habez
Mike Abendroth
THE PRAYER OF JOB
By Skippy R.
When the recent May/June 2001 issue of The Door was delayed and then canned
altogether, the staff could have been shocked and dismayed. But we weren't.
Instead we all looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
We knew it was "The Prayer of Job," coming to pass.
Ever since our editor picked up "The Prayer of Job" at our local Christian
book store, the staff has been reciting its words as a mantra. The small but
powerful devotional book is climbing the best-seller lists and transforming
lives by re-adjusting people's attitudes toward success and tragedy.
Long hidden in an obscure part of the Bible just before the Psalms (you may
have to consult the table of contents to find it), the Book of Job is a
revelation to many churchgoers. The book is based on the prayer of Job
recorded in Chapter 14: vss. 1, 10, 22: "Man that is born of woman is of few
days and full of trouble. Man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the
ghost, and where is he? His flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul
within him shall mourn."
The concept is similar to the popular book "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce
Wilkinson. That work, based on a brief, silly little prayer mentioned in I
Chronicles 4:9,10, sold millions of copies. The new Job-based book is less
widely known, but is having an impact nonetheless, showing up everywhere,
from U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's daily Bible studies in the Justice
Department to high school baccalaureate speeches to pulpits around the
country.
Where the earlier book encouraged readers to pray for God to "extend their
territory," readers of The Prayer of Job tend to "hunker down and keep a low
profile" according to author Peter Strephgum. The former campaign advisor for
Al Gore in Florida left politics soon after the 2000 election and authored
the book during a time of deep reflection.
The book's dust jacket contains endorsements from Navy Cmdr. Scott Waddle,
captain of the USS Greenville, ("It bouyed my spirits.") and former FBI
director Louis Freeh ("After our bungling of the cases of the spy Robert
Hanssen, scientist Wen Ho Lee and the McVeigh trial documents, this book was
like a tonic.").
Other personal testimonies abound.
Steve Jinks, associate pastor at a medium-sized Baptist church in Shreveport,
La., reported his career was at a standstill, his children were misbehaving
at school and his bank account was depleted to single digits. " I picked up
'The Prayer of Job' at the local Joshua's Book Store, and
the next day an inspector told us our house was infested with giant Formosan
termites and toxic black mold. It was amazing how the text of the prayer
reminded me of a simple truth... things can always get worse."
Layman and plumber's helper Bob Kindersen of St. Paul, Minn., admitted he'd
never read Job before, but said "the guy must'a been readin' my mind" because
his experiences paralleled his own. "Well, almost anyway. If you lose the
boils. But Job's friends, those guys I recognize"
The theology of "The Prayer of Job" has become a matter of debate. Despite
it's growing popularity, some theologians warn the book is pandering to a
sado-masochistic streak in American religion akin to Presbyterianism.
"Soon we'll be having to explain every bad circumstance as being solely from
the hand of God rather than blaming it on Satan, the TV networks, Bill
Clinton or the IRS," said Pastor Sid Precious of Holy Trinkets Church of the
Kudzu in Raleigh, N.C. With the "Prayer of Job" as their
guide, "people might not even need or want professional counseling at all."
Bishop S.T.D. Takes of Greater Bullion Community Church in Houston, agreed.
"Half my sermons are spent reassuring the congregation that God really isn't
behind the bad things that happen to them; that if they just behave, pray
more and give more, God will snap to the fact that he made a mistake and go
back and fix it." Richly illustrated with images of suffering from around the
world, the book is causing many to rethink their definition of what is "good."
"The philosophy has been likened to the Deistic 'watchmaker' view of God,"
said Dr. John Won Ton, professor of divine benign neglect at Evangelical
Grace Seminary in San Francisco, "except in this instance the watchmaker
winds up the timepiece and then seems to smash it against
the wall. The point seems to be that whatever God does is good, no matter how
it looks to us. God is in control. It's a concept at once refreshing and
subversive to popular religion, not to mention to the human propensity to
whine."
Industry experts say the growing number of copies sold is due to the habit of
some people tearing up their copy and burning it in a rage, then going back
to buy another book for themselves and a friend. "It's a book that elicits a
wide range of responses," Won Ton said.
The phenomenon is even sparking a whole industry of "Prayer of Job"
paraphernalia, including "Prayer of Job" sackcloth vests, plastic stick-on
boils, designer scraping postherds and "Just Curse God and Die" multi-colored
bead bracelets.
************
`"The Prayer of Job" is available for $12.99 through Land of Uz Publishers,
(although there is a 10-week delay in order fulfillment due to a breakdown at
their Birmingham, Ala., press).The book's website, www.prayerofjob.com,
should be repaired and functioning sometime after
Sept. 12. A Land of Uz Publishers press release June 8 apologized to
purchasers of the book for the poor print quality of the first press run,
which caused ink to rub off on reader's hands.--
Thanks.
„Und das Wort wurde Fleisch und wohnte unter
uns; und wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit, eine
Herrlichkeit als des Eingeborenen vom Vater,
voller Gnade und Wahrheit.“ Johannes 1:1, 14
Wir wünschen euch ein gesegnete
Weihnachtsfest!
Mike Abendroth