"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths."
2 Timothy 4:3-4
New International Version
The apostle Paul saw it happening a couple thousand years ago. He saw the faith being corrupted less than one generation after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel was good news, but people didn't always want to hear it.
People are no different 2,000years later. We want to hear the good news of Jesus and eternal life, but we want to believe that it is automatic and requires no participation by us. Many say, "If God is love, how can he possibly not accept me for who I am. And if he accepts me just the way I am, than why would I have to believe or act any differently than I do now?"
This is often supported by sermons preached in churches all over town. It is a watered down faith where God accepts sinners, but does not require them to try and change their ways. It is a faith where everybody goes to heaven no matter what and hell does not really exist apart from the worldy misery we bring upon ourselves. It is an easy, comfortable faith that often encourages people to do little more than show up for church on Sundays. The truth is that many churches simply tell us what they think we want to hear. They don't want be viewed as judgmental, hypocritical or unwelcoming. Many pastors have built their entire career around offending no one.
But the truth is that there is bad news within the good news of Jesus Christ. The bad news is that there are some things we must do to respond to the acceptance and love of God in our lives. We must put God first. Sometimes our churches proclaim a faith that requires no committment or sacrifice. We fail to remind people that they are not the center of the universe and should not always have what they want. We fail to remind people that acceptance requires a response. We must acknowledge our brokenness, feel sorry about it and ask to be forgiven. We then have to make some effort to avoid the sins that plague our lives and repeat themselves. We know that we will make mistakes and fall short but we will make an honest effort try to be different. We fail to tell people that our faith requires a committment to generosity and service often at the expense of our own comfort and ease of living.
Our biggest failure involves not telling people that they must take responsibility for their lives. We fail to tell them that there are eternal consequences to the choices that they make. Jesus talked about heaven and hell more often than he talked about any other subject. In Matthew's gospel alone, there are 13 different references to our eternal destiny. We are told about paradise and the kingdom of heaven. But we are also told about the sheep being separated from the goats, the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth and the place of fire. We can't just ignore these words of Jesus and say he didn 't mean it. Jesus chose his words carefully and his disciples communicated that which was most important in His teachings. We simply don't want to hear about a faith that causes us to make serious and sober choices.
As Paul told Timothy, there will be a time when people do not want to hear the truth. They will chase after myths and listen only to what they want to hear. That time is now upon us. We seem to want a comfortable and easy faith that we can deal with only when we like what we hear. God is accepting of us and has offered us new life now and for eternity. But we have to step up and claim it for our lives. Nobody can do it for us. We cannot hope for a deathbed conversion to save us in the last moments. We must put God first, repent, worship him, seek him in prayer and share his love through service and giving of ourselves. There is no other way to respond. I'm O.K., You're O.K. will simply not work.
Anybody that tells you any different is simply preaching to your itching ears and helping you to chase after myths that can never deliver what they promise.
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