Jonah

Jonah’s Dilemma

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As a volunteer for Room in the Inn, one of my favorite parts is sitting in on the Bible study with the homeless men. Not only do they get a warm place to stay, a soft bed, and a hearty meal, they also get to dive deep into the Word of God.

Tonight, the speaker talked about Jonah. The part that struck me was how Jonah’s reluctance to go when God called him to go was over how much he disliked the people of Ninevah. He knew what kind of people they had been, how merciless and cruel to their enemies– including the Israelites– and felt that they didn’t deserve the grace of God.

As I follow the social and political rhetoric on social media, it seems to me that most of us have a category of persons or people groups that we feel don’t deserve the grace of God. It could be those dastardly Republicans (or Democrats). It could be the LGBTQ community. It might very well be the Muslim peoples. Maybe it’s that Trump guy who currently holds the title of President.

I still believe that when you limit the grace of God, when you pick and choose who’s worthy of it, then you nullify the grace of God (if that were possible). It becomes about merit and earning God’s favor.

Grace by its very definition is the unmerited favor of God. No one deserves it, otherwise it would no longer be grace. Yet God still chooses to extend it to us in the person of Jesus.

Jonah actually got angry when those Ninevites repented and turned to God. The book ends with God asking Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Maybe we need to repent of our self-righteous judgmentalism and arrogant condemnation towards certain people and people groups and instead pray God’s mercy for them.

I’m not saying don’t call sin for what it is or speak out against evil in any form, but do so out of a spirit of love and gentleness, always extending the same grace that God extended you when you were His enemies.

One of my very favorite quotes is from C. S. Lewis and says that we forgive the inexcusable in others because we know that God has already forgiven the inexcusable in us.

That’s something to remember when you get ready to engage in the social media discussion on any topic.

Always choose mercy over judgment, grace over condemnation, and love over hate.

 

Do You Do Well to Be Angry?

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“Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4, ESV).

That’s the question God asked Jonah. Jonah didn’t want to go to Ninevah in the first place. He knew what kind of people they were, what they did to their enemies, how they showed them no mercy. He knew if he went and preached repentance to them, they might actually repent.

It’s easy to look down on an attitude like that and be self-righteous in condemning Jonah. But do we do the same?

Is there a person or a people group that you don’t think deserves God’s mercy? For some, it might be Muslims, especially the radical element. For others, it might be the LGBTQ community. Maybe it’s those pointy-headed fundamentalists who are always talking hellfire and hatred. Or maybe it’s those ivory tower liberals who have a very laissez-faire “anything goes” kind of morality.

I read today how someone was glad that Charles Manson had died. While I certainly don’t condone what he did by any means, I do think it’s wrong to celebrate the death of any human being created in the image of God, for whom Jesus died.

I firmly believe that when you qualify who is worthy of hearing and receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ, it ceases to be a gospel of grace and becomes a gospel of works and deserving.

Remember that no one deserves God’s grace. No one is exempt from that same grace. as Dr. Adrian Rogers once put it, salvation is not a reward for the righteous but a gift for the guilty.

The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ is for everyone. That goes for all the Donald Trumps out there. That goes for all the Charles Mansons, too. Just ask the Apostle Paul, who was a terrorist against the early Church and called himself the chief of sinners.

It is God’s desire that none should perish but that all should repent and come to saving faith in Jesus. There are no qualifiers. God wants no one to perish. God wants all to be saved. Even your enemies. Even mine. Even people like you and me.

 

Another Kairos Challenge 

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Tonight, Matt Pearson laid down a challenge at Kairos. He spoke about how so many North American believers have become inward-focused, as in “What’s in it for me?” and “How will this meet my needs?” He mentioned that the most inwardly-focused believers are usually the most miserable people who are always complaining about something.

I confess that I am one of those people sometimes. I crave comfort and ease at the expense of obedience and faithfulness. I definitely try to avoid any semblance of pain and suffering at all costs.

Jonah was a lot like that. God sent him to Nineveh to warn them of what was coming if they didn’t repent. You’d think after the whole city repented that Jonah would have been pleased, but he was peeved. He thought God’s love should be for the Israelites exclusively– or in other words, people like him. Jonah didn’t like the Assyrians and didn’t think they were worthy of God’s love. Not that any of us feel that way about any particular ethnic groups today, of course.

My takeaway from tonight is that any vision other than seeing God’s love displayed and proclaimed to all the people of all the nations is too small. What matters isn’t what songs we sing in worship or even what kind of songs. What matters isn’t if the church building is traditional or modern (or even if there’s a church building at all).

What matters is that God so loved all the sinners in the world (including you and me) that He sent Jesus to die for us and make true deliverance and salvation possible for anyone who trusts in Him.

That’s what I’ll be pondering and praying over for the next few days. At least I hope so. I don’t want to go back to the comfortable me-centered faith, and God willing, I won’t.