When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk. – Job 18:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29, 2012): Job 18

I sometimes wonder when we will stop talking about the things that we seem to like to talk about. I am going to get in trouble here, and I recognize that I am not an American – and I don’t really want to reveal my political leanings - but I have to admit that sometimes I don’t get it. People that call themselves followers of Christ preaching hate for a person or a racial group – or even a President. Now before someone accuses me of thinking it is different on my side of the border, It happens in Canada too. Just ask someone in the west how they feel about the Bloc Quebecois – or anybody from the east about how they feel about Alberta. And so we make speeches, or Facebook entries, or tweets from our Twitter accounts – and sometimes I just want to scream – STOP. Can we just listen to what it is that we are saying. Is this really what we believe? Or are we just making speeches of words that sound good and will get our emotions going and our supporters riled up for the next round of the fight.

It is the point in the conversation that Bildad has come to. So far everyone is making speeches (and there are a lot more speeches still to come), but Bildad wants to urge caution. His question is this - “what is it that we really believe? And where is it that we should go from here?

And while this speech (and yes it is still a speech) has a great beginning, it will also begins to degrade itself. Bildad soon starts to reveal with his mouth the rational belief system which will later get the whole group of men in trouble with God.

But, even though I may not agree with where Bildad takes the conversation, it is still a good question. What do you believe? For me, and I can only really answer this question for myself, believe that my God is a God of love. That is his main attribute. So, if I am trying to reflect him, everything that flows out of me needs to reflect that basic belief in love. And the truth is that if those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ could just master that one thing, our world would be changed. If we could have just learned to love, it wouldn’t have taken us so long to get rid of slavery, to recognize the equality between the sexes and between the races - and wars would be a lot harder to fight

.

And, it would change the face of politics all over what we call the Western world. But, maybe that is a change that we need to consider. Maybe it is time to stop making the speeches and just start talking to each other – and listening to each other.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 19