WHAT GOD BELIEVES: We want God’s actions to line up with our pre-existing beliefs.
- We want God to work within the confines of our pre-existing beliefs and values. We don’t want to have to go through the hard work of changing what we think and believe.
- We want to love God and be a good Christian without having to change any of our prejudices and opinions.
- Let’s talk for a second about our pre-existing beliefs as Democrats, Republicans, Americans, etc.
- You may be a Democrat, but that doesn’t change God’s love for the unborn.
- You may be a Republican, but that doesn’t change God’s heart for the poor.
- You may be an American, but that doesn’t change Jesus’ warnings about the dangers about a materialistic lifestyle.
- We always need to remember that the Kingdom of God and the American Dream do not have compatible values.
- Have a dollar sign “heart” on butcher paper. Take the cross “heart” that God wants us to have and start ripping parts of the cross off to “make it fit.”
- There are times when we’re angry at God for allowing something unexpected (a tragedy or a struggle). Less thought about but just as common is when we’re angry at God for doing exactly what He said He would. Jonah here is mad at God for doing exactly what Jonah knew that He would do.
- Very few are willing to truly come as much as possible as a blank slate to the Bible and let it fill us.
- We are sinful, God is holy – we’re going to butt heads.
- We want happiness, God wants holiness – we’re going to butt heads.
- We want to put self first, God wants us to put Him first – we’re going to butt heads.
- We want to spend money on comfort and lifestyle, God wants us to expand the Kingdom – we’re going to butt heads.
AN ESPECIALLY EXPLOSIVE AREA: I like God’s love and grace generally, but not when it’s applied to the person I can’t stand.
- Jonah 4:2.
- Jonah is not against what verse 2 says generally: that God is a God of grace, compassion, patience, love, and mercy. He’s against that being applied to people he hates.
- When you read his statement as a whole, it’s very ironic: Jonah is complaining that God is all these good things.
- We’re often the same way, though. We love the good things about God until it shines positively on someone we are holding a grudge against.
- Bitterness feels good while you’re in it.
- God’s love is not a generic “love,” but it’s very specific in what He intends to do and what He wants us to do.
- No one objects to generic “love” – the problem is when you start getting specific.
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER: When I complain about someone sinning against me, I need to remember that I have sinned against others.
- I know there are objections to what I’m saying:
- “You don’t know what she did!”
- “He doesn’t deserve it!”
- “That’s not what I want!”
- “He lied to me!” Yes he did and that was wrong. But in your response you have to consider the fact that you’ve lied to.
- “She hurt me!” Yes, she did and that was wrong. But in your response you have to consider the fact that you’ve hurt people too.
- “He let me down!” Yes, he did and that was wrong. But in your response you have to consider the fact that you’ve let people down too.
- This does not excuse their sin. They are still guilty.
- But we do have to factor into our response the fact that we’ve been guilty before too. And probably of the same things, although perhaps in different ways.
- There is a difference between forgiving sin and excusing sin. We are not excusing sin (pretending like they didn’t do anything wrong). We are forgiving sin (acknowledging that they did something wrong, but that we still hope for good things (including repentance and a change of heart) for them).
EXPLOSIVES THAT GOD SETS OFF:
1. WE NEED TO TRY TO RECONCILE BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS, EVEN IF WE'RE NOT AT FAULT.
- Matthew 5:23.
- A typical attitude toward someone having a bad attitude toward us is “I’m willing to listen to him if he comes and apologizes.”
- This verse doesn’t tell us that we have to apologize if we haven’t done anything wrong, but it does tell us that it is our responsibility to go to that person and try to work things out.
- The most that many Christians will own in this kind of situations is that God would probably want me to go make it right if I’m the one who caused the problem. In fact, it says to go if someone has something against us – that doesn’t limit it to situations where I was the cause of the problem.
2. GOD SAYS THAT IF YOU DON'T FORGIVE THEM, HE WON'T FORGIVE YOU.
- Matthew 6:14-15.
- This is a brutal verse. I’ve said before that the “if” in this verse might be the scariest word in the whole Bible.
- As I mentioned before, there is a difference between forgiving and excusing. We are not excusing sin (pretending like they didn’t do anything wrong). We are forgiving sin (acknowledging that they did something wrong, but that we still hope for good things (including repentance and a change of heart) for them). That doesn’t change the fact, though, that we are required to forgive.
3. GOD WANTS TO SAVE, CHANGE, AND BLESS THE PERSON YOU CAN'T STAND.
- Jonah 4:3; 2 Peter 3:9.
- It’s one thing to say that God loves everyone. It’s another to say that God loves the person I can’t stand.
- Jonah, I presume, wouldn’t have been offended by the statement that “God loves everyone.” He was, however, deeply bothered by the idea that “God loves the Ninevites.”
- In fact, Jonah is sufficiently bothered by God’s display of grace that Jonah says in verse 3 that he’s ready to die.
- Again, I don’t want to dismiss out of hand the wrong that’s been done to you.
- That’s why I put that God wants to “save, change, and bless.” He wants them (like He wants you and me) to be saved. He wants them (like He wants you and me) to be changed. And He wants them (like He wants you and me) to be blessed.
- When we say that God wants to bless that person that we can’t stand (even understanding the two steps before that), it’s something that sticks in our throats. We don’t want them to be blessed. We want them to be condemned and punished and abandoned and destroyed.
- They’re guilty and don’t deserve God’s blessing. Just like us.
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION: In the house of my heart, how much remodeling am I willing to do?
- If you think of your heart as a house, how much remodeling are you willing to let God do? Is it:
a. To change the accent pillows?
b. To rearrange the furniture?
c. To knock out walls?
- God intends to make major changes to your life, not just change a few tiny details. Are you willing to let Him do that?
- I said at the beginning that we want God to conform Himself to our pre-existing beliefs. He will not do that.
- Rather, He expects us to begin to change to reflect His priorities, values, and beliefs.
- Do I want all of God – the convenient and inconvenient parts?
