Those readers who are on my mailing list will recognize the Jonah 4:11 reference as the Scripture reference included in my email signature. For readers who are not on my mailing list, I will explain why this is the Scripture I use as my reminder of why I have been responding to the world around me apologetically as I have for the last twenty years. Because I have seen God’s concern for the Ninevites in the story of Jonah, God’s concern for those who mocked Him, and God’s concern for those who rejected Him, that I too can be concerned for those around me who do the same thing. If you haven’t read the book of Jonah for a while, I suggest you take a few minutes and read it again. It’s only four small chapters and only takes a few minutes to read.

Whenever we think of Jonah, we usually only think of him as the guy who got swallowed by a fish or a whale or something. We don’t often think of him as a prophet of God, even though that is what he was. He was chosen by God to deliver a message to to the people of Ninevah. That’s what prophets did in those days. They delivered messages for God. Sometimes the messages were ones that gave good news and other times the messages gave bad news. The interesting thing about the ‘bad news’ messages however is that they were delivered in order to make good things happen. So no matter what message comes from God, it always works out for the best simply because it comes from God. Such was the case with the message sent by Jonah to the Ninevites.

I have read the book of Jonah so many times that I feel like I know him personally. I see a reflection of myself when I read about him. He was given a mission by God but he didn’t want to do it. He wanted to do his own thing so he interpreted God’s mission for him this way, “Go to Ninevah and tell those people that they are doomed!!” Well Jonah didn’t mind doing that so much because he didn’t like them anyway. He disliked the Ninevites so much that he wanted to stick around and watch from a safe distance while God stormed ‘hell fire’ and ‘brimstone’ on their heads and watch the ground swallow them up! But God didn’t do that did He? Why not? Because they had repented and asked forgiveness. That was really Jonah’s mission. It wasn’t to tell them that they were doomed but to warn them that if they don’t change, THEN they will be doomed. (Jeremiah 15:19)

I’ve been thinking a lot about Jonah lately (and Job too, but that’s another story!). We can think of Jonah as a coward because he tried to run away from his calling. We can think of him as a hypocrite as well since he judged the Ninevites so harshly as to even consider them unworthy of God’s compassion even though he himself was rebelling against God. We can even think of him as a self-centered spoiled brat who had the audacity to get angry at God for forgiving the Ninevites! If all these things are true about Jonah, then why did God choose him to deliver His message to the Ninevites? (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

When I think of this question, I have to think of myself and wonder why I do what I do considering the fact that I am so much like Jonah. I have felt concern and a burden for those who are trapped in dangerous religious groups but I don’t want to talk to them! Do I try to avoid them when I see them on the street? You bet I do! I make excuses for myself like, “They have already heard the truth and rejected it. Why should I waste my time on them?” or here’s a good one that always makes me feel better, “I’m really busy right now but if I see that person here tomorrow, I’ll talk to them then.” knowing full well that I won’t be in that area the next day. Just like Jonah, I run away.

I don’t like to see children abused in the name of God. I don’t like to see God’s name used to justify ‘Holy wars’. I get angry when I see God mocked in the secular media. Do I want to see justice dealt? You bet I do! So what do I do? I grab a sign and march around Queen’s Park protesting child abuse and demanding justice be done! Just like Jonah, I protest injustice and demand action! I have gotten angry at God too. I wonder why people like my friend David have their lives cut short from incurable diseases. If God is so concerned about people like the Ninevites, then why does it seem that He’s not concerned about people like David? Do I get angry? You bet I do! So then what happens? I look at Jonah.

Remember I said that I’ve read the book of Jonah so many times? Now you know why. I often avoid confrontation. I often judge others with a standard that I cannot meet myself. I often question God and wonder why He allows what He does. So I am a lot like Jonah. I am reminded when I read Jonah of God’s concern for those who go astray. When God asks Jonah, “Should I not be concerned?” (Jonah 4:11 NIV), I hear Him asking me the same question. Because I hear Him asking me this question, I pass that question on to others to remind them that they too should be concerned.

I have been reminded recently that there are many who are not concerned about certain things. Well, of course we have to prioritize our concerns as the world is full of so many. Every Christmas we are reminded of that through the many phone calls and mailings we receive from various charities. There is no way that we as individuals could concern ourselves with every known need in the world. We could not bear it. So we pick and choose certain charities and/or causes to be concerned about and tend to ignore the rest. This is only natural and necessary and I find that I have to do the same thing as well.

What does concern me however is when someone characterizes my concerns as ‘not relevant’ or ‘disturbing’ or even responds to them with a condescending remark like, ‘That’s interesting.’ I have however come to realize that these kinds of comments come from those who have not been personally affected by the same concerns as I have. We are, by nature, selfish people and don’t really want to bear the burdens of others even if that is what we are supposed to do. It is after all, easier to give a weekly or monthly tithe or offering in church or a monthly cheque to a worthy cause than it is to read about or listen to a ‘non-relevant, disturbing, or interesting’ story from someone else that has no ‘relevance’ in our lives.

People who have been affected by spousal abuse will concern themselves with charities that help those kinds of victims. People who have been affected by drug or alcohol abuse will concern themselves with charities that help those victims. Also too, people who have been affected with a deadly disease will concern themselves with charities that help victims of that disease. So I understand why many are not concerned about those who have been affected by dangerous religious groups or abuses within the church. They have not been affected by it personally so why should they care? I mean who wants to hear about priests sexually abusing children anyway? Who wants to hear about children dying for refusing blood transfusions? And do we really want to hear about the mass suicides of a bunch of ‘wing-nuts’ halfway around the world? After all, we’ve got our own problems right here at home don’t we? Inflation, unemployment, the price of gas, our declining health care and education systems … the list could go on and on!

I certainly don’t want to minimize these concerns or belittle them in any way. After all, I live in North America and am affected by these concerns as well. These are important issues that need our concern and appropriate action towards solutions. But why are so few people (it seems to me) concerned about those affected by dangerous religious groups and abuses in the church? Well, as stated earlier, they don’t feel that these problems affect them at all. They would rather not hear about such things as they consider them ‘fringe’ things that only affect a small minority.

Well, I won’t get into the rising legal costs that the Watchtower and Catholic Church have had to pay out due to their cover-ups of abuse as we often see these stories in the paper or on the nightly news anyway. Those of us who are not Catholic may think that this is not our concern or we may move to the other extreme and wish they would all burn in hell! And what about all the children (and adults for that matter!) who are dying every day for refusing life-saving blood transfusions because of a misinterpretation of Scripture and a misguided loyalty to an organization? Again, many don’t want to hear about it or may feel that they deserve what they get. Now we also hear about mass suicide cults all around the world and again think that they don’t matter to us and if those people are stupid enough to join a dumb cult then good ridance to them!

If you are a reader who feels this way about any of these issues or related issues like this, then you are not alone. After all, that’s their problem not ours, right? However, if you are a Catholic who has been abused by a priest or someone who has lost a loved one for refusing a blood transfusion or someone who has lost a loved one to a dangerous suicide cult, then these kinds of responses may make you feel alone and are as comforting and as helpful as a slap in the face. It’s as if I callously told someone who lost a loved one to cancer that I didn’t want to hear about it because it’s ‘disturbing’ or ‘irrelavent’ or ‘not my problem’ just because I don’t know anyone who ever died of cancer (I have known several by the way.).

Should I not be concerned for those suffering from cancer? Of course I should. Should you not be concerned about those affected by dangerous religious groups or abuses in the church? Yes, I think you should and I will tell you why. Cults target young people and they also target Christians. Most of us know someone who is in College or University or will be someday. Those people who are close to us will become targets for dangerous religious groups. So while today you may feel cold about it and think it irrelevant, tomorrow you may be seeking council on how to rescue your loved one from the grip of a cult. Your loved one may end up becoming one of the headlines in the paper or story in the evening news. I don’t wish that on anyone but don’t fool yourself into believing it can never happen to you.

Some time ago, my Pastor, Werner Peters, Paul Carden and I sat down and looked through a Toronto telephone book to see how many cults we could find in the city of Toronto listed in the phone book. We had counted over fifty before we were even one third the way through the book and quit right there! Paul helped us to identify a number of Asian and Hispanic groups that we had never even heard of before! I was born here and lived my whole life here and had no idea that I was surrounded by so many groups competing for the hearts and minds of people in our city. Toronto has also become the city of choice for new Canadians who either bring in their own cultic ideas or become targets for the groups already existing here. Most of us really have no idea how many families are being torn apart by dangerous religious groups or how many students are being led astray or how many victims of physical and sexual abuse are all around us. We have no idea and don’t see it because we don’t want to. We find it ‘disturbing’ or ‘irrelavent’.

If any reader is offended or disturbed by this, then I do not apologize for that. You should be offended and disturbed by this. Why? Because God is offended and disturbed by this that’s why. That’s why he sent Jonah to Ninevah! If we stick our heads in the sand and pretend that these things are not happening, then we are as guilty as those who offend God. I can’t recall who first said this but it bears repeating, “All evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing!” If we do nothing because we think it’s disturbing or irrelevant or not our problem, then these evils will overtake us and we will be without excuse.

Should I not be concerned? Yes I should and I am. I may be like Jonah who wants to avoid confrontation and who seeks justice without mercy and questions God about things that I don’t understand but I do seek to be more like my Lord Jesus Christ who dares to confront, offers justice with mercy and forgiveness and does not question the will of God but trusts in His Wisdom even when I don’t understand it.

The next time you get a phone call, email or knock on the door from some worthy charity that you may not be concerned about, or at least unable to support at the time, be sure to offer your appreciation to the the person who is concerned for the work they are doing. You could even offer to pray for them. I’m sure they would appreciate that much more than you hanging up the phone in their ear, or you asking them to remove your name from their mailing list or you slamming the door in their face.

As Christmas approaches we will have many more opportunities to show our concern and appreciation to many volunteers working around us letting those who need our concern know that they are cared for. Be concerned. Pray. Be kind and give generously when you can.

Photo Notes:

*** Jonah intro pic from www.rmichelson.com

*** B&W photo of me and my friend David in the wheelchair taken about 15 years ago when both of us had a lot more hair!

Posted by David_Upton at 06:07 PM