Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance
Last year I read Charles Swindoll's Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance.
What I liked:
Swindoll was uncompromising in his explanation of the sovereignty of God. He made no attempt to explain away God's involvement in sending us difficulty, but instead encouraged readers to embrace the truth of God's sovereignty in doing so.
Swindoll argued that in Job 12, Job is declaring: "The God I serve takes delight in undoing human activities and in dismantling human enterprises, and in the process, executing His miraculous undertakings."
On the effects of suffering, Swindoll used a good quote from an unknown source: "Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart." God did that in my life.
Swindoll also wrote that any nurse can tell you that "tact fades as pain progresses . . . the continuation of anguish that finally wears the soul down to raw, red reality." People say I lack tact, so maybe that is what happened to me after my car accident. I'd better not use it as an excuse though!
Swindoll is also good on the importance of theology: "Sound theology provides a foundation like nothing else . . . Be careful that you never substitute psychological gobbledygook for good theology. Work hard at not weakening your theology by double talk."
He defines endurance and wisdom well:
Endurance is "a long obedience in the same direction."
Wisdom is "looking at life from God's point of view."
"That is why it's so valuable to think God's thoughts after Him. You look at difficulties and tests as God looks at them."
Trouble can be viewed either as "an intrusion, an outrage" or as "an opportunity to respond in specific obedience to God's will."
What I did not like:
The style is chatty and Swindoll takes a long time to make his points. He goes over the story of Job many times.
Swindoll appeared to condone divorce in situations that are not Biblical.
Swindoll treated children rebelling against their parents as an ordinary and expected part of life. He wrote that it was a "stage", and reinforced stereotypical low expectations of teenagers. The Rebelution (linked to in my sidebar) challenges such expectations. Rebellion against parents is no more an acceptable "stage" for Christians than a "stage" of adultery, stealing, or lying.
Our cultural acceptance of rebellious children is also one reasons most modern Christians do not view having many children as a blessing. God gave Job 10 children as a blessing following his devastating losses. With current expectations of the outcome of childrearing, modern Christians are more likely to think that a curse.
God recently showed me how severely rebellion against my parents damaged my life. Before I knew Him, my disregard of my parent's instruction was a key reason for involvement in other sins. Any young adult who disregards parental instruction opens him or herself up to numerous dangers.
In His grace, God has made provision for all our sins through placing the punishment for them upon His Son Jesus. Our response needs to be confession, not accomodation, of the sins that caused His sacrifice.
