Relevant becomes irrelevant with “Jonah” article
August 17, 2005
Two weeks ago, as I was browsing the internet while over in Israel, I thought, “I think I’ll go check out Relevant and see how they are doing.” I did end up ordering some t-shirts from Randomshirts.com, one of my favorite t-shirt companies, so that was good; but then I ended up reading this article entitled: “The Real Story of Jonah” by Matt Conner, teaching pastor at The Mercy House. I like reading about Jonah - I like reading people’s perspectives, especially those that see it not as an account of an actual historical event, but that there is something deeper than that, below the surface, something that we are to get out of the story. I like that.
Conner’s article: not so much. [I don't want to offend Matt Conner, because this may just have been a bit of a bad one for him, and maybe I'd agree with other stuff he writes, but...Jonah? Not so much...]
Here are a few quotes from Conner’s article that I just don’t understand at all:
- But if the spotlight is shifted away from the human character in the story and focused instead on His creator, a whole different story is waiting to be told. For Jonah was simply a pawn in this cosmic mission that God had in mind.
- If anything, the book of Jonah shows us one main idea: the lengths that God is willing to go to accomplish His plan.
- The beautiful yet incredibly humbling thing about the story of Jonah was that the character of Jonah really didn’t matter. Jonah simply obeyed and said what he was told to say, and that was it. And a great revival took place, because God not only sent him there but told him what to do and made everything happen.
Maybe he’s just taking traditional hard-core Calvinism and having some fun with it; and maybe I just am currently a bit enamored with some of the ideas behind open theism - but I have a big problem with some of these ideas. To share with people the good news of the Gospel, to invite people into a vision of the Kingdom of God, I will never assert that anyone in the Bible, let alone, anyone today, might be “simply a pawn” in a “cosmic mission” of God. To think that what I do doesn’t matter at all, that simply gives no motivation for me to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
To state that “the character of Jonah really didn’t matter” takes away the impact and importance of the story. Whether or not there historically was a man named Jonah who was physically swallowed by a large fish, it doesn’t matter. For people today to read a story about someone who ran away from God, and then to see how God interacted with Jonah - that is important - that helps bring the story closer to people today - that helps people see themselves in Jonah. This is what makes the story “relevant” to people today. To disassociate people from reading themselves into the text, to make the character of Jonah seem dispensible and simply not important - this makes the story irrelevant, and frankly, it doesn’t make sense for Relevant to publish such an article.
Conner implies that Jonah isn’t important - Jonah was just God’s puppet; which has to be one of the most disappointing ideas within certain strains of Christianity; that humans are just God’s puppets - that what we do doesn’t affect God, what we do doesn’t really matter to God; that we are simply pawns in God’s “cosmic mission” and game, and that God is going to do whatever God wants no matter what. To say that God is going to go to whatever lengths to accomplish God’s plan - regardless of who God uses in the way…
This is not a picture of the God I worship….this is not a picture of the God I want to co-create with, a God I want to partner with to continue to bring about God’s Kingdom here on this earth.
Tags: Jonah, Relevance, Relevant Magazine, Theology
Posted in 
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
August 17th, 2005 at 11:40 am
I’m not sure I like some of the phrasing the author used (pawn has such a negative connotation), but I think his perspective is a good one. God is working to accomplish His purpose for His glory, and he uses us as His instruments. Does that mean our ministry has no value? Not at all. What it means is that God is ultimately the one working, and as a redeemed sinner I have the privilege of being part of what He is doing - I am part of the means to the greater end, namely: His glory!
Adam, are you saying that unless our role is at least equal to that of God’s, then He is not the God you worship? That we are able to form and shape the plans and purposes of God as much as he shapes our lives?
August 17th, 2005 at 11:59 am
“The character of Jonah didn’t really matter’ is a bit much for me, but in some sense, the idea of sovereignty is fairly evident in the story of Jonah. No matter what happened, as we see in the end, Jonah’s destiny was to fulfill God’s overall plan. I think that’s fairly self-evident.
But to deduce from the fact of divine-plan participation some conclusion of a lack of importance (i.e., Jonah was doing God’s will all along, and so he didn’t matter) is to reduce the doctrine of God’s sovereignty to something for which it was never intended. The belief that God has plans to prosper and not to harm is a doctrine of hope, not one of determinism.
On the other hand, to go quite the opposite way and declare oneself a “co-creator” with God is a hard position to ground in the text of Jonah. Perhaps a “servant” might be better terminology. I think some balance is lacking.
Peace to All,
- kp -
August 17th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
And why does one article that contains a theological oversimplification make an entire publication “irrelevant”? You controversy monger, you!
August 17th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
Just listening to Jewel: “We are God’s hands…we are God’s eyes…we are reflections of God…we are God’s hands…”
Kellen…I love you.
Bill, I don’t think I’m saying that we are equal to God or that our roles are equal (even though that is what my language of *co-create* seems to imply). I just think that Conner’s language and implications present at God who really has no need for us and who doesn’t really *care* if we are involved in this whole process.
And I think that’s a falsity…well, do I really want to say that God “needs” us…? That I’m not so sure about. But I do believe that our lives and God are much more intertwined than some would like to think, and yes, what we do can affect God, and what God does can, does and should affect us. I don’t believe that God has God’s plan all figured out and we are simply going to play along with whatever it is…
And Kellen, perhaps we can’t be “creators” in the sense that God is a creator, but I believe that we ARE called to create, to help bring about the Kingdom, to create good news here on earth and to present the good news of God. To cooperate, to partner with God in creating GOOD here…can’t we be THAT kind of co-creators with God?
August 17th, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Adam,
Of course you AND Bill want to say that God needs us!! That’s what God’s being not just any creator, but a loving creator is all about — needing, being eternally for the thing created. Thus Bill’s insistance on the chief end of humanity being to “glorify God.” God is for us as we hope to be for God.
And I’ll grant you some sense of the word “create” in relation to human action, but only insofar as it relates to Christ, and him crucified. In other words, we cannot “create” (”cooperate, partner with God”) without the help of Jesus Christ, who reveals the creator with whom we partner.
Love you too.
- kp -
August 17th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
Hi Adam. Interesting read. Did you see my post about Jonah from last week? Maybe Jonah was a racist (or incredibly ethno-centric, at least) and God had to get something through his thick skull. Maybe its not about God’s plan or missions but two different ethnic groups (who are all God’s children) that really need to get along. Just a thought.
August 17th, 2005 at 7:40 pm
Adam, intruiging indeed. Although some of Conner’s language is a little harsh for my personal tastes (already well documented by you and previous comments) I do believe that there is a key perspective that I can only hope (without having read the full article) was his attempt to bring out. When I look at Jonah, I can’t help but seeing him not from the perspective of the “running away” Jonah, which everyone seems to remember, but the “sulking & selfish” Jonah, which unfortunately, is exactly how he’s left.
I mean, yes, Jonah runs away. Yes, God goes to great lengths to get him to go & do what God wants him to do. But what is most striking is that at the end Jonah is more concerned about his own personal issues (the wilting plant & hot sun) than he is about the state of the Ninevites. The story is not so much about Jonah, but about God’s grace and mercy.
I think we too often get caught up doing just what you talked about - seeing ourselves in Jonah. Which is important, only if we do so in relation to the rest of humanity - whom God cares about JUST AS MUCH as us. We too need to have the heart of God, caring about others over ourselves, and if it takes someone telling me that God can do without me, than maybe that’s a good reminder now and again. It may not be a bad idea to get slapped around a bit with “you’re not as hot as you think you are” once in awhile. If not, we could end up taking language like “co-creator” (which is a great metaphor, and you used well, I believe) and doing damaging stuff like thinking we’re “co-equal” or “co-eternal” or nonsense like that.
Just some passing thoughts.
August 18th, 2005 at 3:12 am
Excelent post. I absolutly agree with you on this.