8.13.24
This week we are in Jonah 3 and the beginning of 4, looking at the subject of violence. The story of Jonah is a picture of grace overcoming violence. But the violence it overcomes has two surprising sources. The first we looked at yesterday. It comes from the pagan society of Assyria. And it boots off the chaos of a polytheistic world view. Many gods fighting = a world of disordered chaos.
But the second source of violence here comes from an equally shocking source: Jonah himself. The Bible is incredibly raw and honest here, telling us that one of the main sources of violence in the world is exactly what its critics have been claiming for years: it stems from religion. This was John Lennon’s cry in imagining a world with no religion. Because from his perspective - and from any casual observer, that’s exactly what religion has produced through its years: incredible violence.
But this is where we must be careful once again, to distinguish religion from the gospel. Religion is what you do to work your way to God or god (s). Whereas the gospel is what the God of the universe has done to work his way to you.
Religion boots off the premise that my good works are earning me a special place of favor with God (god-s). The heart of the religious person takes its assurance and validation from their ability to keep up with the system - whether that system is Christianity or liberal wokeness or something in between.
As a result, religious people, by their very nature, are compelled to look down on those who are not keeping up with them. It creates an environment where the “losers” deserve oppression. It sows the seeds of bigotry and condescension. And it eventually leads to outright violence.
Who were the people who killed Jesus? It was the moral, religious leaders. Who propped up the racial bigotry and slavery of the old South? It was the church. What is the primary goal of the religious church in Appalachia? Take drunks and druggies and sexually loose people and make them more moral - turn them into better people. And our passage here tells us that this is the worst thing that could happen. Give a self-righteous person an excuse for boasting and looking down on others, and oppression takes on a religious zeal.
This is why understanding the gospel is so critical for our spiritual growth. The rules of engagement might be the same (obey God, keep the 10 commandments, love your neighbor, etc.), but the motivation is 100% opposite. In religion, you obey to get something. In the gospel, you obey because you’ve already been given something. One boots off of discipline and effort. The other off of love and thankfulness.
Pay attention to the motivation of your heart today. And watch for the tell-tale signs of self-righteous religious zeal: condescension, impatience, gossip, a critical judgmental attitude.