“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are
more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” – Jonah 4:11
Utilitarianism is the ideal that if it works, its good. If
it is useful, then it’s right. The world
is has embraced this theology as its operating principle, but is it meet for
Christians? In the church, can we really measure ourselves by results?
God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry against it.
Immediately, he turns and runs for the uttermost part of the world; only
to be swallowed by a great fish. It took three days but he finally got to
the place where he was willing to go to Nineveh; he went, preached, and his one
message saved the city. In the natural realm, growth and progress are
measured from a bottom line stand point.
Your business is measured by profit, education is measured by GPA;
granted, there are some things that are more subjective, but give us enough
time and we will find a measurement for just about anything you can see, touch,
or feel. By living in this world we become conditioned to this world, and
if we are not careful, it can influence us to measure spiritual things in the
same way. In the church we can become
conditioned to think that if we had thirty people in Sunday school this Sunday
and twenty people last Sunday than we grew by ten people. We can be
tempted to believe that because only a dozen folks show up to Sunday service,
or Wednesday night Bible study, there is something wrong. A careful examination of the scriptures will
reveal that with God, utilitarian religion is no religion. Noah was a preacher of righteousness and the
only man on Earth who found favor with God. He preached his whole life
and saved eight people. Jeremiah spent
his whole life preaching to stubborn Jews, and the only one who he found favor
with was God. The Son of God spent three
years doing nothing but preaching; at his death there was not one convert who
stood by him. Jonah was called by God
and he ran for the furthest corner of the Earth, repented, and then went to
Nineveh to preach one sermon that saved the whole city. Utilitarian
religion says that Jonah’s example is better than Noah’s, better then
Jeremiah’s, better than Jesus Christ.
Utilitarian religion and bottom line progress teaches us that any means
is justified by the end. It is as if we
say “Whatever the cost! As long as the
numbers go up, where do I sign?” If
you’re looking for answers with a results mindset, you’re looking in the wrong
place. The reason utilitarian religion
is no religion at all is because it is all for the benefit of the majority, and
what the majority wants may not be what God wants! God said “and
should not I spare Nineveh, that great city…?” He was trying to show
Jonah that the results are in His hands and it is not for you to labor toward
that end, but rather labor to the end that you might please God, and glorify
His name.
This is the everlasting plumbline to which we should measure
everything by. It is no surprise that it is the same plumbline that
Christ measured himself by; the will of God. Jesus said “I do always
those things that please Him.” To do always the will of God is to
live with the focus to please God, to glorify God. Does your: business,
personal life, church, fellowship, etc. glorify God? Does it please him? If it does, then it
is profitable. Your business may be
bankrupt, home foreclosed on, church weaning in numbers, but if you are living
your life to please God, then take courage: you are in good company! You
are in the preaching of Noah, you are akin to Jeremiah, you’re living with the
same focus as your Savior. You may not
have utilitarian religion, but you have real religion; and real religion is
what the world needs.
