When I arrived at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) to start my education as a pastor I had a lot to learn. As I reviewed my course catalog I saw that I needed to take classes such as Greek, Hebrew, Homiletics, Chaplaincy, Pastoral Ministry, Prophetic Studies and so on. Some of these courses were fascinating but I have to admit that God had some bigger lessons for me to learn. Sometimes in learning, we focus on all the head knowledge but some of the most important lessons I received at SWAU dealt with heart knowledge.
As I looked at the education process I went through at SWAU the biggest lesson I learned was how to deal with difficult (and ANNOYING) people. We don’t talk about that too often as Christians. More often than not we pretend to be holy. We try to give the impression that we have everything figured out in life.
The reality is that I didn’t then and I still don’t today because I am still growing.
The person I struggled with the most was a fellow pastoral ministry student. This individual was very opinionated and he always gave off an air of superiority. If I’m honest I have to admit that I hated him and every time I talked to him I ended up getting really mad. Not very good pastor-like behavior on my part.
In my frustrations, I remember spending a morning talking to God about it. And just like that, I stumbled across something very interesting. I found that in praying for my “enemy” my heart started to change. Over the next several weeks I became much more tolerant of him and over time I even started liking the guy.
This week we are going to be tackling why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and why his behavior was not very becoming for a prophet of God. For a little clue about this let me tell you that Jonah considered them the “bad guys” and he felt that the Ninevites shouldn’t be worthy to enjoy redemption.
Do you feel this way about your enemies? Would you be willing to share Jesus with your enemies?
My behavior as a student learning to become a pastor made me realize I wasn’t being a very good disciple of Jesus. I hated that guy and Jesus doesn’t call us to hate. When I started praying for him Jesus transformed me and He did what I couldn’t do for myself. As we continue our Jonah: A Book of Opposite Stereotypes sermon series allow God to work on your heart. Allow God to work on you as you try to navigate the waters dealing with people you struggle with.
May we be transformed by the heart lessons that Jesus has for us today!
Grace and Peace,
Geraldo
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