Craig Ferguson, Pat Robertson, Job and gumball machines.
Craig Ferguson, a late night TV host, made an absolutely brilliant statement. Probably one of the best statements I’ve heard recently, and as far as I know, he’s not a Jesus follower. He was doing a bit on Pat Robertson’s recent prediction of mass killings at the end of 2007.
Ferguson said,
“I think what happens is that some of these televangelists, they prey on the good-will of the congregation… People flock to these preachers, cause they want someone to tell them everything is gonna be all right. But here’s my thing, you can’t have certainty and faith. You can’t. You can’t have them at the same time. If you have faith, you don’t need certainty. If you have certainty, you don’t need faith. They can’t coexist. It doesn’t make sense. You can’t be hungry and full. You can’t be drunk and sober. You can’t be fat and thin. It doesn’t make any sense.”
This is an absolutely fascinating statement. If we have faith, we do so many of us flock to those public figures that predict the future through “prophecy” or promise the “best life now” or promise healing. Where is the faith in that? Are we not simply running off to soothe sayers? What is the difference, other than some use the name of Jesus and others don’t?
It reminds me of Job’s story, in some ways. It all came crashing down on poor Job. When I think I’m having a bad day, I just think of Job…puts things in perspective. Job lost his house, his children, his wealth, and then to make a bad day worse, his wife tells him “Why don’t you just curse God and die.” My husband loves when I say that to him.
So, there Job is, when his friends show up. The see how absolutely miserable he is. Scripture says that he looked so bad, they hardly recognized him. His friends sat with him for 7 days, mourning with him. But 7 days of mourning was about all they could handle. I think that we are not much different. We can only stand someone else’s grief for so long before we have to jump in and “fix it”. But that’s a story for another day….
His friend Eliphaz (I’ll call him Eli) jumps in and says, “Hey, Job, do you mind if I jump in here?” From there, Eli goes on to tell Job that the innocent prosper and the wicked get what they deserve. Hmmm…what was Eli implying?
Then old Bildad (Bill for short) weighs in. He suggests that perhaps Job’s children deserved to die for their sins and that if Job would simply repent, then certainly God would restore him.
As if this isn’t enough, then Zophar (Zoe for short) jumps in. He proceeds to tell Job that he is a mocker and a babbler and that he got LESS than he deserved from God as punishment.
Round and round it goes….for chapter after chapter. Eli, Bill and Zoe accuse and condemn Job (apparently, these guys have never heard of a fair fight). Job doesn’t fear God, Job is wicked, Job is clearly not listening to God. Of course, Job spends much time attempting to vindicate himself before his 3 “friends”. However, at some point the convo stops, because his 3 friends were disgusted with Job, as he was “righteous in his own eyes.” Then, to Job’s delight I’m sure, another friend swings by Job’s pad. I’ll call him Eli Jr. (no relation to the older Eli). Junior is already in a right state by the time he speaks. He was ticked with Job for justifying himself. He was ticked with the older 3 men, because they were unsuccessful at proving Job wrong. Junior takes 5 chapters and just lets Job have it.
Jehovah shows up.
I just love God. He has a fabulous sense of humor. So, God shows up and speaks to Job out of the storm. Even this is a clever little play on words. I think when God shows up, He must show up in the midst of a tempest, but Job was experiencing quite a tempest of his own. So God tells Job …
“Ok, Mister Man…get ready for me. I will now ask the questions, and YOU can answer.” God proceeds to ask Job questions like “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world? Can you create lightening so that it says to you ‘Here I am?” Stuff like this. I’m thinking Job was feeling a bit humble. About halfway through God’s tirade, Job breaks in and says “Ok, Ok, You are right, God, I’ll shut up”. But God isn’t done with Job, yet. God continues to question Job with more humbling questions. One of my favorite questions that God asks is “Will you play with the leviathan like a bird, or put him on a leash for your girls?”. That’s funny. I don’t care what you say.
So, as the story wraps up, Job repents. He admits that he had no business questioning God or His purposes. Then, here comes the beautiful part, God totally OWNED Job’s friends. He tells them “that you have not spoken rightly of Me and that Job has. IF Job will pray for you, I will accept Job’s prayer and not deal accordingly with you.” BURN. I bet that Job’s friends were glad that Job was not the vindictive type. Job DID pray for his friends and God accepted Job’s prayers.
So, if you’re still with me, you may be wondering, “What the heck does this have to do with Pat Robertson and Craig Ferguson?” Well maybe, not much. However, I think it speaks to this need for us to have all the answers. Pray and God will heal. Be holy and God will bless you. Seek God and He will tell you the future so you can prepare.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
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