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2 Timothy 4:3
"Heap up to themselves teachers" is another interesting illustration. We might phrase it as, "They've got a whole smorgasbord of preachers to choose from." We would not say that they heap them up - that brings to mind a picture of bodies piled up, one upon another. We would probably picture what was happening as more like a cafeteria, where a person could pick this preacher's understanding of marriage, then a little further on, select another preacher's understanding of faith, and a bit later, for dessert, choose this minister's wonderful sense of humor. Is that what we do? Do we dabble a little here, a little there? We fool ourselves sometimes by saying, "I'm just getting a well-rounded approach to the subject because this guy is really strong in this area. I need what he can give me." Are we heaping up for ourselves teachers, so that we can pull one from the bottom of the pile when we need it? Do we flit from place to place as the mood suits us? Maybe this week we are in the mood for something really sober, so we go to a particular serious-minded group. The next week, perhaps, we want to fellowship, and the people at the sober place are not really entertaining socially - but the people at another place nearby really have a rip-roaring time after service every week! Then the week after that, we hear that "Minister X" is in town, so we go there. Is that the way we are? Yet, that is very much like "they heap up to themselves teachers." James 1:8 reads, "He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." How true that is! One cannot trust a double-minded person because he is unstable; he flits from here to there. One never knows what corner he will be in that week. James' brother, Jesus, says in Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Consider the principle here. God is interested in loyalty. He wants us to be loyal to Him, as well as to those through whom He is speaking. Therefore, it is best, for our own growth, to find one such minister and stick to him. Then we will not be guilty of heaping up to ourselves teachers, for the basic motivation of doing so is self-satisfaction. And how often does that get us into trouble?
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Itching Ears
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