I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
—2 Timothy 4:1-5
Most of us are painfully familiar with having itchy ears. They are bothersome, pestilent, and painstakingly difficult to soothe. Such is the nature that Paul hopes to convey in 2 Timothy 4, though the itchy ears about which he speaks are metaphorical in nature. This idea is a fundamental aspect of the holy ministry, against which Paul sternly warns the fledgling pastor, and all who would one day become pastors.
Throughout his second letter to Timothy, Paul continually warns of false teachers and errant doctrines. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul provides instruction for dealing with false teachers, and dedicates much of the first chapter to describing loyalty and disloyalty to the Gospel. And in chapter 4, Paul warns Timothy that his church will have an itch—a sinful inclination or backwards desire—to concoct false doctrines. Thus, Paul equates this inclination to having itchy ears, because they are bothersome, pestilent, and especially difficult to soothe.
Not every translation uses the terminology, but in the English Standard Version (ESV), it is said that the people will have “itching ears,” and accumulate false doctrines to suit their own desires. These itchy ears are satisfied by false doctrine and errant practices. The root of itchy ears is sin; the desired remedy is action against God’s Word.
This is woefully recognizable in the Church today. The postmodern itch to view men and women as equal in every respect has led several denominations to endorse women’s ordination. The progressive itch to conform to societal norms has led many to believe that homosexuality, transgenderism, and even abortion are morally and biblically acceptable. The satanic itch to reconcile God’s Word from misleading philosophical and theological presuppositions has led many churches to alter the Word altogether, espousing an exegetical methodology that dispenses of the infallibility, authority, and inerrancy of the Word of God.
The itchy ears and errant doctrines from which the people suffer is the result of sin. By nature we are not inclined to accept or find comfort in the true doctrines of Scripture. God’s Word seems to us irrational, nonsensical, and even suppressive. For indeed God’s Word suppresses the sinful flesh, convicting it of its sin and pointing us to repentance for the sake of Christ. And indeed, by the standards of the flesh, His Word is irrational and nonsensical—for this reason, the soul craves understanding. It craves the hidden truths to which Scripture attests but about which we lack understanding. We have an itch—a longing desire—to find understanding.
Yet all of this stems from a lack of faith. For by faith we can understand God’s Word, to the extent that we believe His Word and cling to the teachings clearly espoused in Scripture. We may not understand how His Word could be inspired, preserved, and passed down through the ages. We may not understand even the foundational teachings of the Bible, such as the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the real presence of the Body and Blood in the Sacrament. We may not be able to understand how we are both sinner and saint, retaining the evil flesh by which we were conceived but also bearing the crown of life bestowed to us by Christ.
But faith requires not a philosophically rational answer, nor a rhetorically sophisticated response, but merely trusts that God cannot lie and that His Word, which was made flesh in the Person of Christ, is true, authoritative, and life-giving. Just as our God cannot lie, thus His Word cannot promote or promulgate falsehood. His Word is true, for our God is true.
It is therefore the duty of pastors, according to Paul, to be “sober-minded, endure suffering, and perform the work of an evangelist.” Thus, the duty of a pastor is to fight against the troublesome doctrines and errant teachings that may prevail in the Church. It is the pastor’s duty to soothe this terrible itch not with the doctrines of men, but with the inerrant Word of God. He is to fight against the ravenous wolves that inject the poison of false teaching into the Church.
He is to soothe the itchy ears of his people with the life-giving words of the Gospel. For though many so-called pastors appease the flock with motivational speeches, pep talks, and “fun” brunch church, ministers of the Gospel preach the unadulterated, God-inspired Word of comfort. They preach what God has given the Church, and the Church gladly receives His Word and Sacraments. They ought not look to the inspirational jives of men, nor “fun and exciting” brunch church sessions, but to the preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments.
To that end the pastor must also satisfy the itchy ears of the flock with the liturgical and confessional beauty of biblical Christian worship—that is, the preaching of Law and Gospel and the administration of God’s means of grace, those blessed Sacraments in which God’s forgiveness of sins and salvation—and thereby life—are found. What has been given to the Church and handed down through each generation in the unsurpassable liturgy and the pious beauty of biblical worship is a precious gift to the Church, which calms the weary soul with the comforting words of the Gospel and feeds the depraved heart with the life-giving means of grace in the Sacraments.
Each Christian faces the pestilence of itchy ears. Often we find that, by virtue of our fallen nature, God’s Word does not satisfy our sinful desires. Our itchy ears desire man-made doctrines. We often desire teachings that suit our own passions. And far too often, we turn away from the truth in favor of myths and legends.
Thus, we must be rooted in the Word of God. We must not heed the preaching of men, but rather the preaching of the Gospel by those who have been placed in the stead of Christ to administer the Word of truth and life. We must be grounded in the true Christian, apostolic Church, for that is where the itches of the sinful flesh and the lustful passions of men are extinguished by the eternal light of Christ.
St. Paul, by divine inspiration, foresaw the vast political and social divisions that would fractionate the Church. It was no accident that he preempted the liturgical and doctrinal attacks that would take place within the Church by condemning their anti-ecumenical natures and the fact that these things cut against the Word of God. He instead exhorts Christians, through the leadership and direction of pastors, to hold fast to the Gospel.
In his exhortation, St. Paul instructs the reprove, rebuke, and exhort those with itchy ears, whose passions desire the satisfaction of false teachings and man-made doctrines. It is the duty of the pastor is, therefore, to “do the work of an evangelist.” The Church has named the Gospel-writers the “Evangelists,” for they have penned and handed down the word of the Gospel through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recording the life, works, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Let us not suit our own passions with the doctrines of men, but conform to the wisdom of God found in His inspired Word. We must hold fast to the good and holy Law of God, from which the fruits of faith are inspired, and cling to the Gospel of grace as the foundation on which our faith is founded and the guide in which our hope is contained. For by grace we are saved through faith; this is not the work of man, but the holy and gracious work of our Father in heaven.
Praise God for faithful pastors.