Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” Job 42:1-6 MSG

Job no longer had to say things in theory about God because he now had experience with God. Instead of having a sermon, Job had a testimony. While the sermon may be the weapon of the preacher, the testimony is the weapon of the foot soldier. Foot soldiers are always being strategically positioned for the kingdom’s expansion. All they need is armament.

No one is better located than you and I are within our relational networks. But if all we have to say is, “Pastor says this or the Bible says that, and hey, would you like to go to church with me?” we are shooting with plastic bows and arrows. Our world is filled with Christian materials that the faithful regularly gorge themselves on; the world wants to know what all this knowledge has done for you and I. “Is your God real. Then, please, show me.”

In the midst of a message I was sharing a few years ago, a light came on: I had the keen awareness that I was an accomplice to a great crime. I had had a rich time in preparation. I had gained real nourishment from it. But, here I was, momma bird regurgitating what I’d digested to many who should have been kicked out of the nest a long time ago. To be fair, some were self-feeders. But many had been conditioned by the year-after-year, week-to-week servings from the pastor. The pastor would have better equipped these baby birds to not grow up dependent on him. The true equipper makes sure the babies learn to feed themselves. He would personally demonstrate how babies grow up to have their own firsthand stories of God’s involvement in their lives. He would teach them how to think and dream and live in the light of Truth, enabling them to bend a bow of bronze and enter into the battle in their own strategic theater of operations with their own strategic God-given weaponry.

The church I was a part of called itself a sheep-shed. Given the importance of identity, I think that was unfortunate. I believe the status quo conditions us would-be warriors to remain as sheep. If we are an army someone is going to have to impart a greater identity to us than that of “witless creatures dependent on another to feed us and tell us what to do.” Granted some will remain babes and may always need bottle-fed; for most of us, however, our passivity and lethargy are due to the seconhand food we consume. (And we complain, we aren’t being fed well?) It’s not that the food wasn’t excellent fare when the pastor chewed on it; he got the lion-share of benefit, though–not the flock.

When I see what transpired in Job’s life to silence the babbler and encourage the listener, I tremble. How many of us would sign up for personal testimony class if we had to pay the tuition Job did? It might be a very small class since much of our spiritual diet has been laced with cheap grace. We have been preached a gospel in the west that says salvation is a free gift and it will cost you nothing. The Bible portrays the gospel of the kingdom which is free yet, mysteriously, will cost us everything.

Not only do preachers condition sheep—sheep condition preachers. If sheep hear a regular barrage of Jesus’ hard sayings, they will begin to complain about the diet. Giving and attendance may even fall off.  When the amens die out, most pastors can project where this will lead and resume using words more pleasing to the ear (which indirectly stabilize the cash flow).

Once I taught on Job in an adult Sunday school class, and a sincere believer suggested that the book of Job should not be taken seriously because it did not fit well with the theology in the rest of scripture. He said, “After all, its only one book.” He could make this statement because his personal reflection had been flavored with pastor’s words, which focused on blessing, power, and intimacy. The possibility of suffering and any redemptive purpose in it had been surgically removed from the gospel in this setting.

Father… I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have firsthand knowledge—from my own eyes and ears. I’m sorry—forgive me. By your grace, I’ll never do that again, I promise. I’ll never again live on the crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor. Deliver me from trivializing Your majesty and mystery with my speculative babbling. Continue to teach me to let you do the talking and ask the questions. Help me to simply listen. Amen.

 

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