selfish
Showing posts with label selfish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selfish. Show all posts

Jonah Chapter 4: Revolutionize Pt. 1

Jonah Chapter 4
Revolutionize Pt. 1

 Leslie and Lauren are two sisters that are looking to Jesus and reaching out to those in need, and as a result they have revolutionized their world. After a life-changing experience at camp, these girls decided to get serious about changing the lives of those around them; specifically the homeless lives. So they got an idea to create a ministry in their church called “H2O: Hope to Others.”

Basically, people from the church can pay $3 for a paper bag filled with food, water, and a Gospel tract that they keep in their car. So when they come across a homeless person they have some way to help them out in a practical manner. The project has provided these not-really-shy but not-really-outgoing girls with many opportunities to trust God and step outside of their comfort zones.

But it gets better. Since they’ve started, they’ve been featured on Oregon’s largest newspaper, have had calls from other churches wanting to start their own H2O program, and they have even started a website for people all around the world to catch the vision and passion. They have revolutionized their world.

In this last chapter you will be see how God loved the people of the city of Nineveh so much that he went to such great lengths to bring a revolution to the city when His messenger was resisting His will. And not only that, but how He is on a mission to bring a revolution to your world as well.

It’s in this chapter that God lowers Himself to actually engage in an argument with Jonah about His plan and desire to bring a revolution to the city of Nineveh. It was a silly argument to say the least, but God took him on nonetheless. And when you read it through, you can’t help but groan a little bit for Jonah. Like, “Jonah, dude, why are you being so selfish? What’s with all the whining?”

Before we start judging him again, though, here’s a few reasons why Jonah was living in self-pity and with a self-absorbed lifestyle. He was not accepting God’s will. He had forgotten how God had been merciful to Him. And he did not love God or his neighbor as well as he should have. So yeah, Jonah failed on several lower levels which led to this emotional breakdown.

But we are just as self-absorbed, self-pitying, argumentative, and disobedient as Jonah, aren’t we? Of course, we don’t like to admit it. But God has an incredible compassion for the people of the world, and thankfully, that involves us. So once again we see that Jonah’s story is our story. But this is the last chapter of his. The final phase of his story. And it’s about creating a revolution.

We’ve said the city of Nineveh represents the world, and it does. But we’re going to narrow it down now. Because what it really represents is not just THE world. It represents YOUR world. Where you live day to day. Your school. Your job. Your family. Your friends. Those are the people you are called to reach right now. We’re not talking about when you’re older, when you’re wiser, when you’re smarter, or when you’ve graduated. We’re talking about right now, you are called to reach YOUR WORLD.

And the whole, “I’m too young to do something spectacular.” is a flat-out lie. Throughout history teenagers have reached their worlds, and they’ve started revolutions, just like Leslie and Lauren. They created a movement in people that all pointed back to Jesus Christ. Teenagers throughout history have done heroic things and many of them have gone unnoticed, and unappreciated, but that makes them all the more honorable.

Even in the Bible we have many stories of young teenaged people making big differences. People like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, Joseph, Mary, and Ruth. These are all teenagers who did amazing things for God to revolutionize THEIR WORLD. It seems like God prefers to use the young, the incapable, the weak, and the simple to do amazing things.

As a Christian. (young, old, or in between) you are called to abandon your own personal comfort and to bring a Christian revolution to your own world.

But why? If you’re like me, you want to know the why. Not in any sort of disrespectful way. People just want to know why they are supposed to do things. I’ve always asked why, and it’s always driven my mom crazy. “James, take the trash out.” “Why, it’s only half full?” If she was in a good mood I would get an answer, “Because there is meat rotting in it, that’s why.” And if not I got the answer that we’ve all heard before. “Because I said so, that’s why!”

It makes me happy that God doesn’t leave us in the dark. He knows what He is asking is hard. It’s sacrificial. And sometimes God answers our why questions with, “Because I’m God, and I said so, that’s why.” But sometimes He answers our questions. And He has answered this question for us, “Why do I need to sacrifice my personal comfort to bring a revolution to my world?” In my next three posts, the last three of this series, I’ll share with you the why and the how of revolutionizing your world.
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Jonah Chapter 3: Reach (Part 2)

The question we ended with in the last article is one we’ll all ask at some point. How am I supposed to respond to the evil in this world? To answer that question, I think it would do well for us to first look at the reason for evil in our world.

Jonah 3:8 “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.”


Let’s do a quick review about the emphasis on the evil, wickedness, and violence in the city of Nineveh that we find in the book of Jonah. The Bible uses several different ways to describe the situation in Nineveh:

  • Jonah 3:8 they were living in an “evil way”
  • Jonah 3:8 there was much “violence that is in their hand”
  • Jonah 3:10 God wanted them to be “...turned from their evil way…”

Now, while the evilness of this city is obvious, this is also a not so subtle emphasis on the disobedience and rebellious attitude of Jonah. Jonah was unable to properly respond to the evil in the city because he was blinded by the evil in his own life. Somehow we Christians have found it quite easy to look at the evil and sin of others and condemn it while never quite recognizing our own sin and evil.

So before we begin correcting this problem, let me explain to you first where the evil in the world comes from and why it is such a problem in our world.

1st. When God is left out of our choices there will always be evil. This is the rebellion in all of our hearts.

Our natural instinct is to be selfish, therefore any decision made without Jesus is selfish. Do you understand that? When we’re born into this world, we’re born selfish. It’s not natural for anybody to serve God and serve others. It’s only natural to serve ourselves. So to keep God in the choices we make is going to be a conscious effort. Don’t ever think that somebody makes wise, godly decisions because they have that type of personality. Following God’s plan isn’t a matter of personality. It’s a matter of the heart. So seek God’s plan in every choice you make.

2nd. When there is a strict moral code, there will be evil. This is the religion in all of our hearts.

Look at the evil in Jonah’s life. He was angry, intense in his reaction to what God had done, and blatantly argumentative. He actually believed that he knew better than God about what should be done to the ‘heathen’ for what they were doing in their city.

Kim Jong Un is currently the dictating tyrant of North Korea who received a lot of publicity for his recent threats of war. He’s known as a selfish, proud man and he rules his people with no respect or concern for them. And yet they all worship him and go crazy when they see him. It’s actually really bizarre. But here’s the reason why. He has the power to imprison and even kill them. When his father died, many people were imprisoned because they did not cry enough or show enough grief at his funeral. That’s crazy! He even goes by the title “Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army.” Kim Jong Un has set himself in charge and is ruling with an incredibly strict and incredibly wrong moral code. The result is evil, misery, false affection, and forced adoration. There’s nothing healthy, pleasant, or sincere about it.

When we adhere to strict moral codes and set ourselves up as “supreme”, like Kim Jong Un or like Jonah, then we are going to have an inner wickedness about our lives that will cause us to have the same evil that we see in others.

It’s kind of shocking, and a little sad, at how aggressive the Bible is in exposing the rotten attitude in the heart of Jonah. I’m sure if Jonah had written this story he would have been like, “Yeah, let’s skip that part about me running from God. Oh and let’s skip that part about me being racist. Aaaand maybe that part about me pouting because God didn’t kill Nineveh.” But the Bible pulls no punches. God calls Jonah out and calls his judgmental attitude what it is: sin.

So before we start looking at others for their sins, let’s first take a look at our own life. 

If you’ve been reading this and all you can think about is, “Man, I hope so-and-so would read this. He’s so judgmental.” Than you better snap out of it, because that is a statement of a rebellious/religious person. That’s looking at someone else’s sin before your own. Watch out for your own religious or rebellious attitude first because that’s where evil comes from.
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