If you are having problems with your minister, consider this neglected possibility:
Congregations often “heap up teachers who are in keeping with their own desires.” (2 Timothy 4: 3b).
The difficulty, in such cases, is that the problem isn’t only with your minister—it may also be with the flock! The fault is, Paul said, teachers are frequently chosen by congregations because they think that they will cater to their desires by scratching their ears!” (4:3a). Such congregations don’t want to hear the preaching of sound doctrine because it often doesn’t do so. Indeed, good teachers—those God approves—will often say just the opposite of what a congregation wants to hear.
Look around—is the kind of minister one that pretty well teaches what your church wants to hear? Is he soft on sin and easy on commendation? Or is he a faithful preacher of the Word who speaks truth, whether or not, those listening want to hear it.
What are some of the things a pastor/teacher may preach/teach on that “scratches” the ears of the local church?
How do I identify the scratching, or if I am the scratchee?
thanks,
bobwallace
I want to give an opinion for bob,
Scratching ears of the local church could mean that the teacher is teaching something not in accordance with the Truth of God which is revealed in the Scripture. And anything not in accordance with the Truth is fallacies (no matter how false). Fallacies is a common nature of sin. Not only clear fallacies, but this applies till the subtlest things in teaching. The subtle one is the most dangerous for congregation. It has a counterfeiting nature. A counterfeit always looks like the same as the original, the Truth, but it leads to the wrong way in the end.
Congregations could be tricked by this counterfeits. They think they are hearing exactly the Truth of God, but the reality isn’t so. But why the counterfeits often fit the congregations so much? The counterfeits fit so much because it supports our sinful nature. Congregations is also human who still have sinful nature in them, but their task is to reduce, not to increase it.
I believe that every fallacies that taught (no matter how subtle it is) to the congregations never be in accordance with the Truth in Scripture. They must have some contradicting part with the Scripture. Some interprets the Scripture partially and not consider the connection with the whole Scriptures narration (Mostly because they want to use the Scripture for their own profit, so they inject their thought and idea to the Scripture interpretation), this brings fallacies too.
Know your heart, know your motivation when you hear a comforting teaching. If our motivation is sinful, then we are “scratched”. And the one who “scratch” is doing a sin, for every teaching or preaching is communicating God’s Word, not pleasing man. God’s Word can be pleasing or rebuking, we as relative creation must be subject to the absolute God, receive all His Words which he reveal to us.
Thank you.
Bob: Thanks for the comment. We know when we are being “scratched” only when we read Scripture and recognize that we are appreciative of those things that God disapproves. And you’ll never know what He disapproves apart from knowing the Bible well. But you’ll not know what it teaches unless you study it faithfully.
JEA