The past few weeks, we've been doing a series on Jonah at church. All this time I thought that book was just about Jonah and the giant whale. Who knew I was so wrong. I'm sure had I actually read the book in my adult life I would've noticed that there was so much more to it, but in all honesty I hadn't looked at it since the last time I probably learned about it in Sunday School growing up. And I've never really gone to a church that does much preaching from the Old Testament. I've only become engrossed in the Old Testament in the last couple of years and boy is it amazing! You should check it out some time. Jesus is everywhere in it...even in Jonah.
But I'm not here to type about Jesus symbolism in Jonah. I'm here to talk about the city. During my community group this past week, I was struck with the following realization. Los Angeles is much more similar to Nineveh. But most people from middle America look at it as a modern day Sodom & Gomorrah. What's the difference you ask? Gen 18:20-21 says, "Then the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know." Abraham even interceded for Sodom & Gomorrah and God agreed to spare it if He found 10 righteous people. He sent two angels into the city, but the treatment they received was how shall we say...less than hospitable. We all know the story, so obviously there weren't any righteous people to be found. The inhabitants of Sodom & Gomorrah rejected God and were thus destroyed.
Now Nineveh was a great city in the days of the prophets. Much like Sodom & Gomorroh, they had turned over to evil ways. Jonah 1:2 says that God told Jonah, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But if you read Jonah, the story plays out quite a bit differently. After the whole whale action, Jonah finally goes to Nineveh. But here we see the Ninevites having an entirely different reaction. Jonah 3:5 states that after hearing Jonah call out that God was going to overthrow Nineveh , "the people of Nineveh believed God." They fasted and called out to the Lord. We see God's response in Jonah 3:10, "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it."
Here we have two similar cities, but two vastly different results. One city believed, the other did not. Now who are we to label Los Angeles (or any city for that matter) a Sodom & Gomorrah? Should we not treat it like Nineveh? Is it not worth saving? Should we not flock to the cities and live missionally, spreading God's word among the unbelievers? Let me tell you, Los Angeles is not rejecting Jesus. Far from it. It is full of broken individuals who are coming to know the Lord because Christians are investing their time in the city. And I have the privilege of being a part of it! Now I'm not saying we're all called to live in the city. I'm just asking that you change your attitudes toward the city and that you remember to pray for its inhabitants and those of us here trying to reach out.
I've been struggling for topics to post about lately. I have a friend who's a photographer, and he's always posting pictures he takes on his facebook. This has inspired me to share with you the things I love about LA via pictures. So I'm going to try to post a picture every few days or so and write a little description of why I love it. Some will be serious. Most will be silly. But all will give you an idea of my life in LA.
