Itchy Ears

Anyone ever heard of Love Song?

How about the movie Jesus Revolution?

Love Song is the Christian Band that played when Lonnie Frisbee was bringing the Jesus Movement to Chuck Smith’s church, Calvary Chapel.

The lead singer and founder Chuck Girard died this past August.

His daughter Alisa Childers, a former band member of ZOEgirl, spoke at the STINT discipleship weekend a couple years ago.

We had the privilege of being there to hear her speak.

Her talks were on apologetics and on cultural phrases that are pushed as Christian, but are far from it.

Sayings like: “Live your truth.” Or “Be your authentic self.”

Well, she recently wrote a book called, “The Deconstruction of Christianity”.

Unfortunately, this issue of deconstructionism has been leaking into Christianity for at least 25 years, but has been taking it by storm in the last 5.

While I have not had a chance to read the book, I am familiar with the problem.

Deconstructionism has lead people to de-convert from the Christian faith.

People have been trying to side step the issue by saying there is a healthy form of deconstruction.

Well, today’s text tackles this issue head on.

Today, we’ll see what deconstruction is, why it is happening and hopefully understand how to handle the issues that deconstruction presents to the church.

Read 2 Timothy 2:1-5

The problem, Paul states, is that there is an appointed time (kairos) coming when sound doctrine, truth, and the Word, Jesus, will not be tolerated...

Paul says in response to that: Let’s understand the times, but our teaching and our mission remains the same.

Before we get to deconstruction specifically, let’s see biblically where it comes from.

We’ll first look at what the truth is, attitudes that reside within those who turn their ears from the truth, and why their ears are itchy.

Then we’ll see how that leads them to rebellion and thus a bent to deconstruct their faith.

What Is The Truth? - vs 4

Aletheia - the unveiled reality lying at the basis of and agreement with the appearance.

A Verified Fact

Unveiling

It is not hidden for me to have to guess at its veracity.

It is not mere opinion or what I want it to be or mean.

It is confirmed through the consistent, unchanging, and timeless nature of the truth claim.

Transcends time, experience, and culture

Absolute.

It is Foundational

Truth is what lies underneath what is visible.

Reality accurately reflects what it is built on.

Goes deeper than just what is observed.

If your observation does not reflect the truth, you need to reevaluate your observation.

The truth isn’t wrong, but your observation of it is.

It’s not going to shift or change.

Objective Standard

What we see agrees with the foundation, with the timeless confirmation.

Our observation and experience may only contain a fraction of the truth.

So we have to have a standard outside of our experience by which to judge the true nature of things.

Not Duplicitous

with sincerity of mind and heart and not just external show or rites.

Free from hypocrisy

it means what it says and says what it means.

straightforward

This unveiled reality that is confirmed with the appearance is not going to trick you.

Conduct Conformed to the Truth

Implied

Integrity, virtue, piety, obligation.

Jesus is the truth.

Now we turn our attention to the attitudes that reside within those who turn their ears from the truth.

Attitude #1: Intolerance - vs 3

When they will not endure sound doctrine

Endure means to bear patiently. Sound means healthy. Doctrine means content taught.

Literally, they will not bear patiently with healthy teaching.

They will not continue to accept as valid or true sound teaching.

Ironically, they will claim to be the most tolerant people there are.

Doctrine - Didaskalia is also about the art or act of teaching.

They will no longer hold on to a healthy way of teaching.

They will no longer put up with sound teaching in a healthy way.

This is where we see civil discourse and debate go away.

Instead of put up with the speaker, they shut up the speaker. Charlie Kirk?

Didaskalia also means that which belongs to the teacher.

They will not hold onto that which belongs to someone else.

This healthy teaching belongs to God, but I will not put up with that.

It doesn’t matter what God says, it’s about what I think.

There is no outside standard of right or wrong.

Truth is my experience and what I make it out to be.

Twisting the words of the teacher to make it say what I want it to say.

Attitude #2 - Sensuality - vs 3

What makes me feel good.

Tantalizing Thoughts

According to their own desires.

epithumia - it refers to desires which are fixed on sensual objects as pleasures, profits, honors, etc. Often translated lust.

dominated by your own personal cravings, likings.

They substitute God’s revelation for their own fancies.

Want something tantalizing that falls in line with gratifying their carnal desires.

That kind of curiosity which looks for interesting and spicy tidbits of information.

Tik-Tok.

An itch for novelty.

tired of the same ole same ole

They want something new and speculative

Tickled Ears

Whatever tickles your fancy.

Scratch that itch.

only want to hear that which I agree with.

Something not offensive

What they want and not what they need

Example - Don’t go grocery shopping when you are hungry.

The truth - I’m not starving.

I can wait. - Patience.

I don’t need to buy it. - Self - restraint

Teacher accumulation - To gather in piles, heap up.

They don’t listen first and then decide if what they hear is true, rather they first decide what they want to hear and then select teachers who will oblige them.

Many different teachers.

Greek philosophical inquiry.

many different thought experiments.

social experiments.

Mars Hill for example.

Acts 17:20–21 NASB95

“For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

The problem?

2 Timothy 3:7–8 NASB95

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth...so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind...

Attitude #3 - Rebellion - vs 4

Turn Away from the truth

to excite to rebellion

to put away, to remove.

Removed in a way so that they will not even come into contact with the truth.

Exiled

Like turning a windmill so that it’s vanes will not catch the wind.

Like and subscribe to my channel.

Obviously, the only content you’re going to get is what they post.

Algorithms keep sending you the same stuff of interest.

Turn Aside to myths

Deviate from the standard.

In the medical field, this term - to wrench out of its proper place. dislocation.

passive - an action done to the person by an outside force.

Once it is wrenched out of place it just hangs there prey to any action that moves it with no ability to move itself.

Like removing the rudder and opening the sails.

I chose not to fight the current with my straight edge on order to keep me going on course.

And now I am letting the wind blow me wherever.

Mythos

Tale or fable that is fabricated by the mind

In contrast to reality, not rooted in actual facts.

Fiction.

Ephesians 4:14–15 NASB95

...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Deconstructionism - A Dangerous Philosophy

Deconstruction

a philosophical method of inquiry

a post modern process of rethinking your beliefs, but not regarding Scripture as the standard.

Brief History

Coined by French Philosopher Jacques Derrida

It means dismantling our excessive loyalty to any idea and learning to see the aspects of the truth that might lie buried in its opposite. When we begin to examine something closely, almost all our thinking is riddled with a false, that is unjustified and unhelpful, privileging of one thing over another.

speech over writing

reason over passion

words over pictures

And then failing to see the value in the supposedly lesser parts of the equation.

Over his 40 books, Derrida deconstructed a range of key binary terms.

Although originally focused on literary analysis it wasn’t long before it was being put into play into other fields of study.

masculinity - femininity

capitalism - socialism

right - wrong

This gave way to what we call postmodernism.

The Result

A deconstruction of faith and religion began.

We need to stop accepting what we have always been taught and tear down our beliefs by investigating the opposite claims and finding what bits of truth we have never been taught and coming to our own conclusion of what we believe based on our own experiences.

Here’s what the Bible says, have I found that to be true?

Actually, I have discovered that the opposite of what the Bible teaches is more true in my experience.

Thus the Bible is invalidated.

Or I’ve only discovered that PARTS of the Bible ring true. So I dismiss the other parts.

We’ve always held that light is better than darkness, but is it?

Let’s find the beauty in the darkness so we might have a fuller and better understanding of both.

And we discover there are 50 Shades of Gray.

And who is to say one shade of gray is any better than another shade of gray?

No longer are we looking to objective reality and absolute truth to find our answers about God.

It is shifted to the self for the answers. Satan’s lie in the Garden.

Subjective, relative, and based on my observations and opinions.

Spiritual beliefs are assessed more on how you have been helped or harmed by them.

What you personally feel is toxic, oppressive or liberating.

It starts with the presupposition that the core doctrines are viewed as toxic theology.

You’re a sinner and need a Savior is toxic. That’s a binary equation therefore it is wrong.

Let’s deconstruct that and find a better phrasing that is more in line with “reality” as they see reality.

even claiming that you are a sinner is abusive language.

saying hell exists is psychologically damaging to children.

They also don’t think you can absolutely know these kind of things anyway, because everything is folded in on itself and a shade of gray.

Don’t land on anything solid. Don’t form new beliefs. If you do, you’ll have to deconstruct those.

Again, ultimately it takes away the authority of the Bible.

What Are We Charged To Do? - vs 5

But you, (again, you, however)

Be sober in all things

keep your head - calm, cool, and collected

they may be unstable, but you need to be stable and steady.

well balanced and self-controlled.

watchful - be aware of, alert to those things that they are wanting to hear.

Why ministries like Turning point was so good - we could hear what the students were being immersed in.

Stand to Reason - showing how wrong narratives do not stand up to scrutiny.

Mr. B and the Red Pen logic - grades tik tok posts and memes

Endure hardship

suffer and sustain afflictions.

be willing to suffer abuse

Do the work of an evangelist

Doing the work of an evangelist implies that Timothy wasn’t an Evangelist from the official point of view, but was to do the work of one.

One who declares the good news.

Conversational evangelism. See handout.

Fulfill your ministry

Fulfill the obligations of your service where the proof of doing so is evident

End Well.

The Wrap Up

We need to understand the times, but our teaching and our mission must remain the same.

Engaging with the mov’t of deconstruction and define it properly.

Have open discussions that kids might have about the Bible. Apologetics

Don’t shame them.

Questions are welcome here and we are not afraid of them.

Need to be biblically literate and be aware of mischaracterizations and misunderstandings about the Bible.

We stay calm and sane and steadfast regardless of what happens.

In the end we still land on faith in the infallibility of the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

My Favorite Faith Statement:

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

That is a sound, healthy truth statement that you can build a foundation with and it will never fail you.

That is the truth statement that people with itchy ears rebel against and replace with fiction.

Then they pile up people around them to reinforce that.

Closing Song: The Way