Trust, Not Trends | Fr. Chad E. Jarnagin2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 (NIV) 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness... This is about scripture’s trustworthiness, not if it is literal or figurative. The phrase means “given by inspiration of God,” is one word in the Greek text (theopneustos), which means “God-breathed.” The Greek is a compound word, with theo the Greek word for God, attached to the word pneustos which means “wind, or spirit, or breath.”Beginning in 2 Timothy 4:1, the attention turns from the past to the future... and the corresponding need to root people in “sound doctrine” and “the truth”. Timothy receives a solemn charge in 4:2, which might be the centerpiece of the entire letter: “preach the message [logos]”, that is, the good news about Jesus Christ (see also 2 Timothy 2:15).2 Timothy 4:3: interesting comment about people with “itching ears,” who “accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” It’s an accusation any group might make against those who don’t listen or translate “properly,” or more commonly in with human tendency, of surrounding ourselves with authors, teachers, and voices who say only the things we want to hear.Now more than ever before we are isolating ourselves in echo chambers, and only interacting with like-minded people. This becomes most hazardous when it gives us excuses to discount other voices. And when it creates teachers or preachers who pander to audiences, it has long lasting effects of discontentment and distrust. In circumstances where denominations or congregations suffer from deep divides, groups find it too convenient to ignore anyone who doesn’t “suit their own desires / opinions”.Maybe the warning offered in 2 Timothy 4:3 can help us today realize that listening for “the truth” requires us trust... to listen. The hinge of all of this: when we are disappointed in someone who breaks our trust, were we trusting the wrong being? For some of us, maybe trusting people is easier than a Creator or maybe visa versa? Many of us have projected distrust on God when it should have been placed directly onto a human... God isn’t guilty by association.“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” It is helpful to have voices that we resonate with, but find voices who expand our view due to a trust, not simply trend.
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