Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 February 2011 16:12:27
Job is continuing to be great and is revealing some v. clever dry humour within it. Just like Shakespeare the writer of Job puts in some hilarious yet cutting insults which liven the story up. This morning in Job 30:1 - 32:22 began with a brilliant one:
"But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheepdogs." (NIV version)
Just how cutting is that.
The writer also has Job being mocked in song, although we are not told what song it is.
This mornings OT reading finished with an interesting comment on youth and impatient conservatism. The "friends" are basically speechless and unable to reply an longer to Job's reasoning. This serverley annoys the young firebrand who talks about the way he has previously kept quiet out of respect for the older men but is now bursting to let it all out, (like new wine in a wineskin).
I think one reason this young chap struck a chord with me was not because of any recognition of my self in him but rather it had to do with the recent Evangelical Alliance/ Christian Research findings I've been reading. This report which can be read by following this link to the EA site. Within it there is some refining of the data which reveals whilst 51% of all Evangelicals sampled agree strongly and 20% agree a little , so 70% in total agree women and men should be eligable for all roles within the church when you look at young people this figure falls. Only 38% of young people strongly believe that young people should be eligable for all roles within the church. The data report did not give the figures for those who agreed a little, that would be interesting to see.
Now, looking at the data report it is not possible to tell which festivals or churches these young people come from but I am taking a guess that the denominational profile of the young people would come into play here.
However, the question it raises, which goes back to Job, is are our "young people" more conservative and are they becoming frustrated with an older generation who are stopping arguing and seeking to find a consensus because they're running out of arguments? If this is the case what are the consequences going to be?
Going back to the readings NT was Matt 22:15 - 46Jesus employed an interesting tactic with the religious elite who were still taking up his time asking him stuff in order to trick him. After answering first the Pharisees and then the Saducees, (the factions were taking it in turns it seems), he poses them an impossible question which shuts them up and allows him for a time atleast to stop debating with the elites and get back to the people.
Psalm 18:16 -24 was just a typical Psalm which I kind of read but didn't take in. To be honest my mind was buzzing about the other two readings.