We return to our study in Job this morning. If for no other reason, one Sunday each month, we need to be reminded that God’s people are not immune to suffering and confusion in life. Furthermore, the book of Job gives Christians permission to vent, to cry, to grieve, to be angry, and to be depressed. Job reminds us that we are spiritual, physical and emotional beings.
Job was a man of integrity, who feared God and shunned evil. God blessed Job with wisdom and prosperity. But some of that changed when Satan, the Accuser, accused Job of worshipping God in order to secure God’s blessings.
In some sense, God complimented Job when He chose Job to prove Satan wrong. God permitted Satan to strip away the blessings from Job’s life. Livestock, properties, servants, children, and his own health, all ripped out of Job’s life in a short time.
The grief of losing wealth was nothing compared with the agony of losing his children. And the loss of his health further paralyzed him with a sense of helplessness. But Job hung onto his integrity and his faith in God.
Job was not a silent sufferer, though. He vented self-pity and anger. He was depressed and wished death would end his pain. He asked questions only God could answer, but God did not answer. So Job’s friends, who came with the intention to comfort him, turned against him.
This morning, we come to the third friend, Zophar, the Self-righteous. His words are recorded in Job 11.
I’ve had four mentors in my life, all pastors, who have shaped my ministry significantly. My first mentor encouraged me to learn from his success and failures. My current mentor regularly reminds me to learn from the mistakes of others.
This morning, we will learn from the mistakes of Zophar, the Self-righteous. What Zophar said were actually true, but his truths were irrelevant to Job. Zophar says that if people received punishment equal to their sins, they would be dead. He then says that people cannot understand how God works. And finally, Zophar says those who are hurting should seek God, because God is the only One who can restore the blessings.
All of what Zophar said is true, but they didn’t need to be said. Job’s suffering was not due to his sin. Rather, Job’s suffering was due to his faithfulness, which was being tested by Satan. Job already knew that God’s ways are a mystery. And Job had been seeking God, but God remained silent.
Not only were Zophar’s counsels irrelevant to Job, but Zophar’s attitude was also one of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is declaring oneself to be right. Self-righteousness enjoys telling other where they are wrong. He was a Mr. Know-it-all.
A lady sarcastically remarked to her friend, “I knew I was marrying Mr. Right. I just didn’t know his first name is ‘Always’.” He has all the right answers, and he believes he is doing everything right, all the time. Even when he is wrong, he at least has right reasons for being wrong.
Self-righteousness is found in all of us to some degree. And to the degree we are self-righteous, we create problems for ourselves and for others. Self-righteousness leads to a judgmental and critical spirit. Get around a self-righteous boss, co-worker, wife or father, and all you hear are your mistakes.
The self-righteous is critical of others and tries to control and change others. The Self-righteous has a hard time forgiving others and asking for forgiveness from others. The self-righteous person may act humble, but he or she feels superior to others and sees no need for God.
If you recognize a touch of self-righteousness in you, you are in good company. God recorded the example of Zophar for us who are honest enough to face our problem of self-righteousness. Zophar’s counsel to Job gives us hints to what produces self-righteousness in us, and what we need to do to let go of self-righteousness. Here are three causes for self-righteousness. This is not an exhaustive list.
First, we become self-righteousness when we defend ourselves. We see this in verses 1-6.
In these verses, Zophar tells Job that his suffering is due to his sin, but Zophar does not point to specific sins in Job’s life. So why does Zophar make such a claim? Because Zophar was trying to defend himself.
Have you ever come across a homeless person, and reason that she wouldn’t be that way if she were responsible, diligent and good, like yourself? In effect, we are protecting ourselves by affirming that our accepting personal responsibility, our diligence and our goodness will keep us from becoming a homeless person.
In our minds, we are thinking, “The homeless person, the obese person, the divorced person are getting what he or she deserves, and I’m getting what I deserve.” The self-righteous person separates the world into two kinds of people, the good and the bad. And the more we defend how good we are, the more self-righteous we become.
If we are courageous enough to look inside, we would know that our self-righteousness comes from defending a low self-image. People who have a low self-image cannot admit failure or sin. They will not accept forgiveness from God because they do not see the need.
That’s why Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17).” Not even God can help a self-righteous person.
In reality, there are two kinds of people in this world, those who know they are imperfect and those who don’t know they are imperfect. When we stop defending ourselves, we can be less self-righteous. Laughter can replace uptightness. Acceptance can replace blame. Grace can replace guilt.
Second, we become self-righteousness when we defend our God. We see this in verses 7-12.
Zophar begins by saying that people cannot understand God. Not only that, he tells us why we cannot understand God. Zophar is defending what he believes God is doing in Job’s life. But God doesn’t need our defense, and most of the time, we are wrong about what God is doing in our own lives and in other people’s lives.
The son of a renowned Christian leader died in an accident. After the funeral, some people came up to the leader and said, “God will use the death of your son to bring many to Christ.”
The father replied, “But my son was going to be a pastor. God could have brought many to Christ through his ministry.”
Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” In other words, there are certain things we cannot know, no matter how much we ask God, how much we studied the Bible and how long we wait.
Most of the time, people defend God, because they want to define what God can or cannot do. An indefinable God is a scary God, and most people don’t have the courage to face the unknown. So to be self-righteous is better than to be scared.
But we must admit that certain things are not for us to know. Let God defend Himself. When we stop defending God, we begin to worship the true God, who really is higher and deeper than our finite minds can comprehend.
Third, we become self-righteousness when we defend our success. We see this in verses 13-20.
Zophar probably looked at Job, and he looked at himself. He saw that he was a success in life compared to Job’s current circumstance. If Zophar lived today, he would hand out “The 4 Spiritual Law,” “The 7 Ways to Financial Success, (God’s way of course),” and “The 5 Steps to a Happy (Christian) Home.”
Recognizing patterns for success is helpful, but we need to also recognize that God is not a heavenly vending machine that spits out blessings when we put in the correct change. God desires a trust relationship, not a tried and true reward system.
People who are successful can be self-righteous. Graduating with good grades, working in a good job, and having good fortune, if not understood as God’s grace, might be interpreted as outcomes from taking all the right steps in life. And you will begin to defend your ways to success, while ignoring true success, which is an eternal relationship with God.
When we let go of our successes or the need to fix situations and people, we become less self-righteous. We are more able to listen and learn from others, so that when we do offer our help, we would offer what they need and not what we pride in ourselves.
Let me close with Luke 18:9-14: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Self-righteousness separates us from God and from one another. To separate ourselves from self-righteousness, we need to let go of defending ourselves, defending God and defending our successes.
