This morning in my devotion, I noticed something in 2 Timothy 4 that I had not before. Here’s the text:
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
I found it interesting that the two times the word ‘endure’ presented itself in this passage, are in regards to suffering and….sound teaching? Why are these words paired together with the word ‘endure’?
Enduring Suffering
First of all, let’s look at suffering. It’s easy to understand the charge to endure suffering, because suffering itself implies some sort of hardship. It involves pain, hurt, and loss. Endurance helps you get through suffering. Paul even says that endurance is a product of suffering in Romans 5: “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.”
Though it is a painful and difficult process, we understand the need to endure suffering. But what of sound teaching?
Enduring Sound Teaching
“…people will not endure sound teaching.”
The greek word that Paul uses here is ἀνέξονται, which means to bear with, endure, forbear, or suffer. 2 Timothy 4:3 could read “…people will not suffer sound teaching.” Sound teaching isn’t always easy to deal with. It can be hard. It can be painful. Perhaps because it points out idols, illuminates sinful behavior, and challenges us to take up our cross daily. It is not coincidence that just a chapter before this, Paul gives a list of reasons why there will be difficulty in the last days:
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. – 2 Timothy 3:2-5
These are the same people who do not endure sound teaching. Paul gives the reason they do not persevere. “but having itching ears, they will accumulate (heap up, gather) for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” We must suffer sound teaching because it stretches us, grows us. Let’s not take the easy way out and run to satisfy our itching ears, but rather persevere to sit under solid teaching (however painful it may be for our soul), test it according to Scripture, and yield to the Spirit’s convicting. After all…no pain, no gain.
Hopefully, in the end, it will transform us into people who are lovers of God instead of self or money, humble, modest, obedient to our parents, grateful, holy, compassionate, content, encouraging, self-controlled, gentle, loving good, loyal, prudent, having the appearance of godliness AND accepting its power. And hopefully, in the end, we’ll be able to say with Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
