Who Cares? - Jonah Part 4

I used to have this cool ceramic bowl. It was blue on the outside, white on the inside, and the perfect size for a bowl of cereal. I had that bowl since I was a kid and then one fateful day it fell off the counter and was gone forever. I still get bummed when I think about losing that bowl. It’s funny some of the things that we care about and sad some of the things we don’t and in this final chapter of Jonah we get a picture of what Jonah, “the prophet”, and God care about.

Over the years in my conversations with people, I often hear something to the effect of, “I can’t believe in God because there is too much evil in the world.” And there seems to be a consensus that God doesn’t care as much as we do about the injustices of the world, that we’re the ones who are compassionate and forgiving, that we are the ones who are merciful and God is just concerned with judging, but that’s not what we see in the final scene of Jonah.

Up to this point, we don’t know why Jonah was running from Nineveh and when he finally tells us, it’s a bit surprising, especially from a prophet as we see that Jonah ran away because he knew that the Lord was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now there’s nothing wrong with a God like that unless you don’t like the people God is showing this mercy to, which is exactly the case with Jonah and is often the case with us. Our moral compass conveniently points to our prejudice.

If you think I’m exaggerating, ask a group of high school students if they saw a stranger and their dog drowning and could only save one, which would they save? The overwhelming response in my experience has been to save their beloved pet that makes them happy rather than the stranger, a fellow human made in God’s image.

When someone tells me that they can’t believe in God because there’s too much evil in the world I usually answer them, “Okay, you win there is no God. Now who do we blame for the evil in the world?” You see, God was just an excuse to shift the blame off us. The truth is we’re the ones, like Jonah, who have a problem with prejudice. We’re the ones, like the Ninevites, who mistreat one another. We, like Jonah, grieve more over a plant that dies, or a ceramic bowl that breaks, than for those who are lost and cannot tell their right hand from their left. We are the ones who don’t like to forgive those who have hurt us and want to see judgment for those we dislike and we, like Jonah, are able to close our eyes and ignore the fate of 120,000 people in Nineveh, or Haiti.

So, who really cares? …God does.

When Kings Bow Down - Jonah Pt. 3

Years ago when I worked at a music store, a young kid came in who looked like he was on the edge of being homeless. He picked up a used Les Paul Custom that was selling for $800. and played it for a while, said thanks, put it back and headed for the door. I didn’t think to pursue things with him because I figured he couldn’t afford it. But before he left, the owner of the store asked if he wanted to buy the guitar. He told the owner, yeah, but didn’t have enough money (as I thought). The owner then asked him how much he had. I was shocked when he said he only had $750 bucks. The owner said that he would be willing to sell the guitar to him for that price and then the kid proceeded to pull hundred dollar bills out of each of his pockets, a couple hundred from the front left, three more from the right and a few bills from the back and before my very eyes there lay $750 dollars on the counter.

I didn’t expect that.

Chapter 3 of Jonah is also not what you might expect; Jonah walks through that great city of Nineveh (a 3 day trek) with a simple and clear warning of God’s judgment and an entire city of people, who are thought to be far from God, unexpectedly change their hearts. Even the king puts aside his royal robe, comes down from his throne and bows down in the dirt with the rest of the people asking God for mercy.

Imagine how easy it would have been for the king of Nineveh not to join the rest of the people. We all seem to have a tendency to see ourselves above circumstances. That is why we are so offended by some things we see in others, such as gossip, but are blind to acknowledge it in ourselves. How much more if we were actually king?

For change to take place in our lives, we need to be more like the king of Nineveh, willing to step down from our throne that says I am above, put off the robe that says it doesn’t apply to me and in the dirt of humanity admit we need help.

Unexpected things can happen when kings bow down.

Awakening - Jonah Part Two

Before Jonah finds himself inside a whale, we see a disconnected attitude in him. He doesn’t care that God told him to go to Nineveh… he’s sleeping while the storm threatens the lives of everyone on the ship and he seems emotionless when being thrown into the sea to his supposed death. Strangely enough, it takes three days in that dark, damp place of despair before he has an awakening and cries out in prayer to the LORD (I recommend starting sooner). I find this same pattern at times in our lives; detachment, denial, and despair that provoke the perception that we really need to call out to God for help.

Our perspective plays a big part in the directions we move forward. For example: if you were at a restaurant waiting to meet your date for dinner and after 45 minutes they were still a no show, you would have to come to some understanding and your perspective plays a big part on what that is. If you think (perceive) she stood you up, you might be angry. If you thought she was in an accident, you may be worried. If you thought she was working overtime to buy you a car, you might be grateful (naïve, but grateful) or maybe you wanted to break up with her and now you have a reason, and so you feel relieved. Your perception will ultimately affect your direction. It’s hard to imagine, but in Jonah’s case being vomited out of a whale was actually perceived that things were looking up.

When we finally do cry out to God, our prayer is usually for God to give us what we want, to make things the way we want them to be and to give us a life that is comfortable, secure and free from stress or worry (you can probably buy that book at the Christian bookstore). But in Jonah’s prayer while trapped in darkness, he remembers God has been with him and is aware of His presence still. Then even more illuminating and alarming, is the thought of being banished from God’s sight all together.

It Could be Worse

What if Jonah got what he wanted? What if he actually made his connecting flight in Tarshish and was able to run away from God? You see, without God the universe is a cold and heartless place. It doesn’t care about Nineveh, Haiti or children used in sex trafficking. Jonah became aware that a life without God is greater to be feared than the depths that he found himself in.

You would think that a prophet of God should already know this, but the truth is that sometimes it takes the despair of life for us to realize life’s value. It is in that dark place that we realize how much worse things would be if God was not there and those thoughts can keep us from sleep, or awaken us from it.

We just began a series on the book of Jonah and I feel this need to win the book back from the Veggie Tale / Sunday school / cartoon-whale frame of mind, because it’s really a powerful book.

Running Away

The story begins with God telling His spokesman (prophet) Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capitol of Assyria, to announce the coming judgment to the city if they didn’t change their ways, but Jonah runs away! I know it’s easy to look at this and think, “Come on dude, you’re a prophet, get in the game”, but I wonder how often we’ve run away when God asked us to step up to the plate? Maybe it’s to involve ourselves in something out of our comfort zone, or to forgive that friend or family member. Heck, sometimes just crossing the street and extending ourselves to our neighbor is too much work. I think more often it’s the prophet, not pagan, who has the issue with running from God.

After Jonah boards the ship heading for Tarshish, there is a storm that redirects the next chain of events. We know that God is behind the storm and that mercy is behind God’s motives; mercy for those in Nineveh, for the sailors on the boat, and for Jonah.

It’s interesting how, because of a severe storm, so many significant things can change for the sailors in such a short time. They move from fearing the storm to fearing the Lord, from crying out to all their gods, to crying out to Yahweh, from asking Jonah to wake up, to asking him what they should do. And once again we see the prophet is asleep while the pagans are in pursuit of the answers

.

The book of Jonah is many things, but I believe at its heart is the invisible hand of God clearly being seen and at work for the benefit of all involved. The love of God is much more dangerous than we think. It is furious and jealous and is willing to risk our physical and material comfort for an eternal and spiritual relationship, which is far better. As Jesus said, “What does it profit if you gain the world, but lose your soul?” I wonder how many times in the dark storms of life do we pray for our circumstances to change and it never dawns on us that what needs to change is not our circumstances, but us.

PRAYERS FOR THE BATTLE

How shall I pray?

Are tears prayers, Lord?

Are screams prayers,

or groans,

or sighs,

or curses?

Can trembling hands be lifted to you,

or clenched fists,

or the cold sweat that trickles down my back

or the cramps that knot my stomach?

Will you accept my prayers, Lord,

my real prayers,

rooted in the muck and mud and rock of my life,

and not just the pretty, cut-flower, gracefully arranged

bouquet of words?

Will you accept me, Lord,

as I really am,

messed up mixture of glory and grime?

TRIBES

I recently finished a book entitled “Tribes” which is about society’s need for leaders and how those leaders assemble, develop, and communicate with a group of people who have a common idea. At first I thought the book was going to be about leading in the business world, but it was far from that and surprised and challenged me in a many ways.

Tribes vs. Crowds

• A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.
• A crowd is a tribe without a leader.
• A crowd is a tribe without communication.

Many groups spend their time trying to gather a bigger crowd, but smart groups assemble a tribe. A crowd can rally around any idea, from moms praying for their kids in school (Moms in Touch) to building homes for those who need assistance, like Habitat for Humanity. The goal is not for the group to just get bigger, but for their idea to move forward. What good would it be if a million people belonged to Habitat for Humanity but not one home was ever built?

Managers vs. Leaders
Managers use resources (like people) to maintain the status quo. Leaders, on the other hand, are about creating changes that advance their ideas. If this happens in a faith community the pastor, instead of taking risks that move “the idea” (gospel message), may choose to manage the “crowd” and secure the establishment. Retreats, conferences, and luncheons become maintenance opportunities, self-focused to solidify who they are and what they stand for. Managers sound the trumpet and circle the wagons, leaders the trumpet to advance.
Managers are also more concerned about controlling the environment than empowering the tribe and are committed to the system or religion of how things are done. Managers raise up assistant managers; leaders empower their tribes to make change. For example, Martin Luther was labeled a heretic when he nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door, but he didn’t change his faith, he sought to change the environment. He translated the Bible into the people’s language, enabling the “tribe” to further the cause of Christ, not just those who spoke Latin. If you are going to lead, you can’t be afraid to challenge the status quo of the religion to help the idea move forward and you can’t be afraid of empowering their tribe.

Risk / Change / Fear
Risk, change, and overcoming fear are all part of leading; fear you will fail, fear of change, fear that you don’t have what it takes, or fear that the status quo will reject you. A leader needs to push through all of these things because the idea is worth the risk and too important not to move forward.

To further ideas effectively there needs to be a tribe. A tribe needs to communicate the idea. A tribe needs a leader. Maybe you?

ADVANCE

Love Something More

“So we cheated and we lied and we tested,

And we never failed to fail;
It was the easiest thing to do.” (Southern Cross - Stephen Stills)

Why do people do things that they know are wrong? The drug user who abuses knowing it’s going to land her on the streets, in a hospital, or worse. The man having an affair who knows it is destroying his family, but still, he continues the destructive behavior. I think the best way to answer that question is to ask ourselves. Looking back there have been times in my own life where I recognized that my attitude, habits, or behavior was unhealthy and destructive, but I chose to do them anyway. Why? Because I wanted to.

We just finished going through the book of Joshua (still a favorite) and at the end of this book of promise and conquest, miraculous intervention and tremendous faith, we find Joshua’s final words to the leaders and elders of Israel quite curious. He tells them to choose for themselves this day whom they would serve” with his emphatic, “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” The elders respond as you might expect, saying that they too would serve LORD, but Joshua responds in a way that strikes back at them saying, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God.”

Why would he say that?

Twice Joshua told the elders to throw away the foreign gods among them, but before that he told them to be careful to love the Lord (23:11), and though the people knew what they should and shouldn’t do, we see within just one generation they end up leaving the LORD and doing whatever was right in their own eyes (Judges). In the end, the people did what they wanted, what they loved and they loved something else more.

Woody Allen said, after leaving his wife and getting involved with her adopted daughter, “The heart wants what it wants” which brings me to my point: if you know the right thing, but love the wrong thing, you will make the wrong choice. Jesus said in John 3, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” It wasn’t that people couldn’t see the light (what was right), or understand the darkness (what was wrong), they just loved the darkness more.

I know people don’t usually change until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of the change, but eventually loving the wrong things will leave us broken and disillusioned. At that time I pray we choose to love something else, something better, someone better, the one who first loved us and is jealous for us still. - 1 John 4:19

Ri

Have you ever heard or read something and found yourself being encouraged just knowing that there was someone else out there who felt the same way as you? That was the sense I had reading Steve Saccones book “Relational Intelligence”. I have long felt that how we relate with people is an important area that we often overlook and in his book Steve illuminates many ways that we can better ourselves in this area. In fact I thought it so good that I gave a copy to those who are in leadership at Genesis and believe it will help us not only be better leaders, but better people.

It bothers me (probably more than it should) how we can be fascinated with the sensational, yet be dysfunctional with the practical. We learn all we can about eschatology (end times stuff), but never think to better our ability to communicate on a deeper level. It’s the typical guy who will talk your ears off about the ‘mark of the beast’, but can’t get a date! Or, the girl who dominates every conversation with all she does for God, but fails to understand why she has so few friends! I have to say that in all my years of counseling, I’ve never had to help a troubled teen or couple in crisis because they didn’t have a clear grasp on the second coming of Jesus, but failure in communication is almost always at the top of the list. Leaders who don’t recognize this often fail to see that the truths they share aren’t received many times because of the tiresome and detached way they are relating those truths.

Steve writes about this and says, “When people aren’t engaged in our vision, our movement, or our cause, its easy to think that they lack the ability to remain interested, rather than absorbing the responsibility ourselves to become more interesting persons. If we struggle in our leadership to capture people’s attention and engage their interests, we’re not simply the victims who have fallen prey to the culture of boredom; instead we must allow this reality to motivate us to become more compelling relators.” He then says “We must take responsibility to become the most interesting people we can be to bring that part of us into our relationships.”

Jesus is a tremendous example of how to communicate with identification, passion and illustration to those listening (look at the Sermon on the Mount). He never gave off the impression of being too busy or uncaring. Whether it was the Children who came to him, Zacchaeus, the women at the well or so many others? He was the epitome of a relational genius.

I know that some people are good with this area and some not so good, but all of us could use improvement and this book is a great tool to help in that endeavor. It sure helped me.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Relational-Intelligence-Influence-Jossey-Bass-Leadership/dp/047043869X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270575449&sr=8-1

How Far? - Good Friday -

How far did He have to go? The Lord, to find you? Where was the end of your rope the bottom of your pit? Were you on a hill or mountain of despair? Was it in the middle of a sea of restlessness, searching for some peace? Was it in religious ritual, diligently trying to gain favor with a God you didn't even know was there?

Jesus said; "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?"

I'm so glad that He found me in that distant place, and I can't express the comfort and hope I hold onto knowing that He searches for the lost still.

There is something about knowing you are loved that can change you forever, change you for the better. On this Good Friday, may you know that you are loved.