What is a servant of God to do when things are bad? When people won’t listen? When they prefer endless podcasts of foolish banter and speculation by people who only tell them what they want to hear? What do you do when they would rather watch a sporting event on television than worship Almighty God? What do you do when the deck is stacked against you?

Paul says keep at it and endure. That is the essence of my rendering of these powerful lines from the early part of Chapter Four of II Timothy.

II Timothy 4:1-5

1. I implore you before God and Messiah Jesus, who is destined to judge the living and the dead at the coming of his kingdom,

2. Preach the word! Take your stand in good times and bad times; you must advise, rebuke, and encourage. Patiently teach everyone.

3. There will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, they will desire to binge on ear tickling teachers.

4. They will turn their backs from the voice of the truth and turn toward myths.

5. But you must be clear headed about everything, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your obligations as a servant.

In verse 2, the word for preach is the root for kergyma, a fancy theological term that has come to mean the encapsulation of the gospel the early church preached — Jesus Christ and his atoning crucifixion, resurrected, and eventual return. Word here is ‘logos’, not ‘rhema’. Rhema is more of a grammatical idea of letters forming sounds that mean certain things. Logos is more of a philosophical idea made famous by The Fourth Gospel’s enthralling prologue where logos is used to describe Jesus himself. He is the word, the word made flesh.

Paul says keep preaching Jesus. That means to preach about the sin of immorality and excess and call people to repent. It means to preach about doing to the least of these and calling people to stand up for the weak. It means proclaiming life matters, whether that life is an unborn baby or an immigrant seeking refuge and a better way for his or her family. It means preaching Jesus not caesar. It means preaching Jesus not greed. It means preaching Jesus not comfort. It means preaching go and sin no more. It means preaching turn the other cheek. It means preaching our righteousness must exceed the pharisees. It means preaching the Good Samaritan. It means making everyone uncomfortable by proclaiming the truth that Jesus does not always agree with us.

When does this preaching need to happen? In good times and bad times. Again, not to get too deep, but the word for time is ‘kairos’ not ‘chronos’. Chronos is more a measurable time by watch or calendar. Kairos is all about the moment or as my daughter would say, vibe. My experience is people ‘vibe it’ and want preaching and pastoral care when they hurt, reflect, or want comfort. They do not want it when their job is good, stock portfolio is profiting, and health is A+.

Verses three and four remind me of conversations I’ve had with a lot of spiritual leaders of late regarding influence on the people we are trying to lead toward Jesus. We preachers have, at best, one, maybe two hours a week with folks. But left wing and right wing media that runs 24/7 combined with YouTubers, influencers, podcasters and TikTokers have limitless input into peoples behaviors.

Our current culture embodies the very definition of people who have turned away from sound teaching and instead just want to be filled with whatever echo-chamber they prefer. This is the very word-picture of ear tickling. All the while, this bad time, this bad season, preachers must not give up or give in. Paul says just preach the word. Even if they do turn their back on you and binge yet another podcast produced by someone who has no idea what he or she is talking about but really knows how to keep the clicks going and can titillate the imagination with raging conspiracy, unbelievable permissiveness, and what ifs.

In contrast, the servant of God must be clear headed. The word ‘clear headed’ is sometimes used for ‘sober’ but it is more than that. It also can mean ‘balanced.’ The servant of God is balanced. I use the word servant in verse 5, but the word could be translated as minister. A minister must be clear headed, balanced. I could not agree more. This is exactly what our world needs now more than anything else, clear headed, focused, servants of God who stay grounded in truth. This will bring hardships which must be endured. This will require hard work no one will understand. It will most definitely call a man or woman to find himself evangelizing even in the midst of the people who claim to follow Jesus. It will require a person who recognizes their obligation is to the Lord and not to an institution, a progressive movement, or a flag.

I am not a doomsayer, and my personality is generally one of optimism. God is always at work and he is always calling people to himself. But we cannot miss the point that these lines, combined with those of the first few verses of Chapter Three, seem like a self-portrait we’ve painted of culture in 2025. Powerless. Entertained. Stupid. Distracted. Greedy. Mean. Uncaring.

But you, if you choose to fulfill your obligation as a servant of God must be patient, teach, preach, and endure. Why? Because Jesus is coming, and he will judge the living and the dead. This is the hortatory end of II Timothy, as he will turn toward his own journey’s end and some last minute requests before he wraps it up. We will get to those in the next post.