Thursday, May 25, 2006

Jonah and the Church



God asks Jonah to go to Ninevah
God asks church to go to world

Jonah runs away, tries to hide from the presence of the Lord
Church runs away, talks a lot about the presence of the Lord

Jonah heads in the opposite direction to where he is meant to be
Church heads in the opposite direction to where it is meant to be

A wind blows and waves rise, storm comes and rocks Jonahs world
A wind blows and waves rise, storm comes and rocks the churches world

(Jonah is in a boat sinking the people who don’t know God don’t want to throw him out of the boat, Don’t know about this one although church has been very quick to throw non believers and backsliders out of the boat over the years.)

Jonah is thrown out of boat and ends up in deep water
(Helpless, desperate, sinking and resigned to death)
Church needs to get out of the boat and end up in the deep water
(Helpless, desperate, sinking and resigned to death)

Jonah in water God intervenes
Church in water God intervenes

Large fish swallows Jonah
What has swallowed the church?

In the Darkness he cried out to God
In the Darkness the church cried out to God

The whale pukes him up on the shores of Ninevah.
Now Jonah is messed up and smelly but at least he’s in the right place.

Strange beast pukes church up on the shore of the world
The church is messed up and smelly but at least it’s in the right place.

Jonah does his job and people are saved
Church does it’s job and people are saved

Jonah sits under gourd and sulks because it didn’t turn out like he expected
Church………………………………………?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some Jewish commentators say this was a story to illustrate a point - probably the one you've just made - rather than an actual event.

Anonymous said...

At which one of these stages do you think the church is at right now?

Anonymous said...

Your writings strike a chord with me Brian. All I can say is Keep it up.

Brian said...

Carlos you are so funny, I feel like you are my blog stalker