Since “the problem of Evil” is such a classic conundrum, few people look beyond that issue when studying the book of Job. However, while reading through Job, I was impressed by a different message. As I read about his legendary “comforters”, I thought about how often we modern religiosos fall into a similar pattern. If someone is sick or financially destitute or unpopular, we quickly pass judgment that this person must have been responsible for bringing this on themselves.
Of course, if we looked before we leaped to judgment we would quickly be aware that many people get where they are through circumstances that most of us would also not have anticipated.
-Health costs beyond what insurance covers
-Natural disaster that wipes out home and/or business
-Mental illness
-Cheated (think Bernie Madoff)
Jesus talked about Galileans who had been killed by Pilate or others who died when a tower fell on them. He said that they were no more guilty of sin than the rest of us (Luke 13:1-5). Jesus elsewhere (Matthew 5:44) states that God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
In the post-fall world, bad things do happen to good people. Indeed, the Bible makes clear that even bad people are valuable because they are created in God’s image. So the next time I think, “Why is he asking me for money?” instead of “There but for the grace of God go I,” I hope I will remember Job’s comforters and change my attitude.
