Reluctant Prophets

Were you at church last Sunday when we all helped to tell the story of Jonah?  It was great fun! We had the wind and the waves, the whiny sailors and of course the big fish ("Gloop!"). Poor Jonah. He really did not want to hear what God had to say to him. He really did not want to do what God wanted. He argued, he pouted, and he ran away. But God persisted and eventually Jonah did what he knew he had to do. Reluctantly yes, but eventually he did. A wildly imaginative story to get an important point across.

But who could blame Jonah for all his antics? What God wanted him to do was kind of scary. Jonah was meant to go to the people of Ninevah - his sworn enemies - and tell them the truth. Tell them that what they were doing was pretty much exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. That's scary - telling someone they are doing it all wrong. You risk a lot telling the truth sometimes. 

But what happens when you see something going on that you know is wrong, that you know is hurting someone else, and you don't do anything about it? What happens inside you? 

Prophets are truth tellers. In the Bible they are the ones who bravely (even though sometimes reluctantly) tell the truth about God.

In the world today it's pretty much the same thing. Truth tellers. Those who say "this behaviour is not right, it's not healthy, it's hurtful. And it has got to stop". There are many prophets in the world today, just as there are in the Bible. The ones whose voices resonate around the planet are the ones who speak for truth and justice. Those same qualities that the prophet Jesus spoke out for. 

Who are your "truth-tellers?" Who has helped you see which way you need to turn?
​And what truth will you risk telling today?