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“You’re Getting What You Deserve” is Not the Whole Truth by Abidan Shah, PhD

Abidan Paul Shah

“YOU’RE GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE” IS NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  That clip is from the Western “Unforgiven” starring Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. You can see the burden in the character of Will Munny who was an outlaw and a murderer in his past life but now he is just a farmer and a widower trying to raise two children. It is a violent movie, not one I recommend, but it demonstrates the burden many men and women carry. They go through life believing that all the bad that happens to them is simply because of all the bad they’ve done in the past. In fact, many people judge what happens to others from the same lens. Years ago, when I was a little boy, my mom became very sick. She was pregnant at the time with my sister. Our whole world was turned upside down. Dad had to step away from preaching and take my mom to a medical hospital to find out what was wrong. My older brother and I had to stay home with our grandmother. Dad was still lining up people to preach, so that church would continue to operate as it was supposed to. One day, after a church service, a group of people who had been disgruntled with the church made a statement – “what they have eaten is coming out.” In other words, our family was paying for what we had done. As a little boy, it was very hard to understand what that meant – “Is what’s happening with mom’s health simply God’s judgment on us for some past sin?” “If we’re being punished for what we’ve done, can we do anything to change what is happening?” What makes it difficult is that in the Bible there are passages that talk about “What you sow is what you reap” and “Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” Is life simply “Retributive Justice?” In today’s message in our series on the book of Job, we will see how Job’s friends came from that perspective and how Job had the proper godly sense to respond to them. Failure to biblically understand retributive justice can cause great damage to your faith and to those of others around you. 

Job 4 (page #780) 7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same. 9 By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.”

Context: Last weekend, we learned the value of silence. Job’s friends sat for 7 days and 7 nights without a word. Silence speaks volumes during a trauma. We also learned the place of poetry in the book of Job. When Job speaks, it is in poetry. In fact, the rest of the book until chapter 42 is poetry. Poetry is the best way to speak when we don’t know how to explain what is happening, whether we are in love, anger, or pain. In today’s message, we’re going to understand the importance of talking, of listening, and of dialogue.  From Job 4 – Job 41, it is dialogue after dialogue between Job and his friends. Because we are relational beings, we have the need to talk, especially for healing to happen. Janoff-Bulman in Shattered Assumptions writes: “this need to talk is yet another manifestation of the mind’s motivation to confront, reconsider, and integrate the traumatic experience.” Michelle Keener in Comfort in the Ashesnotes that “Talking about a traumatic event gives survivors space to examine, consider, and process the event.” More simply, Mister Rogers said, “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” The Bible told us this 4000 years ago!

Many times, people don’t want to talk about what has happened. There can be many reasons for that: shame, guilt, secrets, family secrets, reliving the trauma, don’t want to be a burden, appear weak and vulnerable, allow others to take advantage, and the list goes on and on. Only God truly knows why some people don’t want to talk about it. We need to respect that. Job’s friends did respect that for seven days until Job spoke. But, when he spoke about wanting to die, then they began to dialogue with him. Although, they messed up in what they said, they at least tried. Failure to talk to someone is the cause of much physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual problems in our world today! It is also a cause of much relationship problems as well. When we don’t share with someone what’s happening inside, we unload on those who are innocently nearby.

Application: Sunday School leaders, Care group leaders, Circle leaders, and various other ministry group leaders – are you a good listener? One reason we began Lighthouse Counseling at Clearview is to help people dialogue. It is to give people a place to work through their cognitive dissonance – where one’s experience is crashing against one’s belief. You say – “I take it to God.” Very good. Then, there’s a place where the trauma is too big for you to take alone to God and you need someone to go with you.

Usually, people skip over the dialogues in the book of Job and run to the end. In the process, the miss some powerful lessons. To better appreciate the dialogues, we need to understand the structure of the book of Job. After Job 3, the book can be divided into 3 dialogue cycles:

Finally, there is the Elihu speech, but Job doesn’t respond. Then the Yahweh speech, and Job responds. This happens twice. But, why is there a change in the last dialogue cycle between Job and his friends? It’s because the dialogues are not working. As Eliphaz begins the first dialogue, the tone is respectful and calm. By the last dialogue cycle, it is aggressive, critical, and sarcastic. In Job 16:2, Job even says, “I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all!” The reason for their frustration is that Job is refusing to buy into their schema.

What is a schema? Nicole helped me here. To back up and give you a quick history lesson – over a hundred years ago, the prevalent theory in counselling was behaviorism. It claimed that human beings behave the way they do is because they have been conditioning by external stimuli (rewards and punishments). Cognitivism argues that we humans are more complex than that. There are internal mental processes taking places that include thinking, memory, perception, and problem-solving. I’m sure that you would agree that the second approach is much better for a proper understanding of how we think. Over our life’s journey we pick up certain deeply held (core) beliefs which are known as schemas.These are built through thinking, memory, perception, and problem-solving. They are like the glass windows in our house. When we face trauma, it is like a rock has gone through a glass window. A rock to the side of the house is no problem because it can be fixed or repainted, but glass breaks! Suddenly, we are open to the elements – wind, rain, heat, and cold. Now, we are vulnerable to birds and rodents, and even burglars. Our sense of comfort, safety, and hope for the future are shattered. This is exactly what happens to our schemas when we face trauma. 

Application: Death of a loved one, breakdown of a marriage, estrangement from kids, loss of a job, health problems, accident, etc. are all connected with a certain schema that we have built up. When trauma happens, there’s a rock through the glass window. When we go through trauma, the most painful thing that happens is not the trauma but the shattering of our deeply held beliefs. Which schema has been shattered in your life? Can you walk around and see which window is shattered?

Over the next several weeks, we’re going to look at certain commonly held schemas that Job addresses in the 3 dialogue cycles. Although his friends repeat only 1 schema, Job keeps moving from one commonly held schema to another. Even though his friends get more aggressive and angrier with him for not accepting their schema, Job refuses to fall into easy ideas. Again, there is no book like the Bible in the world!

What is their schema, the one and only one? It is the Principle of God’s Retributive Justice. Listen again to Job 4 (page #780) 7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same. 9By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.” What Eliphaz is giving here is the most common one that Christians struggle with when bad things happen. Where did I go wrong that God is judging me for now?

To begin with there is truth in God’s Retributive Justice (From Kynes and Kynes, Wrestling with God). It is also known as “Just Deserts,” but it has nothing to do with desserts:

There are powerful truths in this schema:

A. Positively:

B. Negatively:

Having said that, there’s more to God’s work in us than just his retributive justice:

Since this is Christmas week – Mary’s son (Magnificat) – Luke 1       46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear HimFrom generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Actions Steps:

1. Reject the lie that I’m paying for what I did.

2. Receive the grace that comes through Christ.

Are you saved?

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