we need this in our lives. We can tell when we feel like we are drifting from God or each other. It’s time for some adjustments. We know when we feel a bit distant from our spouse. Adjustment time. We know when we feel a bit out of touch with the church. Adjustments. A little to the left and a little to right to keep us going in the right direction. Our work is not just in one sphere. Our efforts are not just in one place. Balance. It’s hard to keep that balance.

This is a life long endeavor. The more hats you wear and the more you take on, the harder it is to keep balanced. It can be done, it just takes some effort.

Keep your eyes on the road. See where you are going. Make adjustments to keep you going in the right direction.

Roger

Jump Start # 658

2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”

Our passage today is the apostolic advice Paul gives to the younger Timothy. It is a reality check. It reminds him of his purpose and commitment to the Lord. Paul tells Timothy to stick with preaching the word. The people won’t. Timothy won’t be viewed as a rock star among the people. In fact, the time will come when they will want another message and that includes another messenger. Notices the expressions Paul uses:

• They will not endure sound doctrine. It’s not that sound doctrine is hard to endure, it’s the heart of these listeners. The sound doctrine is the doctrine of Christ. It’s what we cut our teeth on and it’s what we build our faith upon. The sound doctrine of Christ is what cuts the path through the fog of confusion, doubt and uncertainty. It defines what is right and what is not right. Some don’t want sound doctrine. Sound doctrine can be narrow. It can oppose what some want. We must stay with sound doctrine to be right with God. There are some who start with it but later tire of it and want to leave it. Timothy would face such people.
• Wanting to have their ears tickled. This expression is meant to imply that they longed to hear what was pleasant and to their liking. Ears tickled brings the idea of fun, laughter and joy. Kids tickling one another is a time of giggles, smiles and fun. Long before this, Solomon said that it was better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting because the living take it to heart. We shouldn’t read into this that sound doctrine is boring, long, stuffy, hard, painful or dull. Ugh! Not at all. Sound doctrine is deep. It challenges a person to think, apply and become. Ear tickling preaching is soft, shallow and doesn’t do much. It’s like eating cotton candy. You see them selling cotton candy at the ballgames. It’s colorful and the kids want it. The thing about cotton candy is that you don’t even have to chew it, it just melts away in your mouth. It’s sticky, tasty, and fun, but there’s nothing to it. After a long, hard day of helping someone move boxes or working out or hiking, the thoughts of a plateful of cotton candy just doesn’t appeal to you. You want some substance. Potatoes, meat, veggies—solid food. You never see the guys at a ball game walking up and down the isles selling baked potatoes. Cotton candy, yes. Bake potatoes, no. Some want a gospel that is lite, soft, and easy to digest. Cotton candy theology sells in churches. People love it. But when the storm clouds move in, that cotton candy teaching doesn’t help. It’s the sound doctrine that gets us through the funeral. It’s the sound doctrine that helps us with our teenagers. It’s the sound doctrine that makes Satan turn and flee. Some folks just want their ears tickled.

• They will accumulate teachers in accordance with their own desires. The ear ticklers will win out. They will ditch the sound doctrine preachers and find the ear tickling preachers. There will be preachers who sell out to become ear ticklers. They will present a message that is pleasant, joyful and empty. They will be praised, loved and popular in the ear tickling circles. Ear ticklers thrive on popularity and money. The more popular they are the more money they make and the larger their crowds. Ear ticklers stay away from certain topics. In fact they stay away from a lot of topics. That’s how they became ear ticklers. It’d be wonderful if the ear ticklers couldn’t find anyone to satisfy them. But they do. Cotton candy theology and happy-clappy times seem to be the hit of the month for many folks.

What’s the solution? First, sound doctrine still needs to be taught. We need to know it, believe it, preach it and stand with it. Secondly, sound doctrine can be presented in fresh, interesting and challenging ways. It doesn’t have to come across like dry toast. Put some jelly on it and show while sound doctrine makes a difference in our lives. Make application. Make it plain. Show why Christ works. Show why He is the answer.

Ear tickling preaching builds ear tickling churches. Sound doctrine preaching builds sound doctrine churches. That’s how it works. What happens when a person dies? Does it matter how we worship God? Is Jesus coming? Don’t tell me a story, give me Bible! Show me. Teach me.

What Timothy was facing was congregations that did not want sound doctrine. We have a responsibility in that. We encourage sound doctrine or we drive it away. It is our duty to seek sound doctrine. This is not the preachers problems, it’s the congregation’s. Those that became ear ticklers did so because that’s what the congregations wanted. They did it to survive and to thrive.

Our verse began, “the time will come…” It’s come. It’s now. It’s before us. Cotton candy or solid teaching? Ear tickling or sound doctrine? Shallow or depth? Stories or truth?

There is an old hymn that says, “Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word…”

Roger