Why people gravitate to God's global purposes and why they run away.
By Shane Bennett
Who wouldn't want to have a book in the Bible named after themselves? My guess is that Jonah wouldn't. As far as I can tell, though, he's the only one to get four eponymous chapters dedicated solely to himself. And it couldn't be the recounting of noble exploits or sharing of time-honored, God-revealed truth. Not even an angelic visitation. No, it had to be a giant, unmitigated foul-up. It may be Jonah's one and only foul-up, but it's preserved so we can read it, raise our eyebrows, cluck our tongues, and judge poor Jonah.
Or maybe he's not so much "poor Jonah." He clearly disobeyed. And in the process, he may provide mission mobilizers with a moral on a silver plate: "Obey God. Become a missionary. Don't be a dope like Jonah." Powerful stuff if wielded well, but not as interesting to me as…