Loving like Jesus Christ loves seems to be one of the hardest things one can do in Christianity. While it is the foundation of Christianity, most people prefer doing other things in the faith and neglect love.
Many people run from loving because they say they have been in church and don’t like it. Simply because the church is a place where both sinners and saints find refuge; and in the course of loving people, being hurt is inevitable – hurts ranging from being misunderstood, being taken for granted, being betrayed and people committing sin, seem to happen in church.
Well, you should keep in mind that this pain didn’t start with you even though it is legitimate. One bible character, Jonah also went through this with Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.
The Kingdom of Assyria existed from 23,000 BC to 600 BC and was one of the longest-lasting kingdoms in history, even though it ended up being toppled. Sometimes we read the book of Jonah, and we don’t understand why Jonah refused to go to Nineveh.
Nineveh was the headquarters of Assyria. The Assyrians had the practice of skinning people alive and spreading that skin on a pillar for all and sundry to see while passing the streets casually.
Sometimes after raiding a town, they cut off the ears and the noses of the children there and laugh raucously at the screams that could be heard echo miles away. Other times, after being defeated in a fight with another city, they return with barrels of salt to empty on that land, decreasing the level of fertility, and preventing plants from growing thereby causing man-made drought.
So you see, these were the people that Jonah was sent to. It is easier now to understand why Jonah was running – seeing that these people were every definition of wickedness that exists.
Even though Jonah’s actions seemed justifiable, God had a different perspective on the matter.
Jonah understood that if he went, God would relent on the punishment to be meted out to the Assyrians in Nineveh.
It is a wonder how we have presented God as an angry God. We have presented God who judges people with certain retributions that stem from a place of strong hatred and disgust.
You see God is interested in getting you back without paying you back. God is interested in getting that person that did you bad back without paying them back. I have seen believers saying in pidgin “na God go, judge, am“. What you are praying inadvertently is that God would deliver him/her from whatever is plaguing them.
You should understand that Jesus is not someone we only believe in, but someone who will fundamentally shape how we view our world. When you go into the marketplace, how do people know that you are a christian without you saying it.
Watch out for the next blog post! A continuation of this.
Shalom.
