I will never
admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity (Job 27:5).
One after another,
first Eliphaz, then Bildad, and finally Zophar, Job’s three friends spout off
the same age-old retribution wisdom. If you’re suffering, it must be because
you sinned. Humble yourself and be restored.
But Job couldn’t
humble himself. He had nothing to confess. To feign guilt just to gain relief
wouldn’t have been right. Job was not about to let God off the hook just to
ease his own discomfort.
Is there a lesson
here for us? How often do we fall on our own sword, when we know we’re not in
the wrong, just to make peace? If Job is a theodicy, a defense of God’s justice in the face of
seemingly contradictory evidence, then it is also a study in the ethics of
conflict.
How many times have
I taken one for the team? While it sounds noble, it may be no better than a prizefighter taking a
dive. Romans 12:18 reads: If it is possible, as far as it depends on
you, live at peace with everyone. But avoiding conflict isn’t always the
ethical thing to do. Standing our ground may be more Christian than retreat.
Winning a battle for my own glory certainly does not display a proper
Christ-like attitude, but falling to the mat just to avoid the unpleasantness
of conflict doesn’t either.
Have you ever kept
the peace and lived to regret it?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Are you presently
struggling about how to deal with a conflict? Ask God first for a discerning
spirit, and second for the courage to do the right thing, whether that is to
fight or to fold.
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