Looking at Myself

Who do you listen to? Many of us are guilty of fixating far too often on one information source. We read the same commentary set all the time. We get all of our news from the same media outlet. We continually tune into the same political or religious commentator and never make the effort to listen to different voices.

This type of silo thinking can really inhibit our ability to effectively minister to the people God brings into our churches. Furthermore, it can cause us to loose sight of the fact that the kingdom is a whole lot bigger than our denomination or specific set of dogmatic assertions.

In 2 Timothy 4:2-4, Paul tells Timothy to preach the Word—the logos of God. He then warns him that a time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine but will instead gather around them teachers who will simply tell them what they want to hear. Thus Paul urges Timothy to keep his head as he seeks to discharge the work of the ministry of God (v.5).

Today as I sat down to write, the question came to my mind: “Do I avoid certain passages or topics because they make me uncomfortable?” Are there things I need to say but am not? Are there issues in our church that really need to be addressed but, instead of doing so, I am simply tickling the itching ears of the already initiated?

One of the issues that concerns me is the issue of domestic violence in the church. If statistics are to be believed, 25 percent of the women in our churches have experienced some kind of abuse—and for the most part we pastors say nothing. While many suffer in silence, we remain oblivious to their pain.

For some of us, the danger we face is not doctrinal heresy but interpersonal heresy. Is it possible that ears can be tickled by “sound” doctrine that fails to care for the widow and orphan?