Monday, March 20, 2006

The book of Job and glib positive thinking

Bob at Gratitude and Hoopla has been reading the book of Job, and Bob thinks the church is as fond of easy answers as Job's comforters:
We in the church today are not so much plagued by miserable comforters as pre-occupied with positive-thinking. Today's Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar would not be judgmental cads, but glib positive-thinkers, with a message like, "Cheer up, Job. God's got a wonderful plan for your life, just you wait and see." It's a message no less inappropriate. I have a feeling that Job would have found it every bit as unsatisfying as the dour message of his three so-called friends. God's response, on the other hand, might have been exactly the same: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?"
Good points. And I hope Bob will forgive me for quoting his concluding paragraph.

2 Comments:

Blogger russn said...

Milton,

Thanks for pointing me to this posting. This weekend our guest pastor made the comment he was there to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

I love Billy Graham's response to a reporter's question on Hurricane Katrina. His answer was simply "I don't know."

Russ

8:26 PM, March 21, 2006  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

Sounds like a good answer to me.

6:29 AM, March 22, 2006  

Post a Comment

<< Home