Today’s Scripture Reading (June 5, 2018): Job 15
Philosopher Noam Chomsky argues that there
was a change in the political landscape after Jimmy Carter was elected to the Oval Office. Carter was the
first President of the United States to make a point of presenting himself as a
“born again Christian.” Suddenly, every presidential candidate began to
understand that they could pick up a third of the vote by simply going to
church. It was a thought that seemed to be absent from the political landscape
before that time. Until Carter, the press didn’t ask about the religious
beliefs or church-going practices of any of the candidates for the highest
office in the land. But Jimmy Carter changed that. Chomsky goes on to comment
that “Bill Clinton is probably about as religious as I am, meaning
zero, but his managers made a point of making sure that every Sunday morning he
was in the Baptist church singing hymns.”
I would argue that the day of Jimmy Carter has finally come to an end. Donald Trump seems
to prove that Christians will fall in line behind candidates who promise to
line their pocketbook and allow them to shoot guns, neither of which seems to
have much support biblically. In the current
political climate, we seem to have lost the core Christian ideals of “love one
another” (John 13:34) and “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39) and that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did for me [Jesus]” (Matthew 25:40).
For this reason, I often abhor using both the terms “born again” and
“Christian,” because the terms seem to have taken on a political meaning rather
than a faith-based understanding. While some would argue that we need more
separation between church and state, the truth is that the separation seems to
be complete. As long as you can make us money, we will elect you and ignore any
other moral shortcomings. Or maybe the
economy has become our religion, and we simply
don’t care about how the money was created.
I will be honest; that thought scares me.
We need to hear the same thought in the argument being presented against Job. It is obvious that
because God is not blessing Job financially, or in any social ways or with good
health, then Job must be outside of the will of God. If he were blameless in the sight of God, then he
would still be rich. The measure of a man’s faith is in how much money he has
in his pocket.
Job argues that this is not true. Job insists that
he is a believer and he has completed the sacrifices to his God, even more than
was necessary. And the reader knows that Job is, in fact, telling the truth because
these things were verified in the
introduction of the story. But Eliphaz responds
that if Job were telling the truth, then why would anyone want to follow God.
If God does not pay me or give me good
health, then why would anyone fall down
at his altar. According to Eliphaz, Job’s words are going to build a barrier
against faith in God. Who would want to worship God and still end up like Job?
And if our endpoint
is ourselves, then the words of Eliphaz make sense. But that has never been the
call of God. Countless worshippers have understood something else that Jesus
said. Go and make a difference in the world. Give yourself away. Be salt and be
light in the world. Ultimately, the problem with Christianity is that we are
not doing that. We want the gain to be ours, and we promise to share (maybe,
under the right circumstances). But those aren’t our instructions. Job has lost himself in the pursuit of God. And
the promise of Jesus is “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever
loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). The act of losing yourself and
still following God is true piety; and the reason why we care for the memories
of Saints like Mother Theresa, and Presidents like Jimmy Carter.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 16
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