2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around themselves a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Who are these people with “itching ears”? It is tempting for us to see them only in those churches which have most obviously caved into the sinful culture in one way or another.

Maybe we think it’s the people in the liberal churches, churches which have publicly changed God’s teaching about godly morals or Jesus’ person and work to avoid offending anybody. They embrace every sexual perversion. They deny everything supernatural or miraculous. The sum total of their message is only, “Be nice to other people.” It’s not that we are opposed to being nice. But does anyone really need church for that?

Maybe we think it’s the people in the big and popular churches, churches which haven’t necessarily changed their teachings, they just don’t talk much about the unpopular ones so that they can concentrate on the ones people consider “relevant.” In other words, they don’t “change” the sound doctrine. They simply hide it, so that they can tell people what they want to hear.

Can Bible-believing, conservative Christians also be guilty of having itching ears? A friend once told me, “I don’t like change. I must be getting old.” And I agreed with him–about myself, I mean, not him. I don’t like change so much the older I get. It makes me tired. Does it really make things better?

Look at all the examples of bad changes we can point out in the churches. Maybe we can make some rules and policies that prevent change. Maybe we can find other people in the church who agree with us. Maybe we can convince the pastor that we are right, or find another one who will take our side.

You see where this is going. Pretty soon we are adding our rules to God’s, making a law where God gave freedom. But it is all to suit our own personal tastes. It is another variation on gathering “around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Legalism is an attack on the gospel, as much as immorality. Your pastor has been given a solemn duty to oppose them both. That’s not always easy when we remember who is listening to him–and that he is one of them, and just like them, himself.