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Do We Have Job’s Friends’ Flawed Theology?
Studying Job, we find two conclusions his friends repeatedly came to concerning Job which are theologically flawed. This is because they believed in an unyielding law of retribution from God: Sinners are cursed and therefore suffer; the Righteous are blessed and therefore live a life of ease. This led to Job’s friends to:
1. Condemn Job unnecessarily. Their theology forced them to accuse Job that he was a sinner and yet at the beginning he was not. At the end, God condemns their rash theological declarations concerning Himself as to why Job was suffering. Job is suffering because Job is a sinner cursed by God.
2. Plead for Job to repent of his sins. Their theology impelled them to encourage Job to repent. However, he could not in good conscience admit he did something he didn’t. If he did, then he would lie about sinning which means he would sin in confessing his sinning.
Are we today guilty of the same pleas today?
1. Does our theology force us to become God’s judge, by judging people are going to hell, when God has not made that declaration? Do we need to be more careful in pronouncing judgment?
2. Does our theology impel us to plead for some to be “rebaptized” because they were not baptized in a “church of Christ”? Some might counter, “If he doesn’t need to, there is no harm. He will just get wet.” However, if someone is “rebaptized” which is “for the forgiveness of sins” to placate us for “church membership”, are we again forcing them to lie about their need for forgiveness and even lie about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do we need to be more careful that baptism doesn’t become a sectarian act?
There is nothing new under the sun, including a flawed theology. Job has many themes, the main one being, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9). Satan is asking if Job (and eventually his friends) has a flawed theology about God’s relationship with His people. The question for us today is, do we?
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