Out Our Way: There stands Doc - Job 2:5-6

Out our way, there is the old saying "Ain't a horse that can't be rode, nor a cowboy that can't be throwed." Of course, some of us spend more time "getting launched" and flying into the dirt, rocks and cactus than others. As most of my faithful readers know, as a cowboy I am one of the worst to ever ride a cow pony - and getting tossed was pretty common. But ole "Doc" never meant to toss me - and when he stumbled, tripped, or kicked out at a stitch in his hind quarters, or I simply lost my sea and fell off - he never took off on me. Regardless of why I was unseated and crashed, he came to a stop and patiently waited for me to get back up and climb on once again.

That same loyalty was often demonstrated when I came out to saddle him up. When he was in the paddock, he would call out to me and come to the gate - but what was really impressive were those times I had to go out into the "back 40" with his halter and lead rope to find him and bring him in. There were other horses kept out there including his girlfriend "Babe" who was quite the tease. She loved to let me come up close to her and then suddenly whirl around and run off. "Ha ha! big foolum!" This was especially true when there were other horses around - for she delighted in running into them, causing them to panic and run as well. But not ole Doc.

I would approach the mini-herd with rope in hand, Babe would let me get close, then she would whirl away and panic all the other horses into following her lead on a wild run in the opposite direction. But not Doc, who stood there waiting, ears up and focused on me. You see, Doc and I had something of a bond after six years working cows together. We were "pards." Babe was a goof, the other horses were strangers, but Doc was part of me and I was part of him.

I have read, and often shared with you, the claim by some Biblical scholars that Job is the most popular book in the Bible. How many of us, like Job, got "dusted" time and time again even though we thought we were the "good guys" and thus immune from trials and tribulations. Some "snake oil" preachers try to sell that false claim and rake in thousands for the ignorant and gullible. The "gospel" they preach is not the Word of God - but their word in which they cherry pick Bible verses they re-interpret to sell their "product." The Biblically illiterate who choose to trust in the "sales pitch" instead of investigating for themselves get swindled time and time again unless and until they wake up. Discovering that their huge donations did not protect them any more than buying magic charms and potions from a magic shop or fortuneteller - they not only lose their faith in the "snake oil preacher" but in God Himself.

In Job, many of his "religious" friends turned out to be as ignorant of Scripture and of the Lord as the worst "snake oil" preacher. Indeed, their attempts to "explain" and " defend" bad theology caused Job even greater anguish and pain, and like the phony preachers whose glitzy fake gospel messages lead so many astray, turned out to actually serve Satan instead of God. And worse, when the fake gospel is exposed, many still assume it is the real Gospel and assume it is also fake. Like those horses who did not know me and were easily panicked and stampeded by Babe, so many who discover these so called "evangelicals" are "working for the other side" lumping all evangelicals into the same camp and thus judging all who bear the name to be equally false.

Even some supposed Christians often make the same mistake and add to the confusion.

But then there is Job. Despite all his trails and the bad theology of his friends, he still trusted God. His friends, in their own ignorance, sought to convince Job to adopt their skewed theology and easy answers instead of continuing to challenge and seek God, nevertheless, they failed to do so. Despite his own doubts and shaken faith, he refused to panic or be stampeded and stood firm.

"Though He slay me, I will trust in Him! Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him." Job 13:15.

And so, in the end, when we discover his friends were the ones with the bad theology and actually were ignorantly serving the "other side," Job's refusal to give up demonstrated what true faith and loyalty to God looks like.

The image I carry today is walking up that hill to find Doc standing firm even as Babe, who knew who I was and why I was coming, pretended I was someone to fear and deviously convinced the other horses who did not yet know me to panic and run away. But there stands Doc.

There are no easy answers to the questions we all carry. There are many who will seek to speak for God, and we should listen to them and consider what they say. But let us also remember, neither we nor they are God. In all things we must seek the Way of God rather than simply blindly following the herd. Avoiding the barrow ditch on the right side of the road by swerving into the barrow ditch on the left still puts us in the ditch and not on the highway. 

Be blessed and be a blessing.

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].