I don’t know about you, but in my readings through the Bible one book that has always struck me as just wholly unusual is the book of the prophet Jonah. It seems that there is not a child in America who has not heard the story of Jonah being swallowed up and living in the body of a whale, but honestly, if that were it this book would probably only be half as weird. Thankfully that is not it and the lessons we learn from Jonah, strange as they are, strike deeply into the heart of the human depravity we all struggle with.
One particular portion of Jonah that I find piercing is in the final chapter, after Jonah has already been taught a lesson about fleeing from God and has seen the mighty city of Nineveh come to faith in obedience to God, Jonah is sitting out in the woods somewhere sulking about the great work God has done and this is what’s recorded:
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” [Jonah 4.1-3]
I mean, wow! First of all, this is just plain ballsy. Coming on the heels of three days of being fish food, to turn around and say such a thing to God shows that someone might not have been in the belly of a whale quite long enough. Second, I myself cannot even imagine the fear I would have in saying this. I’m not among the people who worries about being struck down by lighting, but at the same time I do not make a habit of challenging God by making myself a lightning rod.
Now, that said, the thing that is really striking about all of this is just what Jonah is saying. And I don’t mean the part about God being long-suffering and gracious, but the part where we see Jonah’s, and in turn possibly our own heart. As I heard Dr. Paul Tripp from Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia explain, Jonah is basically saying, “God, I didn’t want you to forgive those people, I wanted you to judge them.” That seems selfish, yet think to yourself, Is there anyone who I would rather God judge than forgive? Or, maybe more accurately, Is there anybody I don’t act as if I want God to forgive? I bet if you try hard enough you can think of an example. A boss who took advantage of you; a kid that picked on you growing up; a parent.
I know in my case it was an ex-girlfriend who caused me lots of stress. For the longest time I simply harbored ill-will towards her and made excuses for why I had to be mean to her. Then one day I realized that, though she had hurt me and was not someone I wanted to be around, the fact that she was not a believer in Jesus Christ was something that I should be broken over and should make me pray that God would transform her heart. It was hard, but I had to change my attitude towards her, and though I do not know what has happened to her since, I believe that that single Spirit-led realization made a dramatic impact on my life.
I think for a lot of “evangelicals” this is our attitude towards the gay community. We see them as sinners deserving of wrath. Some of us even go so far as to pronounce HIV/AIDS as a judgment from God upon them. Our hearts, for whatever reason, have been so hardened against homosexuals that we are desirous of their judgment in place of their forgiveness. We must ask ourselves, Is this right? Not homosexuality, clearly that is sinful (yeah, go ahead and dispute it, it’s still true). But is our attitude, our coldness, towards people living a lifestyle of homosexual sin the right one? Are we seeking their regeneration and renewal or do we just want judgment to reign from heaven onto their heads? If we are honest I think many of us will find ourselves not to far from Jonah in this respect.
Is there someone you need to change your attitude about? Jonah was angry at the forgiveness granted the Ninevites and prayed for death to ease his anguish. Are you at that point? Is that the state of your relationship with some individual or group of people? Pray it not be so. Learn the lesson of Scripture here and seek the change in your heart necessary to desire the change in another’s.
Posted by Todd Burus 
