He Wore Skins

September 6, 2007, 3:45 pm; posted by
Filed under Articles, Job  | No Comments

Best of Job, March 2006.

“He wore skins.”

The above sentence was written, then summarily dissected by James Michener in The Source, a breathless 800-something page book I’ve read 2 1/2 times. The book studies a fictional Israeli settlement from primordial times to a modern city. “He” was a man who lived in the area and apparently wore skins.

In his most exhausting chapter, Michener traipsed along, slowly talking about this sentence, assigning deep significance to each word, then the significance of putting them together. When I first read the book, this chapter literally put me to sleep, but when I read it again — the summer after my freshman year in college — I became captivated by such dedication to task and respect for the power of the meaning of words. I even sought to employ this technique from time to time, but being fully aware of its tiring properties, I have rarely used it unless I thought it served a rhetorical purpose.

I have been distressed of late by the impression I’ve given other believers about how I feel about our Faith, and subsequently, about other faiths. I regret this immensely. My hypocrisy is not lost on me, as I bleed pints from my heart about abortion, then turn into pure poison when it comes to talk of Islam.

I regret this. Tact has always lived two towns over from me.

My clumsiness thus admitted, allow me to bust out my Michener real swift-like…

I believe in Jesus.

I am Job Tate, a human male doomed from “go.” I have a deep-seated problem working with groups, am hopelessly adrift and aloof, am the youngest in my family, and have a hard time concentrating on things that do not interest me.

“Believe” is a rugged notion in today’s world. My dad calls the world a “marketplace of ideas,” and as consumers, humans have more choices today than history collected in an eon or two. I am not a trusting person and I don’t splurge or spree. I believe in black and white, just as I believe oxygen cannot be substituted with carbon dioxide.

In is a vehicle. For all of the complexities of biology and anatomy, thought is annoyingly effortless. For me to run to the store is an absolute operation, but to think about what I want to get is instantaneous. Imagine if thinking required exercise, planning and pacing.

Wait. It does.

Jesus was a real live man, yet also the Son of God, who lived until 33 in the greater Israel area. This is the key part for people seeking truth, coming to grips with the fact of His being here. For over 2000 years, His words have resonated and they demand speculation. Be brutal and overly cautious with your questioning, sure. The larger the microscope, the more the benefit. As C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

If Jesus existed, and I believe He was who he said He was, and take to heart what He said, then everything else doesn’t compute.

My anger isn’t so much with Muslims, but with Christians who somehow feel obliged to enable a lie when they have the benefit of the truth.

Call me immovable and you’ve complemented me enormously.

I believe in Jesus.


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