“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city …?”

The book of Jonah is about a prophet, a man of God, and a servant of God provides some missional lessons to the church today. The missional responsibilities of the church as salt and light to the world resonates with Jonah’s response to God’s message that God gave him to convey. The book of 2 King 2 introduced the man Jonah, the son of Amittai to us (v 25). Jonah means a dove; sent to convey a message from the God of Israel to the Ninevites, who were Assyrians. Amittai in Hebrew simply means “My Truth.” Jonah, the servant of God is called dove and his father was named My Truth. In John 16, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth (v.13), and the source of truth is God (John 17:17). The dove had a particular role in the Assyrian belief (Ishtar goddess), just as the Holy Spirit in the Church for a missional empowerment for witness to the world.  Just as Jonah was eternally chosen, a name that had a particular resonance with the people, the church is eternally called, sent, and empowered for salvation purpose in the world.

Jonah’s name is a symbol of life and, ultimately, of salvation. Jonah, despite the credentials of his name and calling fell into a human problem. He failed to appreciate the God he served, and ended up being consumed by his feelings against the Ninevites, rather than seeing God’s concern for their salvation. Jonah had his theology straight with the knowledge that God created the earth, gracious and abundant in lovingkindness (Gen 1:9, 4:2, Exd 34:6). In essence, Jonah knew his Bible, his problem was not human knowledge or beliefs. He lacks the urgency of the Great Commission. Jonah’s problem was his heart just as the problem of the church today is the heart of the people. Jonah lacked God’s heart for the lost people, the perishing. The reflection is that, it is possible to abuse a calling and fall into human error and problem. Jonah remains a missional lesson in order for the church to avoid falling into the same trap if we desire to be at one mission with God. God created all things for His glory and to do His will just as ‘the sailors, the seas, the fish, the Ninevites, the plants, the worm—all of these things can do’ God’s will by responding to God’s mission in rescuing the perishing. A church that is not rescuing the perishing is perishing. The challenge is that Jonah himself finds it very difficult to do God’s will and respond to God’s mission, just as the church is struggling today especially in the area of soul winning.

In Jonah chapter 1 and 2, we find Jonah doing the opposite of what God says. God asked Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh but he goes the other way. The Bible says, ‘Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.’ The reflection for us is that, money was not the problem for Jonah just as money may not the problem for the church today. The problem of a reluctant church like Jonah is that, we are so busy and caught up with pursuing and maintaining our own comfort that we are insensitive to those around us who are perishing without Christ. I believe God is calling us through the book of Jonah to awake and have God’s heart of compassion for the perishing. God is calling us to stop looking and going the other way. The preposition that is used to show the other way is “He went down.” Jonah went down to Joppa, ‘he went down into the ship,… He goes down into the hull or the lowest point,… Down to the bottom of the sea.’ I believe God is reminding us through the book of Jonah that the church can still be rescued from the depths of our decline and unwarmed hearts. God is still saying to the church again, “Arise, go…. (Jonah 3:1-2)

Jonah like the Church today appears to have lost sight of what God’s missional character really is like, ‘despite the fact that it was his own human father’s name. So the son of “My Truth,” doesn’t understand God’s Truth!’ For our nation like Nineveh to avoid God’s judgement, the church must arise in repentance and prayerfully come out of the belly of secularism to preach repentance and Truth of the undiluted Gospel as the main aspect of God’s character.