I went through the passage at 2 Timothy 4 recently and found myself returning to verses 2 to 5 again and again, rereading them slowly and even attempting a careful redaction. The passage reads not merely as instruction to preach, but as a commissioning for faithful ministry in an age of selective listening.

This is my redacted reading of 2 Timothy 4:2–5

Proclaim the word; stand ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and teaching.

For a time is coming when they will not endure sound instruction,

but according to their own desires they will gather teachers for themselves,

because their ears itch to hear what pleases them.

They will turn away their hearing from the truth

and will be turned aside toward myths.

But you, be sober in all things, endure suffering,

do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry completely.

Reading this passage today feels less like studying an ancient pastoral letter and more like overhearing a conversation about our own moment. Paul did not imagine a church without preaching or teaching. The concern is more unsettling: a church surrounded by teaching yet gradually resistant to being formed by truth.

Selective listening rarely begins with rejection of Scripture. It begins when we quietly prefer what affirms us over what searches, corrects, and forms us. We still listen, still attend, still read, but we lean toward voices that confirm what we already think, excuse what we already desire, or soften what God intends to confront. Over time, truth is not denied; it is domesticated.

Paul’s instruction therefore addresses both preacher and hearer. The minister must remain steady, proclaiming the Word whether the season feels receptive or resistant. Faithfulness cannot be governed by audience reaction. At the same time, believers are called to endure sound teaching. Growth in Christ often comes through correction, patience, and instruction long before it feels encouraging.

What Paul describes is a movement of the heart. First comes impatience with sound teaching. Then comes the gathering of agreeable voices. Eventually the ear turns away from truth itself. Myths do not usually arrive dressed as lies; they appear as partial truths that remove repentance, obedience, or holiness from the center of discipleship.

Paul’s final charge redirects attention to what truly matters. Faithfulness is not measured by popularity, novelty, or affirmation, but by sobriety, endurance, evangelistic witness, and the full completion of one’s calling before God.

The question confronting every believer today is therefore not whether a message is enjoyable, stimulating, or widely accepted, but whether we remain willing to hear the truth that forms us into Christ.