Jonah: The Challenge

Having given a little bit of background as to the factors that were at work in the story of Jonah, here are two warnings and pitfalls that I have found to be especially relevant to missionaries. 

1. Sometimes as missionaries, it can be easy to love “plants” (comfort, status quo) more than people.  May God give us eyes to see His purpose in His mission… and may He also fill us with compassion for people.  I have heard the phrase “We are meant to love people and use things, not use people and love things.”  That is so true!  Jonah is a reminder of how quickly we can fall into that selfish, unloving cycle.  May God in His grace spare us from thinking like that!

2. It is possible to make an orthodox confession, and yet still be running from God.  When the sailors asked Jonah about the storm, who he was and who His god was, Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” (Jonah 1:9)  He also gives a remarkable testimony in chapter 4, in the midst of actually complaining to God about His character: “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”  (Jonah 4:2)  For all of these truths that Jonah possessed, though, it appears that deep down, He didn’t understand God.  May God spare us from saying all the right things, and then turning around and acting rebelliously!

Concluding Thoughts and Challenges:  Are you running from God in his call on your life?  He will have His way.  As we have seen in Jonah, God will be glorified, whether through our obedience or disobedience, our rise or fall.  This story should make us recognize God’s love and compassion that is way beyond what we extend to others or even understand.  May God shape us more into His character as we respond to His call on our lives!  May we see others as He sees them.  

Of Prophets and Missions

Over the summer, I will be posting reflections on missions based on some of the prophetic books that I studied this semester. These will range from observations about God’s heart for the nations all the way through to practical steps that we can learn (both good and bad!) from the example of the prophets.  There is so much that these books say about missions that it would be impossible to cover it all in an intensive summer course, let alone a series of blog posts.  That being said, I hope that these whet your appetite to study the prophetic books more and to see how God has always had a heart for missions -- that wasn't a phenomenon that developed in the New Testament.  So, without further ado, let's begin with a look at missions through the book of Jonah.

Jonah: The Characters 

For being a small book – only four chapters long! – Jonah has a vast number of applications for missionaries. I am sorry that I will only be sharing my observations in two posts, but I hope that you will continue to investigate the book further on your own. Also, since, especially with this book, I am fairly confident that you are familiar with the story of Jonah, I will not summarize it here, but rather jump in with my observations. I invite you to read the short book along with this post as well, to see firsthand what I’m talking about.

God’s heart for the nations. God’s heart for nations other than Israel can be seen in some way, shape, or form (often in judgment!) throughout all of the prophetic books. However, Jonah is unique in that God sent him to deliver a message of grace to a ruthless nation that Jonah hated. Jonah’s response was basically: I wasn’t seeking this, therefore it’s not my problem. He preached the message because he had to and then sat down and waited for the people to be destroyed. God, by contrast, kept trying to show Jonah that he should care more for the lost sinners than for his own comfort, as is illustrated by the plant episode in chapter 4.

Jonah and the Ninevites. A clear message from the book of Jonah is that if we don’t understand grace, we won’t convey it! Jonah didn’t understand what grace meant for him. Even though, in his mind, he clearly understood God’s character, we find that the “pagans” around him embraced God much more than he did, when the rubber met the road. The sailors gave glory to God, and the Ninevites repented, from the king on down to the animals! Jonah, on the other hand, remained stubborn throughout the entirety of the book, running at the beginning, criticizing and dragging his feet in the middle, and pouting at the end! Never underestimate the work that God can do in “sinners” and the grief that “believers” can give Him!