The Perfect Portrait of a Reluctant Leader
We should feel grateful that God included Jonah in the canon of Scripture. If ever God provided a picture of our human nature—our inclination to run from duty in favor of serving self—he did it through Jonah. He furnishes the perfect portrait of a reluctant leader in a needy time.
Yet he is not alone! God has called many reluctant leaders. Consider Moses, who, in Egypt, thought he could do more than he really could. God called him only after 40 years of preparation, when he thought he could do less than he really could. He expressed total reluctance as he stood before a burning bush, trying to excuse himself from leadership. Or consider Gideon, whom God called to lead an attack against the Midianites. He argued with an angel, explaining why he couldn’t do it. Or consider King Saul, who stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Yet he hid among the luggage when Samuel came to anoint him king of Israel. Or consider Jeremiah, whom God called to be a prophet to the nations. This young man debated with God on the basis of his tender age, as though God had forgotten how old he was. God basically responded, “I have been preparing you since before you took shape in your mother’s womb.”
Jonah’s reluctance didn’t take the form of a debate; he simply ran in the other direction. He didn’t object to his call on the basis of his inabilities, but upon the seeming irrationality of calling Nineveh to repent. Jonah saw this as an evil culture that didn’t deserve a warning of impending doom. So he ran. Days later he discovered that called leaders can’t outrun God. Some frightened sailors threw him overboard (at his direction), and a huge fish swallowed the sputtering prophet. Over the next three days he regained perspective while in the belly of the fish, and when God ordered the beast to spit him up on shore, the chastened prophet at last fulfilled the task God had given him.
It is interesting to note that every major player in the story—the storm, the sailors, the fish, the king, the Ninevites, the vine, the worm and the east wind—all obey God . . . except for Jonah, the leader God chose. Sometimes the leader must repent before he can call the people to do so.
Despite Jonah’s disobedience, his lack of perspective, his cultural prejudice, his self-righteousness, his wrong motives, and his bad attitude, God never gave up on him. The central lesson? Sometimes God uses us, in spite of us. He even uses reluctant leaders to accomplish his gracious mission.
God’s Role in Jonah
God once again takes the initiative in this book. The leader he chooses refuses at first to obey. God chases him down, calls upon a huge fish (perhaps a whale) to swallow him, enables him to live for three days in the belly of that creature, then orders him spit up on shore. Only then does Jonah go to Nineveh to speak. Yet even after he delivers his message, God has to take the initiative once more when Jonah reacts angrily to their repentance. God raises up a vine to give him shade, then teaches him a lesson about mercy and grace. God must work harder at getting his chosen leader into an obedient posture than he has to for the Ninevites!
Leaders in Jonah
Jonah, the king of Nineveh
Other People of Influence in Jonah
The sailors
Lessons in Leadership
• Motives are key: Why a leader does something ultimately determines what he does.
• Leaders must model what they demand from the people.
• God’s mercy overcomes our reluctance, prejudice and small thinking.
• We can still lead if our impulse for obedience grows stronger than our reluctance.
• Leaders lose their right to be selfish.