Job CCVIII

 If someone’s friendship, respect, or loyalty is contingent on what you can do for them, just know that, much as they might insist that they’ll be with you through thick and thin, it’s situational, and once you can no longer provide the thing they’re after, they will be the first to disavow you.

We see this happening in churches nowadays, where the prominent members get preferential treatment, are pandered to, are placed in the front row and fawned over, but the moment they’re no longer able to write the checks, or their name wanes in popularity, and it’s no longer profitable for the preacher to associate himself with them, they’re discarded. Such individuals are within their rights to feel like they were used, whether for their money or their clout, because that’s precisely what happened.

Not only do they begin to grow bitter and disillusioned, but they also readily come to the conclusion that everyone’s the same, the whole church family thing is a farce, and they become resentful toward God Himself.

Whether prince or pauper, we are all the sheep of God’s pasture. When those in authority place value on something someone can offer rather than the individual himself, it always ends in disaster because it’s not the way the Word of God tells us the household of faith should operate. As one body, those who can help those who need it, but that does not make them superior to those in need.

While we busy ourselves mimicking the church of Corinth, we should acknowledge that they weren’t held up as an example to be followed, but a cautionary tale to be avoided. They did the same thing two thousand years ago: the rich sitting and congregating with the rich, the poor set apart and looked down upon, and when Paul wrote his letters to them, he gave them no quarter, nor did he excuse their behavior.

As Job’s trial progressed, so did his isolation and loneliness. We are not given to know when his own servant would no longer answer his call, but it likely occurred later than when his hardship commenced. The servant had seen Job’s trials intensify day after day and at some point had concluded that he wasn’t worth the bother. He wasn’t long for this world, so what did it matter if he pretended not to hear his master’s call? Herein lies the difference between a principled, honorable individual and an unethical one.

There is a broader theme here, one we can learn from, because oftentimes the servant takes it upon himself to covet the position of his master, and in so doing uses every opportunity to undermine him. When you see individuals who are meant to be servants disagreeing with the written word of the Master, you know that they are not content being a servant, but desire to usurp the authority of the one whom they claim to serve. They pretend not to hear His voice when He warns them to repent; they ignore His word when it gives explicit instructions about what the office demands, all the while hoping that men will look to them as the authority rather than to God.

I don’t care how well-known, how prominent, or how many titles the individual has assigned himself; if he attempts to downplay, disregard, or usurp the authority of scripture and make it his own, he is to be marked and avoided. He is no longer serving the Master faithfully but attempting to become a master in his own right. Unfortunately for them, there can be only one Master, and anyone other than Christ is a cheap imitation, floundering about, trying to magnify their own relevance at the expense of Jesus.

The one silver lining in this otherwise melancholic situation is that once your fair-weather faux-friends have gone, you realize God remains, and He is sufficient. The way forward for Job was now clear. He saw both the vanity of all things, the faithlessness of friends, family, and servants, and the all-importance of knowing God all at once.

God replaces every bullet point on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Instead of needing self-actualization, God. Instead of needing safety, esteem, or security, God. Instead of needing love from others or a sense of belonging, you have the love of God and know that you belong to Him.

God isn’t just one aspect in the believer’s life; He is everything in the life of the believer. He isn’t just an outer shell covering up a patchwork of hubris, rebellion, disobedience, doubt, and indecision, so those we come in contact with don’t shrink back in horror. When we are born again, we are transformed, made new, emptied of what we once were that we may be filled with Him, His presence, His Spirit, and His purpose for our lives.

Whether it’s Job’s declaration that he knew his Redeemer lives, and one day he would see Him for himself, or Paul’s testimony of having counted all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, both men had come to the same conclusion: God above all! God above my will, my desires, my wants, my needs, and my very life.

All of Him for half of you doesn’t work. Picking up your cross and following after Him on weekends, then doing whatever you want the rest of the week, doesn’t work either. Declaring yourself to be an ambassador of Christ when it costs you nothing, then shrinking away and denying Him like you were Peter by a bonfire at the slightest pushback, means you were never truly His to begin with, because true worship, obedience, and servitude aren’t situational.

Job’s faith in God gave him the eyes to see beyond his present situation. It gave him eyes to see the glory that would come, that once his skin was destroyed, he would see God in His glory and majesty. Faith allows us to see beyond our present struggles and gives us spiritual eyes to see the future glory. Faith doesn’t give us hope for a better tomorrow, but assurance of an eternity in His presence.         

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.