Equivalent Intrinsic Value 2.0

What about Jonah? Jonah spends his life in the Lord’s service and then is asked to go take a message to folks he despises. He will no doubt become scum just from being near those people. Jonah is offended at even being asked. So you know the story, we’ve heard countless sermons, disobedience, change of heart, God’s work completed. But Jonah’s heart is not changed. The story ends with him wasting away, unhappy at God’s gift to others. It’s almost as if he finally agreed to go to Nineveh because it was a last chance to prove to God that he was right in the first place. “I’ll just go on over there, tell what God told me to, and smirk as they go on with their bad selves”. God will see that it was useless, and in my heart, I’ll say, “I told you so”. That’s not what happened. Jonah delivers the message, Nineveh repents and is saved. Jonah is devastated. One of my favorite lines from any movie in recent years comes from the Veggie Tales Jonah. After repenting, the giant zucchini (originally Mr. Nezzer) says to Jonah, (I paraphrase) “Gee Jonah, thanks for telling us, we didn’t realize we were doing anything wrong”. Rather than rejoicing at returning the lost to fold, Jonah sits by himself grieving that God actually kept His promise. How could God forgive such wretched ones? Perhaps Jonah is upset because he has always been so faithful and these are given the same love and compassion as he is. Perhaps Jonah is upset because he feels his value is diminished because theirs is raised. Or worse, he finds that God valued them enough to seek them out in order to bring them back. Even before they repented!
The Pharisees despised the lesser ones. The brother burned with jealousy at the return of his wayward brother. The workers who were recruited late in the day received the same pay as those who had worked all day. The shepherd leaves the flock to rescue one that is lost. Jonah himself having received unfathomable grace, mourned at the grace given as the fruit of his begrudging obedience.
Seems to me that with all these messages and accounts, God is concerned with the heart of the faithful as much as the wanderings of the wayward. The faithful get angry with the outsiders. God feels compassion, pain, and pity. “You have been with me and everything I have is yours, but here is your brother who was lost and now is found.”
I’m not saying that sin increases our value in God’s eyes. As one commentary puts it, God’s emotions are tweaked and the intrinsic value is modified because loss and recovery come into play. He loves the faithful so much that He wants them to celebrate with Him at the recovery of the others. We’re invited to the party.
A ministering heart will begin to feel the pity that God feels – will see the lost and not the behavior. We’ll do what it takes to reach them and party when they’re found. A ministering heart will go headlong into the black hole of church planting with the fire of God and the Truth in hand, welcoming all who are thirsty.