Are We Like Jonah?

Jesus Christ commanded us to preach the good news to the ends of the earth; to spread His message of salvation and hope to the lost and the broken. When we are at church, or hanging out with our Christian friends it seems so natural, so easy to preach the gospel. However, what happens to the sharing of our beloved gospel outside of our Christian bubble? What happens when God calls us to step out of our comfort zone and present the gospel to a complete stranger?

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai. Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord" Jonah 1:1-3

In this well known biblical event, we see that Jonah does not want to preach in a strange city. He does not want to step out of his comfort zone. Nineveh was nearly 500 miles from Jonah's hometown and was a place of great sin. Instead, he literally flees in the opposite direction and completely disobeys Gods command to him.

This story really speaks to the modern day Christian. What is our Nineveh? What are we afraid of? Have we become so comfortable in God's grace that we are too reluctant to step out of our comfort zones?

There is a big difference between "rejoicing" in our salvation and "resting" in our salvation. Personally, I am so very grateful for my salvation but shouldn't that be all the more reason to step over that line and truly present Jesus to a complete stranger. I feel selfish knowing that maybe I'm just "resting" in Gods grace and enjoying the fruits of His sacrifice while there are lost souls who need to hear the gospel. There have been times when a moment arises when I've heard Gods voice telling me to speak up, but yet I have remained silent. What is my Nineveh?

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." Romans 1:16

Paul states that he is not ashamed of the gospel and I believe that the vast majority of Christians aren't ashamed of the gospel either, but each one of us has a "Nineveh" in our hearts. There may be many different reasons why one can't seem to break through and truly start preaching to those broken souls.

"So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God" 2Timothy 1-8

Paul wrote 2Timothy while he was chained up in a dudgeon. He likely knew that his life was coming to an end soon, but yet he still was exhorting his brethren to preach the gospel. He calls upon them to join in "suffering" for God.

So, the next time we are faced with our personal "Ninevehs", lets consider the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and all those early followers. Let us be inspired to share what was freely given to us. And let us realize that our fears of rejection or suffering can hardly be mentioned in the same breath in comparison to the suffering of those who came before us.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit of God would minster to our hearts and ignite a flame of passion for our beloved gospel; that we would boldly preach the word of God to those in need; that we would be able to overcome our own personal "Ninevehs" and become true soldiers for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.