I have two questions. What is idolatry exactly? Is it just greed? Also, in 2 Timothy 4:3,” For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” What would these teachers be telling them?
Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God. In Isaiah 42:8 God said, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”
Even if people worship God and other things too, they are still committing idolatry. These other things can include money, possessions, status, power, position, almost anything you can name that becomes as important as God, including life itself.
As for 2 Tim. 4:3, what people most desire to hear is that God loves us all no matter what, so we don’t need to be born again. He isn’t really going to judge us for our sins, or send any of us to hell. Instead He’s going to save us all and give us an eternity filled with bliss. There are lots of variations on that theme, but that’s what it all boils down to.