If the theological “manual” we inherited is inadequate, then we need a different understanding of faith.
But this immediately raises a difficult question.
If earthly blessing has nothing ultimately to do with faith, then why should we believe in God?
More specifically:
If following Jesus does not guarantee prosperity, success, health, happiness, or comfort, then why should we follow Him?
This is not an abstract question.
It reaches directly into the heart of the Christian faith.
The Problem of Reward
The Book of Job suggests that our faith, devotion, obedience, and reverence toward God must not ultimately depend upon the expectation of reward.
If our faith contains an expectation of compensation—if we worship God because we expect Him to give us something in return—then the nature of our faith becomes questionable.
In that case, our relationship with God begins to resemble the relationship people have with idols.
Why do people worship idols?
They expect something.
They offer something in order to receive something.
They serve in order to obtain a desired result.
They make sacrifices because they hope to gain protection, prosperity, health, fertility, success, or some other benefit.
If our relationship with God operates according to exactly the same logic, then something is fundamentally wrong.
We may have changed the name of the object of worship, but not the underlying logic of worship.
This is precisely the issue raised at the beginning of Job.
What Was the Motivation of Job’s Faith?
Return to Job 1.
Why does Job fear God?
The Accuser’s argument is that Job’s devotion has a motive.
God has placed a hedge around Job.
A hedge around Job.
A hedge around his household.
A hedge around his possessions.
A hedge around the work of his hands.
God has protected him.
God has blessed him.
God has allowed him to prosper.
He has become wealthy.
He has become successful.
He has become respected.
And the Accuser therefore raises a devastating question:
Is Job faithful simply because God has made his life successful?
In other words:
Does Job worship God because God is God?
Or does Job worship God because God gives Job what Job wants?
This is the issue beneath the accusation.
The Accuser is attacking the motivation of Job’s piety.
If Job’s faith is based upon reward, then remove the reward and the faith should disappear.
That is the challenge.
The question therefore becomes a question for us as well.
Why do we believe in God?
Why do we worship?
Why do we serve?
Why do we obey?
Why do we confess Jesus as Lord?
If Earthly Blessing Is Not Guaranteed
Suppose we revise our theological understanding.
Suppose we no longer believe that becoming a Christian means receiving enormous earthly blessing.
Suppose, instead, we recognize that following Jesus may actually bring difficulties.
If we try to imitate Jesus,
if we seek to live according to His teachings,
if we try to maintain our conscience,
if we seek to live a holy and righteous life,
if we devote ourselves to God’s word,
if we remain faithful and obedient—
then it may actually be more common for us to experience trials, suffering, hardship, and failure.
This is not an unusual possibility.
It is precisely what we see in Jesus.
Jesus lived according to the will of God.
He lived righteously.
He lived a holy life.
Yet He continually experienced trials, suffering, opposition, and pain.
And finally, He was killed.
Jesus Himself therefore becomes the complete example that challenges a theology of earthly reward.
If obedience necessarily produces prosperity, what are we to do with Jesus?
If faithfulness necessarily produces comfort, what are we to do with Jesus?
If righteousness necessarily produces success, what are we to do with the cross?
The life of Jesus demands a different understanding.
Why, Then, Follow Jesus?
This brings us to the central question:
If earthly blessing has nothing ultimately to do with following Jesus, then why should we follow Him?
Why?
For wealth?
No.
For honor?
No.
For political power?
No.
For social influence?
No.
For earthly happiness and comfort?
No.
Then why?
The answer is found in Jesus Himself.
We follow Jesus because Jesus is the way.
We follow Jesus because Jesus is the truth.
We follow Jesus because living according to the way He showed us is the right way to live.
That is the reason.
That is the purpose.
The blessing of this present world may or may not come.
It may be given.
It may not be given.
But it cannot be the foundation of our discipleship.
If there is a reward in following Jesus, that reward is ultimately Jesus Himself.
This is a radically different understanding of faith.
We do not follow Jesus because He gives us something.
We follow Him because of who He is.
We worship Him because He is worthy of worship.
We obey Him because His way is the right way.
We seek to live as He lived because His life reveals the kind of life human beings ought to live.
This is what genuine faith means.
When Faith Has the Wrong Purpose
If we do not have this theological understanding, following Jesus can become extremely difficult.
The actual life of following Jesus can seem dry.
It can seem boring.
It can be difficult.
It can be painful.
It can involve suffering.
And if we secretly expect something else from Jesus, we may begin looking elsewhere.
We may begin to expect another kind of reward.
We may start hoping for something other than Jesus.
We may look sideways.
We may become distracted.
Eventually, we may stop following Jesus.
Perhaps this helps explain some of the serious failures and scandals that have occurred in Christian communities around the world.
If Christian faith becomes a means of obtaining something else—wealth, influence, political power, social respect, personal comfort—then Jesus is no longer the center.
Something else has become the center.
The real question is therefore not simply whether we believe in Jesus.
The deeper question is:
Why do we believe in Jesus?
What is the purpose of our faith?
What is the reason for our devotion?
True Faith
True piety and true faith do not rest upon the expectation of reward.
They rest upon something much simpler.
We worship Jesus because He is Jesus.
We follow Him because He is the way.
We trust Him because He is the truth.
We seek to live according to His life because the life He showed us is **the right way to live.
Nothing more is ultimately required.
Nothing else needs to be added.
Earthly blessing may come.
It may not.
But it cannot determine whether following Jesus is worthwhile.
The reward is Jesus Himself.
And this brings us back to Job.
Job’s faith had to pass through the crisis of reward.
His suffering exposed the possibility that faith could be understood as a transaction.
But Job’s story ultimately asks us to move beyond such a transactional understanding.
The question is not:
“What will God give me if I believe?”
The question is:
“Will I remain faithful because God is God?”
And when that question is honestly faced, we begin to understand why Job’s protest is so important.
Job did not quietly accept an explanation that he believed was false.
He kept asking.
He kept protesting.
He kept seeking an answer.
And this brings us to the final movement of the story.
What did Job receive from God—not merely as a reward, but as God’s judgment upon Job’s faith?
That is where we must now turn.