Every now and again you find some outstanding fodder for your blog posts in the news media in the form of something purely ridiculous. This one takes the cake. Recently, The Times of Israel reported that an Israeli man had petitioned the Israeli Magistrate’s Court for a restraining order against God, claiming the Almighty had been particularly unfair to him.
The initiator of the request represented himself, while the court noted that the defendant — God — did not show up for the hearing, although it did not give specifics on how the court determined that the Omnipresent was not in fact there, as opposed to merely exercising his right to remain silent — as he often does. Neither was God represented by a solicitor to speak on his behalf.
The plaintiff stated that he had tried to obtain a restraining order from the police for over three years but the police had merely sent a patrol car to his residence on almost a dozen occasions — presumably to arrest God.
The plaintiff went on to argue that over a three-year period God had exhibited a seriously negative attitude toward him, although the exact details the divine mischief he had borne the brunt of was not mentioned in the report.
Unsurprisingly, the presiding Judge denied the request, which he said was ludicrous, and suggested that applicant needed help, not from the court, but rather from other sources.
Sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction.
Can you relate?
This article got me thinking. Did you ever wish that God would leave you alone? Did you ever wish that God would quit butting into your life? Sometimes he just seems to show up at the most inconvenient times — don’t you think?
Sometimes, we all feel God nudging us to do something, to go somewhere, to help someone, to say something, but we say to God, “No, God! Some other time!” And sometimes, the roles are reversed. There is something that we really want to do — usually something unwise, impulsive or stupid — and we sense God saying, “No, don’t do that, don’t go there, don’t say that!” We know that God is saying that because he loves us, but, even so, too often we say to God, “I’m just going to do what I want to do. Leave me alone!”
Did you ever wish that God might turn away just for a few minutes, so you could do what you want to do? Did you ever wish that you could run away from God? I wonder, did you ever wish you that you could take out a restraining order on God?
I know I have, and I know I’m not alone.
A Biblical character we can identify with
If there is one Biblical character who is your classic, ‘leave-me-alone-God’ kind of guy, it was Jonah. Now, here is a person that I can relate to and so can you. He exposes a common struggle for every person of faith and reveals some hard truths that believers must face about the ulterior motives, hidden agendas and secret prejudices that they unknowingly harbor. There is so much to learn from this famous Bible hero, or perhaps I should say anti-hero. To me, Jonah’s story is one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. Let’s take a look at it together:
Let’s just pause here for a second. I think to understand what Jonah has just done, it helps to look at it on the map:
When the Lord calls out to Jonah, Jonah is in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Lord calls Jonah to go to Ninevah, approximately 600 miles to the north- east. But instead Jonah purchases a one way ticket to a place called Tarshish. Where was Tarshish? Well, it was in modern-day Spain — over 2000 miles in the other direction. This was about as far to the west as any Israelite had ever ventured back at that time — literally the end of the earth. You get the idea. God calls Jonah to one place, and Jonah goes about as far as you can go in the other direction. Back to the story:
We are not so different to Jonah
Whether or not you believe that Jonah was literally swallowed by an actual fish, or whether you believe this story is some kind of fable or allegory is not the issue at hand. Rather, this fascinating story reveals three things about the nature of human beings when they are confronted by a God who asks them to do something that the do not want to do. The times may have changed, but our reasons for avoiding God have not. There are three reasons why Jonah refused to follow God’s leading and they are the same three reasons why we still refuse today. We are not so different from Jonah. Here is why:
We run because we don’t want to get hurt
The first reason that Jonah was running from what God wanted him to do was a simple issue of fear. He was acting out of his self-protective impulse. Why? Because Ninevah was smack-bang in the middle of the Assyrian empire. This meant that Ninevah was the sworn enemy of Israel and, in fact, a bit later in history, Assyria would conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel and cart everyone off into captivity. Therefore, Jonah’s life is at stake. If the people of Ninevah didn’t listen to Jonah, they probably would have killed him.
If God told you to go to visit an oppressive regime — say North Korea for example — to share the Christian message with the people, wouldn’t you be scared? Probably. But, let’s be honest. God is unlikely to ask you to do that — for such a call is, fortunately, reserved for a select few. However, God is likely to ask you to help to the poor, to be a voice for the marginalized and to be a healing presence to the broken-hearted. When God calls you to help hurting people, it always involves a stepping out of your comfort zone, and there is always the potential for you to be hurt as well. This means you must conquer your own self-protective impulse that tries to make you retreat into your safe Christian enclave.
We run because we don’t want to be confronted
Jonah is afraid for his life, but that’s the not the only reason that he is running. In fact that’s not even the main reason that Jonah is running. There is more going on here.
If you continue to read through the story of Jonah you will find that when Jonah finally ends up in Ninevah, low and behold, the people of Ninevah actually listen to him and they repent and turn to God. But, do you think Jonah was pleased at this outcome? No! He became angry at God! Why was he angry? There were a few reasons.
First of all, he probably hated the Assyrians and the idea that his enemies had accepted God, made him mad. Secondly, he believed that the Jews were the true people of God. He didn’t see that God is a God for all people in all nations. Here, God confronts Jonah with his own hidden prejudices. Jonah has a sense of being racially, culturally and spiritually elite. He is secretly harboring the idea that these other people don’t deserve God and nor could God accept them — for they are not like him. You wouldn’t know any modern-day Christians who possess those kinds of attitudes though, right?
In essence, Jonah was not worried that God wouldn’t come through for him. Rather, he was worried about what it would mean if he did. He was running not only because he was afraid that the people of Ninevah might kill him. No, he ran also because he was more afraid of what it would mean if they actually listened to him. Jonah hated the consequences of successfully doing what God asked because it would force him to confront his own prejudices and make peace with his enemies. He would rather be stuck in the belly of a whale.
We run because we don’t want to damage to our reputation
The third reason that Jonah was running was that he was trying to protect his reputation. How do we know that? Well, Jonah also appears in another place in the Bible, and this tells us something more about him. At the time of Jonah, the king of Israel was a guy called Jereboam, and this particular king had adopted a military expansionist policy. He was reclaiming land for Israel through military conquest. How do we know? Well 2 Kings 14:25 tells us this:
What do you notice? This verse reveals that Jonah was one of the King of Israel’s chief strategists and advisers. Jonah wasn’t a nobody. He was a successful leader in the nation of Israel. He was high up. He spoke to the King, and advised the King about military decisions. This made Jonah one of the most powerful men in Israel.
How do you think it would look to King Jereboam if his prophet, Jonah, took off to Ninevah, the sworn enemy of Jereboam, to preach to them? What do you think that would do to Jonah’s standing in Israel? There is a sense that Jonah was very comfortable working away in the King’s court. The King was happy with Jonah, and Jonah was happy with the king. Why would he jeopardize that for the sake of his enemies?
Thus, the third reason that Jonah ran from God was that he was trying to save face — he was trying to preserve his reputation. How often do we do the same thing? God asks us to do something and we worry about what people will think of us? Christians is the new ‘C’ word of our time. We must accept that culturally, Christianity is on the nose. Anyone who chooses to follow the way of Jesus in the modern world will be subject to ridicule at some point. Our society celebrates religious pluralism and diversity one one hand while simultaneously beating it down with the other.
One final challenge
Take a look at these three reasons why Jonah was running from God, and ask yourself this question: What is your Ninevah? What is the difficult thing that God is asking you to do at this moment? And why aren’t you going there? What is stopping you? Are you afraid? Are you worried about what people will think of you?
Or perhaps God is pointing his finger at that hidden bias in you — that secret prejudice that you are harboring in your heart. Perhaps, he is asking you to step away from your privilege and learn what it is like to live in the minority that nobody listens to. Perhaps he is asking you to be the voice of hope in a world bereft of hope — in a world like Ninevah.
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This post was previously published on Backyard Church and is republished here with permission from the author.
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