The rest of the story - Jonah!

If you spent any of your youth in Sunday School, you know all about Jonah. I think Jonah and I have a lot in common.   I HAVE ignored the calling of the Lord on occasion and I certainly have argued with him over the direction of my life. I guess God has given me a break by not having me thrown into the sea and he hasn't sent a BIG fish to devour me.

My Sunday school teachers always emphasized Jonah running from the Lord and him changing his mind after getting swallowed by a big fish. But, why was Jonah running?  As a kid, I always thought after Jonah went to Nineveh he lived happily ever after. My Sunday School didn't spend much time on the less spectacular part of the story.

 Jonah's reaction AFTER he went to Nineveh says a lot about his reasons for turning and
 running from his calling.

                     Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil 
          ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. 

                    Jonah 4:1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He              prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is                  what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and                  compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from              sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to            live.”

Jonah didn't run from the Lord because he thought he wasn't up to the task. He KNEW how effective he would be and he knew the Lord would show mercy to this sinful people. He was MAD that these people were going to be forgiven! He wanted them to suffer for their wrongdoing. 

Are we any different than Jonah?  

My wife and I went to Peru this fall on a mission trip. It was our first trip outside our country. The conditions these people lived in were unbelievable. Their housing conditions, their financial status, and their lives were so different than our own. We went into an open market and saw STACKS of dead rotting fish being sold. We saw live "grubs" being sold as delicacies. We witnessed young children chasing flying ants to eat just like candy. It would be easy to claim we were so much more superior than these people. Our carpeted, 3000 square foot homes, our $30,000 vehicles, and our College Educations are so superior than their own thatched roof huts with no walls, there three wheeled "Moto-cars", and their lack of advanced education. Or are they?

In reality, when these people find the Lord, THEY REALLY FIND THE LORD. When they accepted Christ as their savior, their lives change and they devote EVERYTHING they have to him. In our country even many of the MOST devoted followers of Christ sacrifice very little for their faith. An "Evangelist" in Peru, travels into extreme hostile conditions to share the Gospel. He walks miles and miles to attempt to convert people whose entire lives have been devoted to witchcraft and have never heard of Jesus. They have no Bibles and most of the villagers can't read or write. The gospel has to be shared by word of mouth or more importantly straight from the hearts of believers. 

We are so much like Jonah when we pick  and choose who we share the gospel message with. We want to make sure we share the gospel with those WE choose. We often look for the EASY target and those WE  think are worthy of our message. Bikers often are not considered worthy because they are a hard sell. Many people view bikers as the lowest of the low. They detest their party attitudes. They misunderstand their brotherhood and they only look at the sin that may fill their lives. They are often shunned by the community. In turn, Bikers, are skeptical and suspicious because of the hypocrisy they see in the ranks of the followers of Jesus. They view us as self-righteous and fake. They watch us. Before we ever get the chance to share the gospel, THEY want to make sure our walk matches our talk.  They want to see OUR meaning of love. We don't always set a great example. 

I see so many churches put their faith in programs and activities to draw people to the church. They plan flashy services and hire talented entertainers to share the message. I don't see anywhere in the Bible where is instructs us to put together a concert once a week to draw people to Christ. The message is simple. It just says, GO! It doesn't say, SIT! It doesn't say "Build it and they will come". We are called:

                    "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name            of  the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19

As we near the end of 2019 and head into another year. Let's all commit to getting out into the lost and dying world. Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of you church pew and go into the world to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world!  The world needs Jesus and yes there may be many in your church that don't TRULY know him, there is a great big world out there that doesn't know Jesus at all. They need to take the FIRST STEPS to a relationship with him! They may never step a foot into a church and will only hear about him if you GO!  Be bold in serving your savior! 

Going can mean many different things. I choose to go search out Bikers. But, maybe God has given you a passion for Prison or Jail ministry. Maybe he has wired you to work with the homeless. Maybe he has asked you to help families in crisis, pregnant teens, or maybe you are called to go into your own neighborhood. Regardless, GO and serve the Lord. The Lord has called you to be his hands and feet at a time such as this!