The Problem with Religion

In Jonah 3, we find that Jonah preached an eight-word sermon and the people of Nineveh believed God, they humbled themselves before God and they turned from their wickedness. God looked upon their repentance and showered them with His mercy and grace. Jonah's response to God's mercy? We are told in Jonah 4:1 (ESV) "It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry." This man of God who had experienced God's grace was now angry that God had shown grace to the Ninevites. 

The problem with Jonah is that he was eat up with religion. When I read Jonah 4:2-11, there were three things that stood out to me. 

1. Jonah's prayer revealed his disease (Jonah 4:2-4)

• Jonah was an idolater. In Jonah's prayer in verse 2, Jonah uses the words "I" or "my" five times. An idol is anything that we love more than God. For Jonah, his idol was self. All he cared about was what he thought was important. 
• Jonah was ignorant. In his prayer Jonah blamed God's character for why he disobeyed Him. He said that it was because God was "gracious," "merciful," "slow to anger," "abounding in steadfast love," and "relenting from disaster"  that he chose to run away. Jonah had no problem receiving God's grace and mercy, but he was disturbed by the fact that God could care about the Ninevites. 

2. God's provision reveals God's lesson plan (Jonah 4:5-9)

Jonah acting like a spoiled child, storms out of the city, builds himself a booth and sits down in its shade waiting to see what God would do. In verse 6, we are told that God appoints a plant to provide Jonah shade to "save him from his discomfort." God's gift of this plant is a reminder of His grace toward Jonah.

In verses 7-8, God appoints a worm to come and attack the plant, so it dies. The next morning, God appoints a "scorching east wind" to blow on him and the sun beat down him until he felt faint. Jonah prays to die. God's destruction of the plant and the scorching east wind are reminders of God's judgment.

3. God's question reveals Jonah's heart (Jonah 4:10-11)

In Jonah 4:10–11 (ESV), The Lord says to Jonah, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

God's question revealed that Jonah cared more about his personal comfort than he for the spiritual welfare of an entire city. It also reveals the deep compassion that God had for these who were His enemies. I am so thankful that God has compassion on His enemies. The Bible says in Romans 5:10 (ESV), "While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son."

    As we consider the lesson of Jonah, it applies both to our personal lives as well as to the life of the church. I encourage you to pause and consider these questions.

1) On a personal level, the book of Jonah forces us to examine our own personal struggle with God. The truth is that we are more like Jonah than any of us would like to admit.

·   What has God called you to be or do that puts you into a contest of wills with Him?

·   What is it that God has called you to do that has set you to running away?

·   Is there an area of your life that you have refused to surrender to God?

·   Who is it that you have resisted loving or caring for because their values, beliefs, or lifestyles you find at odds with yours?

2) The book of Jonah also challenges us as a church. Will we choose to stay in our holy huddle, when the next play calls us to energetic evangelism and costly mission?

·   What traditions or customs have we placed before our calling to make disciples of all nations?

·   What excuses have we made for why we can’t have impact on our community?

·   What would happen if today we made a conscious choice to love our city and the neighborhood that God has placed us in with the same kind of love and compassion that He has for them?