“Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship, paid his fare and went aboard to go...away from the presence of the Lord”.
In the introduction, we talked about why Jonah felt justified to take a dramatic flight to Tarshish instead of obeying God's call to go to Nineveh. He was afraid of being defiled and also he did not like the idea that Ninevites could be forgiven. When most Christians are called and resourced to go evangelise cross-culturally, they grab the opportunity, unlike Jonah. There is likely to be a degree of success when people go to evangelise in the ends of the earth. There are no long term expectations on relationships formed in those encounters. There is certainly need and room for frontier witnessing.
But for us the call at hand is to witness to our regular social networks. This is where the greatest opportunity for kingdom impact is, but it is also the biggest challenge. So, many christians take a 'relational flight', that is they turn away from witnessing to people within their regular sphere of influcence. Quite often they have similar reasons with Jonah:
Fear: Jonah was afraid of going beyond his religious culture into an irreligious community. Many long-time Christians do not have non-Christian networks. When I was in college, we had what was known as a Jerusalem table in the dining hall. On it sat only believers who never interacted with non-believers. Such Christians are so secure in their small world that they cannot be exposed to the needs of those outside their circles. They will often rave againist the evil in the world but will do little to stem the tide of wickedness. If they try to witness, their communication style ends up being insensitive and abrasive. There is need to be careful over social interactions especially for young believers, but we have to learn to be in the world without being of the world so we can reach the world.
Insecurity: Jonah did not like it that such an evil people would be recipients of God’s mercy. In fact in Chapter 4:2 he complains that God has shown mercy and forgiven the Ninevites. He was being protective of the national heritage of his people as a chosen nation. Is it possible that we are so protective of our turf that we cannot imagine sharing kingdom goodies with those we consider wicked? You probably work with people that are so mean and ruthless that they will do anything to advance in the corporate ladder. You may have relatives that are so malicious that you cannot see a shred of goodness to warrant them to receive God’s forgiveness. At times you would rather see them confined to hell. This is exactly what Jonah was feeling when he got on a ship to run away.
Christians are called to be different. Instead of turning your back on them, take the high road: love them,do good to them and pray that God will show you how to witness to them. Are there people you have taken a relational flight from, either because they have hurt you or they are difficult to reach? Pray that God will give you compassion for them, and then extend an invitation to them to attend church with you.
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