Jonah, John, and the Second Greatest (But Most Avoided) Commandment

By Kevin Harvey

For too long, the body of Christ has been focused on too many things that, quite simply, havent been working. The answer to a lasting, true revival in todays world isnt going to come from a continued focus on what we can and cannot do, which denomination has the most biblical theology, or achieving victories in social issues such as definition of family and the right to life. Instead, what our attention should be fixed upon is that the Son of God said the second greatest commandment weve been given is to love our neighbors as ourselves. In this book, Kevin Harvey has taken a biblical approach to help the body of believers define just who their neighbor is and what it means to truly love them as Jesus intended. If the body of Christ began to focus daily on following that one simple idea, then maybejust maybethe world would finally begin viewing the church as the salt of the earth and light of the world that Jesus had in mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449700379

Kevin Harvey

Having both taught in the church and worked in Christian publishing for several years, Kevin Harvey has now focused his ministry on Gods children serving and loving others while here on earth. He and his wife, Amy, have two children and make their home in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Book preview

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION:

JONAH—THE EVERYMAN PROPHET

CHAPTER 1:

WE’RE ALL DOVES

CHAPTER 2:

THE BREAKING POINT YOU CAN’T CROSS (OR THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU CAN’T DENY)

CHAPTER 3:

BEFORE WE CAN LOVE … WE MUST DIE

CHAPTER 4:

JUMP IN AT ANY TIME—YOU CAN STILL OBEY

CHAPTER 5:

ALLOW ME TO REPHRASE IT

CHAPTER 6:

A MIRACLE IS ONLY

ONE STEP OF OBEDIENCE AWAY

CHAPTER 7:

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU SHUN (HE JUST MAY BE YOUR NEIGHBOR IN HEAVEN TOO!)

CHAPTER 8:

FORGIVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

CHAPTER 9:

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST … BE LAST

CONCLUSION:

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE

To Grandma

I began the final chapter of this book the day we buried you,

because you continue to inspire and encourage me even now.

It’s okay that you’ll never be able to read this book …

you don’t need to.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I never would have imagined that writing such a short book would have taken so much work and required the assistance from so many people. In fact, the list of people to thank is so long, I can’t even try to write it, for fear of leaving someone off … Just kidding. I always laugh when I hear that. This is my book, after all. I can take up as many pages as I want to thank my friends and family.

Kevin T., Ben, Josh C., Josh S., Burke, Jon, and Matt—Thanks for letting me try this book out in our Bible study. You’ll never know how terrified I was the first couple of weeks until I realized that either you actually liked the book or you were just great friends. Either way, your support and suggestions have been huge during my journey. Ben, I’ve never been more excited about the book than the night at Moe’s when you helped me out tremendously with the final chapters.

The rest of my Sunday school class—I was trying new material out on you when you didn’t even know it. Hopefully, you’ll recognize many stories in this book. If you don’t, I guess you weren’t listening.

Mom and Jack—Thanks for taking the first test run on the final copy of the book and believing in this ministry for me.

My friends at Thomas Nelson—I never would have even known about Westbow had it not been for you. Thanks for letting me know about this option.

Amy—You’ve put up with and supported so many of my crazy plans in our first twelve years of marriage. Oddly enough, taking the time necessary to write a book and then finance it personally to have it printed doesn’t come anywhere near being the boldest journey we’ve ever taken. But you’ve always supported me unconditionally in absolutely everything I’ve attempted (and failed). The Proverbs 31 wife should be reading about you. I love you.

And finally, my Savior—You love me not because of what I do but because of who You are. And though You couldn’t possibly love me more, I will still try to better love others.

INTRODUCTION:

JONAH—THE EVERYMAN PROPHET

5264412-3600x3569.jpg

About three thousand years ago there lived a prophet, a man of God, who was instructed by the very God to whom he had devoted his life to go to a faraway land filled with some nasty people. Tell them about Me and My love, God told him. I still love them despite their sin, and so should you. But instead the prophet showed God how he truly felt about these people by fleeing in the opposite direction, eventually leading to a stormy trip on a boat and an all-expenses-paid cruise inside a large fish.

Almost a thousand years later, there lived another Man. This One recognized that most people, even those who considered themselves to be God’s children, tended to relate to the prophet of long ago in the way they selectively gave out their love. It’s great that you love God, He told everyone. In fact, it is your most important job. But part of loving God is understanding and showing with your life the second most important job for you: loving others as you love yourself. Shortly after sharing this truth, He showed just how much He truly loved others by dying for the sins of billions of people not yet even born.

This Man had a friend, an apostle of His. He was nicknamed The Beloved, as well as a Son of Thunder. For three years, he followed the Teacher, listened to Him, and truly understood His most important teachings. Many years after his Teacher’s death, this beloved apostle felt the need to write a letter to believers scattered throughout the world, reminding them to love others as they had been shown. Apparently, too many were looking more like the fleeing prophet of long ago than the Man who had washed His disciples’ feet.

—

How’s this for a pitch to a publisher?

I’ve written a study about the second greatest commandment, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Oh, so the scripture is taken from Matthew?

No.

Mark?

Uh … no.

Luke? John?

No on Luke, and not the book of John you’re thinking of.

Am I on a hidden camera show?

No. It’s a study on what Jesus said was the second greatest commandment … and it’s based on the story of Jonah.

Jonah and the whale?

That’s the problem with how we’ve learned about Jonah while growing up. Every time we heard the word Jonah as kids, it was followed by and the whale. I can hear the cheer now: You say ‘Jonah’; I say ‘whale.’ Jonah! … Whale! … Jonah! … Whale! But Jonah’s miraculous story is so much more than his one-of-a-kind trip inside a large fish. (Notice I said fish, not whale. Though I may not ever be called politically correct, I’ll always do my best to be biblically correct.) His is a story of obedience—or rather, disobedience. And the root of his disobedience is none other than a lack of loving his neighbor as himself. If he truly had loved the Ninevites as himself, he certainly would not have wished them to be condemned to hell, as he showed with his act of disobedience.

And John’s teachings on loving others are awesome reminders of what Jesus taught and what Jonah needed to learn. (Note: Yes, like you, I noticed that all three names begin with the letter J, which makes this study sound like a convenient sermon. But it’s just a coincidence, I promise. You will not hear me mention James, Josiah, or Jehosophat. That is my vow to you.)

I’ll never forget the first time I read the book of 1 John. I was in junior high and attending my church’s annual summertime youth camp. Every morning before breakfast, we were supposed to spend some time reading the Bible and praying. Maybe the reason I remember this particular morning is because it was the only time I ever actually did it, but nevertheless … So I opened up my Bible and found 1 John, no doubt for two reasons: one, it wasn’t in the boring Old Testament; and, two, it was really short. (Hey, Pastor, guess what? I read an entire book of the Bible for my quiet time today! I’m a really great kid, aren’t I? Maybe tomorrow I’ll read all of Philemon.) When I began reading this book for the first time that morning, I found things like: The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. No way did I just read that in the Bible! I thought, eyes wide open now despite only four hours of sleep. I know tons of Christians not doing what God commands. I wonder if they’ve ever heard this stuff before, I went on, thankful I was outside and away from all mirrors. I would soon find out that John’s letter has a whole lot more that is hard to read for the believer thinking pretty highly of himself, including my favorite prophet, Jonah.

What I like so much about Jonah is that I can really relate to him. Not the fish part of his story, of course, but the way he so easily disobeyed God. I’ve heard and read many stories during my life of people who give their lives to God, feel called to be missionaries in Africa, and pick everything up and move right away, as though it was the easiest choice in the world. Or the former CEO who gave his life to Jesus, felt called to be a preacher, gave up his six-figure income, and sold everything he had to move onto a seminary campus. These are great stories to hear, if indeed they’re true, but my stories of obedience haven’t been so Lifetime-movie-of-the-week perfect.

Remember, Jonah didn’t become a prophet of God after he finally went to Nineveh; he was already God’s guy. And yet he still disobeyed God’s command. And even better, God still considered Jonah to be the man