We got a chance to take advantage of one such opportunity and, for whatever reason, we decided to watch the Veggie Tales version of the story of Jonah. It seems like people tend to gravitate toward the story of Jonah (or Noah and the Ark or Daniel in the lion's den). We paint a scene of Noah collecting animals two by two in the baby nursery. We describe Daniel cuddled up with some lions in a well-lit cave. Jonah (in the movie we watched) ends up hanging out in the belly of the whale with a worm that sells Persian rugs and some gospel choir angels. Laissez le bon temps rouler, n'est-ce pas?
There's a problem with that perspective, though. Isabella reminded me of that very distinctly. The movie progressed through the story line and eventually got to the part where Jonah had disobeyed God, run to a boat, and sailed in the opposite direction. And God called up a storm to blow in and stop Jonah in his disobedience. As easy as that is to type, it is not easy to watch, at least as far as Isabella was concerned. She became immediately scared to the point of tears and ran to me for consolation. Convinced it was a "bad part" and it was "scary," she didn't want to watch anymore. I understand that. It is scary when you think about it. A storm on the sea is one of the most helpless positions a person can find themselves in, especially when it's a direct result of disobedience to God.
Anyway, I calmed her down and reassured her that it wasn't so bad - God did and does have everything under control. What else is a dad to do? Be brutally honest and tell her that she really ought to be scared? Well, sure, but not yet. My dad handbook says to wait until she's at least five for something like that...
While I didn't go into the technical details, we did have a talk about how Jonah had a bad attitude and disobeyed God and the consequences of his actions. That's something that she can understand, being a typical (almost) four year old and having her own issues with consequences for a bad attitude and disobedience.
But the whole scene reminded me that the story of Jonah is not a children's story. As funny as "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" are, it's not fun and games to disobey God. In the case of Noah, as cute as all the animals are, that is a story of global annihilation as a direct result of sin. There is nothing sweet about the story in any stretch of the imagination. Daniel didn't just waltz into the lion's den and play for a while before camping out with his new pets. He fully expected to be mauled by lions into a gory and violent death for his faithfulness to the One True God.
These are not just feel good tales of adventure with a silly song or two thrown in for kicks. These are incredibly serious stories about the war that we fight every day against our sinful flesh, about the serious consequences of fallen man living in a broken world in seemingly perpetual disobedience to God. Jonah is just the example, but I fear that the church today does not take obedience to God seriously. I fear that, more often than not, we downplay the biblical accounts of sin and its consequences to the point that they're just a cute story about a whale and a guy who doesn't listen to God but wasn't really that bad of a person.
NO! Jonah brazenly disobeyed God and ran in exactly the opposite direction to avoid the task that God had called on him to do. Even when he does get to Ninevah, Jonah wasn't thrilled about telling them about the second chance that God was giving them. Jonah had a terrible attitude because he hated the people of Ninevah. Even when they repent and God spares them in the end, Jonah gets mad at God for doing what He said He would do in the first place. He wanted them dead! He wanted them dead without any hope for a right relationship with God! What?! That's not the Jonah we teach our kids in Sunday School!
And yet, how often do I walk away from reading the Holy Scriptures, a revelation directly from God for life and godliness, and treat it the same way? How often do I read the account of Paul suffering for the sake of the gospel and write it off as something cool that Paul did but that I would never have to do? We don't take obedience to God seriously.
I just wonder if it will take something catastrophic to make us figure it out.
That you might know Christ,
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