Beware of Me When I Am Right
As we continue to journey with Jonah this week, I am reminded of Jack Miller's learned lesson, "Beware of me when I am right." Miller knew his soul well enough, had discovered his own (sinful) propensity to such a degree, that when he found himself insisting on his way, his correctness, or his rights -- he knew to be on guard. Perhaps there are some readers for whom this is not a challenge, but many, like Miller, recognize this warning signal that we are headed in a bad direction. As we have seen, a part of Jonah's struggle was the surety he had that Nineveh should be destroyed. He was locked into that way of seeing, and though YHWH had a larger, grander plan, Jonah couldn't see it. "Beware of me when I am right!"
The opposite of insisting on our rightness would be to acknowledge our limits, namely, that we are not omniscient (all knowing). This acknowledgement also comes with an invitation to freely admit that we could be, or even are, wrong. Adele Calhoun puts it this way in her book Invitations from God:
Jesus' invitation to take the log out of our own eye opens a door for transformation and healing. Owning our own faults, blind spots and failures in the presence of a God who already knows us can be a freeing thing. God doesn't love us more when we are right than when we are wrong. God's love for us isn't dependent on right answers or perfect doctrine or never failing at anything. The good news is that I don't need to be afraid of being wrong. Jesus's death on the cross undoes the lies that tell me I am lovable only when I am right.
Hallelujah! This is indeed good news. It is a heavy burden to always have to be right, to have to defend, demonstrate and display one's superiority, or simply one's competence. Jonah was invited to see the world through God's eyes rather than his own. Jesus says take the log out of your eye, come to me and I will give you rest.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash