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The Jonah Syndrome:
Hoping They Don’t Repent |
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by Douglas C. Schmidt, published by Cook Communications Ministries.
Probably the biggest reason people choose not to explore
the process of forgiveness is something we’ll call
The Jonah Syndrome. As you may recall from the story
of Jonah, the reluctant prophet ran in the opposite direction
when he was told by God to offer repentance to one of
the fiercest superpowers the world has ever known — The
Assyrians, specifically the inhabitants of the capital
of the empire, Ninevah.
Sometimes, when a city was about to come under siege
by the Assyrians, the citizens would simply kill each
other rather than face the vicious, blood-curdling torture
of the these particular warriors. These mercenaries implemented methods of anguish
that would maximize and draw out a person’s pain experience without actually
killing him. When the Assyrians captured their enemies, especially rival kings,
they gouged their eyes out, and/or cut off hands and feet, and/or staked them
to the desert floor and skinned them alive — or, barring all this, slowly
boiled or roasted them over a period of days.
No wonder Jonah was reluctant to pay these folks a visit. . . .
The maintenance energy for withholding forgiveness is enormous. We might discreetly
keep our ears open for bad news about these people so we can do a little
fist-pumping as we rejoice in their misfortune, But, if we’re in this
state, hearing about their good fortune only plunges us into greater despair.
We might spend an inordinate amount of time sitting around and ruminating
on what a certain person did to us. The evil act might find it’s way
into conversations that have nothing to do with the person we’re talking
to or the topic at hand. And, at the very worst, the harm we want to do to
the offender, and can’t, gets projected on to those who really do care
about us. So our other relationships suffer because we can’t find the
ability to forgive. . . .
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 It’s
not healthy to talk about forgiveness as merely “the
emotional release” of the debt that the people
have created in our lives. Instead, it is better to describe
forgiveness as the “transfer” of that debt
from our account to God’s. Forgiveness includes
the acknowledgement that we are powerless to collect
on certain debts, and that we must trust God to balance
the books. This is what God means when He promises “I
will repay.” (Deut. 32:35; Jer. 16:18; 25:14; 51:24;
Ezek. 7:9; Joel 2:25; Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30; Rev. 2:23 — Note,
that in some of these passages, God’s repayment
plan also includes compensation to the victims.)
OUR WILLINGNESS TO FORGIVE SOMEONE does
not need to be based on the prospect that our forgiveness
will finally end the matter in God’s eyes. Perhaps
our involvement with that person will come to an end. Perhaps we will choose
to stay in a relationship with that person, for a variety of legitimate reasons.
But in these cases, we understand that our level of vulnerability with the
person may never be deeper than “maintenance mode.”
But just because we have forgiven someone, doesn’t mean that God is
finished with that person. That is what Paul means when he implores offended
believers — those
who have taken all the appropriate steps concerning human justice — to
step aside and “leave room for the wrath of God.” (Rom. 12:19).
. . .
Because God is just, and we reflect this part of His essence in our own limited reflection
of his emotional essence, we are left with a sense of unsettledness
and discomfort whenever we witness or experience injustice.
There is something inside of us that says “this
needs to be made right — these actions cannot
go unanswered — the person who has committed
these evil deeds needs to be held accountable.”
And God is saying the same thing.
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Excerpted from The
Prayer of Revenge: Forgiveness in the Face of Injustice by Douglas C. Schmidt, published
by Cook Communications Ministries. For more information,
visit www.dougschmidt.com
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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ACTS:
13-38
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"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed
to you. "
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(NLT)
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