Ears to Hear

My father and I had a few rituals. One we practiced whenever he was about to speak at a conference. I typically sat in the front row, right beside him. As he would rise to get behind the pulpit I’d whisper three words to him, “Tell the truth.” No one, of course, would accuse my father of being a coward. He earned multiple Purple Hearts from multiple campaigns in defense of biblical fidelity. All of us, however, are not immune from the desire to be liked. I didn’t doubt him. I just wanted to encourage him to tell it straight.

Ear ticklers don’t tell it straight. They give their audience not what they need to hear, but what they want to hear. We ought to look down our noses at those who tickle our ears. Too often, however, we don’t. We find it easy to rebuke those who tickle the ears of others. At the same time we insist on having our own ears tickled. We miss it, in part, because the message we want to hear isn’t the same as others want to hear. Sometimes, in fact, our ears are tickled when we’re listening to someone rebuking ear ticklers.

Just as much as ear ticklers need to be rebuked, those seeking to have their ears tickled need to be rebuked. One stand-up comic helped me gain a better perspective when he said, “You’re not stuck in traffic. You are traffic.” You can’t have one without the other. Buyers find sellers and sellers find buyers, and when the “product” isn’t so good, they both have blame to share.

The test to determine when I am under the sway of an ear tickler is a pretty simple one- do I come away thinking, “Boy, those xxxxx’s really need to change, to get it together.” Or am I tempted to conclude, “I thank you Lord that I am not like other men, the ones being rebuked by this message.” When these things happen I’m in the wrong audience. I’m reading someone else’s mail. If, on the other hand, my response is, “Boy, I really need to repent and work on this failure of mine, or, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner” then I am listening to the right man. Then I am under the care of an under-shepherd and not a hireling.

The message isn’t the issue. The audience is. One can be a faithful shepherd when speaking words of peace and comfort. One can be a hireling when thundering against sin. The repentant are to be given the message of peace and comfort, the unrepentant the thundering against sin. Any audience, however, will get the messages they tend to praise. Encourage then those who step on your toes. Flee from those who heal the wounds of sin lightly. Ask not to be tickled, but to be convicted. May God give us all ears to hear.