Itching Ears Bring False Hope

Itching Ears Bring False Hope

At times I struggle with having itching ears. How about you? I am not talking about having a physical problem I am talking about a spiritual problem. Do you know what spiritual itching ears are? If not then I hope that you will be enlightened because I believe we all struggle with spiritual itching ears. And when we have spiritual itching ears, we have false hope, or we have no hope.

The Apostle Paul prophesied about the coming of itching ears to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “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.” (ESV) Paul tells us we will seek people who will tell us what we want them to say rather than direct us to listen to what God says. It is not just telling us what we want to hear but they will tell us things that suit our passions. He also says that we will no longer listen to the truth but rather will wander off into myths.

After hearing a sermon from my Pastor Troy Dobbs, I started to ask myself if I had itching ears. I must be honest depending on the topic, there are times that I have itching ears. I do not want to hear the truth but rather I want to have the truth suit my situation. One of the ways that I do this is to take Scripture passages that I can use to justify or placate the outcome or direction I want. One of the big ones I sometimes use is 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV) I say to myself, even if I commit this sin God is going to forgive me so it is no big deal. Right? Pastor Troy’s sermon challenged me to take a closer look at myself and I encourage you to watch or listen to it by clicking here.

However, my exploration did not end there like Isaiah, it caused me to look at the culture around me and I discovered like Isaiah that I live in a time that is messy and conflicting even among those who claim to be Christian. Isaiah’s experience came after God allow him to see God’s glory. Isaiah 6:1-5, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” (ESV)

There are “Christian” churches that proclaim there are multiple ways to heaven, they celebrate and embrace what God calls sin. They celebrate a Muslim festival out of tolerance, and the Muslim faith clearly teaches that Jesus’ death on the cross could not be done by a loving Father God, and it describes God as a cosmic Santa Claus, just to name a few differences. Churches like that are teaching people with itching ears myths. The Scriptures are meant to correct and will always be truthful because they come from God Himself. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) It is by allowing Scripture to teach, reproof, correct, and train in righteousness that we become what God intends us to be and when we do we have hope.

I am sorry but I can no longer consider churches that teach false doctrines regarding Christ to be Christian. There is only one Gospel and that Gospel teaches truth and the only path to salvation for us all. “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-12 (ESV) and “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV). It is in that Gospel that I pin my hope. To add anything or subtracting anything from it corrupts it and steal hope away from people.

So, join me in placing your hope in the hands of the only One who can make all things right. Have hope for yourself and give hope to others. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future, even my itching ears, and yours too. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. Because of that we ought to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in choosing Jesus.

If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.

You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.

eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google