As a young man, this writer would often hear my mother reply, “You are a Joner to yourself.” This was her way of saying in her Northwest Florida country style that I was a “Jonah” unto myself. Never did I inquire while my mother lived what she meant by that saying. The expression was stated in view of my action, or lack of it, that was attempted or not attempted by me. While studying at the Memphis School of Preaching the book of Jonah, it dawned on me what my mother had so rightly depicted concerning my actions.
The Meaning of “A Jonah”
God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach to those people (Jonah 1:2). But Jonah tried to flee and hide from God, taking a ship to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). God prepared a fish (whale) and a storm; Jonah was cast overboard by the men on the ship.
Jonah
Jonah spent three days and three nights in the whale. The Bible account says, “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord.” He had tried to run from God and his responsibility of going and preaching. The fish delivered (vomited) Jonah safely to dry land, and he went and did what the Lord had said to do.
The lesson is this: The best thing for Jonah to have done was to go and preach when God said to go, but he did not. What my mother stated was true. Because too many people, too many times today, wind up doing just the opposite of what is best.
Application
In the church of our Lord, we are often “Jonahs” unto ourselves. We are “Jonahs unto ourselves” when we:
· Fail to give liberally and sacrificially (Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 8:1-4).
· Fail to attend all the services of the church (Heb. 10:25).
· Fail to conduct ourselves in a Christ-like manner (1 Peter 2:21).
· Fail to teach the lost the Truth (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).
· Fail to do good unto all men (Gal. 6:10).
· Get so busy that we do not have time to put “first things first” (Matt. 6:33).
Yes, truly, too many are “Jonahs unto themselves” when it comes to doing what God would have us to do. But, good people, take note: “Like Jonah, neither you nor I can run and hide from God or our responsibilities!”
My mother was so right!
--Ray Peters
Sunset Sentinel
Vol. 1 Num. 9
June 19, 1980
More Thoughts On Jonah
Jonah and the great fish. But Jesus said it was a whale, not because of its species, but because of its size. In other words, it was a whale of a fish. So Jonah was delivered by the whale on time, and I believe he hit the shore trotting.
—Foy E. Wallace, Jr.
What to Preach
When I in high school, I tried to preach a few times in South Georgia and North Florida (1968-70). There was no regular congregation for which I preached. On those occasions, I preached all I knew and then some. Brother Prewitte Copeland, former Principal at Georgia Christian School, arranged for me and others to preach at Morvan, Georgia, and Madison, Florida. In 1971-74 when I was at Harding College (now University), I preached a time or two at Beebe, Arkansas, and began preaching regularly at Possum Grape, Arkansas. Later, while in the Memphis School of Preaching, I tried to preach at various congregations: Bogota, Stanton, Memphis of Tennessee; Sardis, Ripley, Nesbit, Toccopola, all in Mississippi: Wilson, Manilla, and West Memphis of Arkansas. When I completed the work at MSOP, my first full-time work was in Auburn, Indiana. I have been at the Shelbyville Road church of Christ since 1980. I am still trying to preach.
But one of the most challenging questions for me from the beginning has been, and still is: “What do I preach?” God gave Jonah the answer, and it is the same answer today: “Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” (Jonah 3:2.) God does not speak to us as he did to Jonah. We do not have to go to Nineveh to preach. But we must preach the preaching that God has bidden us preach. Paul put it this way: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:2.)
If a man preaches the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, we should support him and encourage him in his efforts. Brother W. L. Totty told me that most people do not understand what is involved in preaching. He said if they had to get up one lesson, they would understand better. Preaching does not end with one sermon. He even thinks about lessons when on vacation. His work never leaves him. When he finishes a sermon, he is thinking about the next one.
—Ben F. Vick, Jr.