Will You be Impatient?

   This  opening statement from Eliphaz is roughly the equivalent of "throwing your hat in the house before you walk in." If you don't understand that remark, you either aren't as old as dirt or aren't from the 'hills.'

   This message is difficult for me to get a handle on. It's all about  tolerance, on my part, for an opinion I deem too stupid to deserve voicing. It is more a problem of impatience on my part than it is arrogance. I've always enjoyed a good discussion with folks who are thoughtful and deliberate in their pursuit of truth. However, lots of folks aren't interested in discussing the "pilgrimage," or, pondering the "dialectical" aspects of "syllogically" discerned "truth," as Aristotle's Lyceum students once phrased their discussions.

   So  many individuals just want a chance to "lay one on you." There is the guy who is angry and does a "hit and run" type message. There's the ex cathedra (vox dei) holy joe feeling very much the "voice of God" and ready to straighten you out. Then there is the pious pete who is protecting the fragile image of all that's holy and you've just stepped on the holy grail. Yup, I think I've talked with each of these guys just in the past week.

   Now if you want to have a sane, reasoned conversation centered on good Biblical discovery with any one of these guys just mentioned, forget it. As I was told once by a sanhedrin of holy joe's who were determined to straighten out this son of a preacher woman on the errors of women being involved in leadership positions, "We aren't interested in a Bible study..." One can only wonder at the proliferation of so many personality disordered people rising to such positions in so many religious systems.

   So, to take some poetic license, it is frequently difficult for me to "suffer fools gladly." Why should anyone have to put up with unreasoning people? Tough question, but the answer is even tougher...I Kings 12.7! This is the story of Rehoboam ascending to the throne after Solomon's death.

   Rehoboam was faced with people who had become disaffected with his father's rule and were not being friendly to him, either. The advice he received from the old men who had seen it all in their lifetime was basically this, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

   Now allow me the liberty of expressing what that whole passage in I Kings chapter 12 speaks to me:

1) Be Kind - Be Gentle - Listen

2) Be humble (have the attitude of a servant)

3) Acknowledge (answer all who address you)

4) Be Gracious (speak kindly to all)

   Eliphaz is about to test the limits of what is to become famous, the patience of Job. He starts with that insipid, "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?"

   Okay Job, Jim, (insert your own name here), THIS IS A TEST!! Remember; be kind, be gentle, listen, be humble, acknowledge and be gracious...repeat as many times as necessary to keep from sending Eliphaz (or insert 'nom thorn de jour') to Jesus.