Aren’t you entitled to my opinion?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

HEALTH WARNING: there is more nonsense than gospel here. Don't be tempted to cut out Eliphaz's words to stick on your fridge.

We are entering the long stretch of this book which I think is bound, maybe even designed, to frustrate us as much as an awkward Facebook comments exchange.

Isn’t it cringe-inducingly relatable? Job has shared his status, and Eliphaz piles in with assumptions based on half-baked theology, judgments based on no understanding of (or asking about) Job's circumstances, and opinions framed spiritually as if they were God's wisdom, but with less substance than a puff of incense.

We know that Job did not do anything wrong. Eliphaz assumes that he did, or else he would not be suffering. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

No wonder Job becomes, if this is possible, even more upset. Where he had been even tempered and recognised God's right to give and take away, his prayer is now becoming flavoured by the "bitterness" which is brewing complaint in his soul. It's well spoken, poetic, but painful to see grace being displaced by a desire for self-justification.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

This distorted picture is not good for drawing any conclusions about God's nature. It does show me that while God's awesome power and many aspects of his character can be widely recognised, people who only live with the idea of God will end up frustrated and fighting, while God really wants a relationship with us.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

To be honest, one reason I get frustrated with the story from here is that I don’t just relate to Job for being misunderstood and unfairly criticised. I also relate to Eliphaz. I want to think that I know what’s going on, that I understand more than I really do, and that my opinion can therefore be presented as fact. I need to learn from where this is going and avoid that.

What can I do instead? In some cases, I think I need to be better at staying quiet and listening. In many cases, I’d be better advised to pray before offering any advice. I sometimes forget that even well-intentioned advice isn’t as good as seeking to understand.

Who am I going to share this with?

Next time I’m in a situation where I believe I could give advice, even if asked for it specifically, I will spend more time asking, listening, praying and trying to understand.