Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? – Job 8:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 19, 2024): Job 8

Do you ever question what is right and what is wrong? I mean, how do you know what is right? And are there gray areas? I have a few very black-and-white friends; they seem to have a more concrete idea of right and wrong than I do. For me, there are gradients. Some things are more wrong than others.

Maybe a case in point is the much-maligned opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics. At one point, a group of drag queens formed a tableau reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, "The Last Supper." Now, the artistic director of the "tableau" maintains that it was not the Last Supper they were aiming for but a meeting with the Greek God Dionysus. The problem with the response is that the "tableau" was similar to da Vinci's famous painting, whether that was intentional or not.

So, the Christian community, especially on the far right, was up in arms, offended by the Drag Queen Last Supper. Was I offended by the "tableau?" If it was a representation of Dionysus, I wish it was done differently. But if I was offended by something, it was more by the hate that seemed to bubble over from the Christian Community toward the participants in the summer "tableau." We are supposed to be defined by our love, not by what we might find offensive. The Christian response to the "tableau" has not supported the name of our God; it has thrown dirt on that name.

Job asks a question: Does God pervert what is right? But there is a problem with the question. God defines what is right. There is a question about whether a political leader can break the law when he is the one who establishes the law. Richard Nixon maintained that the President of the United States could not break the law because, by definition, anything the President does is legal. That might have been true if the President was a King a few centuries ago. But today, that question is in debate. But with God, it is true.

God does not just do what is right or act justly. He is the embodiment of everything good. He is what is right and just. Because of that, God cannot pervert either justice or what is right. We might be able to take what is wrong and pretend that it is correct, but God can't. By definition, God can only do what is right and just. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 9