” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:22
The Iron Bowl is the yearly college football contest in the State of Alabama between the Auburn Tigers and the Crimson Tide. Every year it’s a battle for bragging rights in the state. I don’t really have a dog in the fight, I usually root for the Irish of Notre Dame, but I’m re-thinking fandom all together.
I’m a fan of the Irish, not because I went there or graduated from their but for other reasons.
I am a fan culturally because I’m part Irish.
I am a fan religiously because I grew up Catholic.
Fandom and Christianity are not that far apart. If we’re good fans we wear the right attire and talk the right talk. The problem with that is that fandom is fickle. We love our team when they win and curse them when they lose. Every year, there are people all over Alabama getting drunk because their team won or lost. Emotions drive fandom.
This is why I’m not God’s fan. I try to keep my life free of emotional attachments to wins and losses. Jesus is the same whether life is going great or not. His Word is true whether I am cheering His Name or not. God was God when my dad passed away at 10 years old. He was God when my mom passed away at 30. God was God when I got fired from two churches. God was also God when I married the woman of my dreams, my first child was born, and got that sweet job.
God doesn’t need more likes on His Facebook page or subs on His YouTube channel, metaphorically speaking; and the amount of “fans” He has does not add or take away from who God is. As the preacher says, “God is God all by Himself.” God does not seek fans, He seeks the faithful.
How about you? Are putting a bag over your head because God’s church isn’t “winning” or because life seems out of control? Does a failure in your life come complete with a post failure commentary filled with “if I had only”?
“His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:9-10
Job’s wife was a fan of God. Job was faithful to God. The fan turns in tough times. The faithful keep their eyes on Jesus, win or lose. Your faith in God is not = to life’s wins and losses, because God is bigger than both.