The Passion of Job: Why Job suffered and what we can learn from it

Chapter 3: Identifying the Loss of Awe

     The goal of chapter one was to highlightthe importance of awe in the life of the believer. Understanding that a sense of wonder is vitalto a right relationship with God, the problem for a believer that has lost thatwonder is how to recover it. As with anyissue involving God the best place to turn to is His Word. Hence, the purpose of chapter two was simplyto establish that the Book of Job is the perfect guide for a study of theimportance of awe. Now, it is time toexplore what it means to loss your awe.

Mark Buchanan in his book "Your God is Too Safe" describes a typical Christian that is in his terms "stuck" as a believer. This believer can't seem to cross over the boarder into a full relationship with Christ. His picture of such a person is very much like someone who has lost or never found their awe of God. As he puts it:

We go to church, we sing, we pray, we listen to the Word read and preached. Maybe we take notes. Maybe we even lead some of it. And maybe our slow hearts burn within us. But walking away—just strolling to our car in the church parking lot, fifty-seven steps away—the conviction, "He's alive!" dribbles down like water held in the hand. Monday morning, it's still hard to get out of bed.

Awe is something that exists beyond the boundaries of the church building, beyond an hour or two on a Sunday morning. Yet, Buchanan's "stuck" Christians have nothing to take with them when they leave, nothing to sustain them while in the world. In part this is what it means to lose your awe. It means that you can not move beyond a Sunday morning experience of God to a full relationship with Him that knows no boundaries. If your life fits Buchanan's description then you have lost your awe.

Consider the lives of three fictitious believers;call them Bob, Sally, and Jim. All threeattend the same church on a regular basis. All three believe that Christ died for their sins. But each has a slightly different view of thelife of a Christian. Take Bob, forexample, his life does not seem to be all it could be. He does not seem to be able to advance in hisjob. He always seems to have moneyproblems. His health is not very goodbut he seems to manage. On Sundays, whenthe pastor asks for prayer requests, Bob almost always stands up and asks forhelp in some area of his life. Yet, whenit comes to church activities, Bob is always the first to volunteer. He is the first to arrive and the last toleave church functions. He always has anopinion on how things should be done. The only thing that appears to get Bob upset is when he is not includedin some church event. If he is notinvolved he tries to get involved. If heis left out, he gets angry.

On the other hand, Sally does not get too involved in church activities. She will attend a few but she has a busy social life outside of church. Her life appears to be perfect. In fact, she never has a prayer request and she feels quite blessed. She is a little tired of Bob's constant request for prayer. She even finds herself rolling her eyes every time Bob raises his hand to share a problem in his life. Sally is convinced that Bob's life could be as perfect as hers if he would only trust the Lord.

Jim's life is quieter than either Sally or Bob's. He is satisfied with his life and feels at peace with God. He is knows that God is love and that specifically, God loves him. As a result, Jim is content to go to church, thank God for His love, sing the hymns, listen to the message and leave assured that God's love is real. He is somewhat bothered when something unexpected happens at church. Like last Sunday when the youth took over the worship service and presented some new songs. But the thing that gets him most upset is when the pastor's message somehow minimizes the love of God. As far as Jim is concerned, every message should end with a statement of God's infinite love and a call for those who don't know His love to come forward.

What is the common characteristic between Bob, Sally, and Jim? I think that all three have lost their sense of awe of God. God is not a mystery to any of them. Each, in their own way, feel like they have the concept of God down pat. Bob appears to think that he is indispensable to the church. Without his contribution, God's Work could not get done. Sally appears to feel that if you are right with God then your life will be blessed like hers. Therefore anyone with problems in their life be it financial, health, or relationship must have some hidden sin. Jim appears to have a limited view of God. God, to Jim, is love and everything about God can be described in terms of love. As part of this limited view of God, Jim is also stuck in a ritual of worship. All three display one or more of the warning signs of a loss of awe. That loss may be evident in their behavior but it is only detectable in their hearts. So your job is not to go out and find the Bob, Sally or Jim in your church and try to set them right. Your job is to recognize the Bob, Sally or Jim in yourself. This chapter will examine these warning signs and help you identify those problem areas in your life that might lead to a loss of awe.