Preaching to the Preacher
Preaching to the Preacher
Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals? (Jon. 4:11)
The Out-There People
Christians with Jonah’s attitude sometimes suffer from the “out there” syndrome. We think all of the sin, wickedness, and injustice are with that particular group of people we despise. For Jonah it was Nineveh. They were among the most feared, hated enemies of the Jewish people. So when Jonah’s reluctant mission produced revival in Nineveh, Jonah’s heart burned with rage.
The story of Jonah reminds us that while God is at work among the wicked, He sometimes saves His greatest revival for the heart of the preacher. Jonah was a patriotic Jew, whose imbalanced devotion to Israel led first to pride, then prejudice. So God sent Jonah to Nineveh. Not just because Nineveh needed Jonah but because Jonah needed Nineveh.
Skipping Chapter Four
What we learn from God’s final words in the book of Jonah may be the most important lesson in the book. God cares about all people! Like Jonah we can allow ourselves to form prejudices that keep us from extending God’s grace to the “Ninevehs” of our world. We forget that we, too, arrive at the cross with our own Nineveh-sized baggage, atrocities that seem genteel in a permissive culture but violate God’s standard of perfect righteousness. So God consistently allows circumstances in our lives that will challenge our natural self-righteousness. The more we appreciate the grace we’ve received, the more we will offer it to others.
Bottom Line
Sometimes the faithful servant of God needs the most revival.