Nineveh Lives and Black Lives Matter

The answer to “What matters to God?” can be found in one of the oldest books in the Bible: Jonah.  Most people know that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, but many people don’t know what happened next.  Jonah found out that Nineveh lives and black lives matter to God.

When he got out of the whale, he decided to listen to God and went to preach to the dreaded people of Nineveh. You see the reason that he had not gone in the first place was because Nineveh had a reputation. It was a wicked city. Jonah was afraid of them, but the whale had taught him a lesson and he went. He preached, “Forty days from now and Nineveh will be destroyed!” 

Amazingly, the people did something wonderful. They repented and decided to listen to God. This made Jonah very angry. He said, “This is exactly what I thought you’d do… For I knew you were a gracious God, merciful, slow to get angry, and full of kindness; I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people” (Jonah 4:1-2).

You see, Jonah was not focusing on what mattered most.  What mattered to God was the 120,000 people who did not know the love of God. When I say “Black Lives Matter,” I am not saying that white lives or blue lives don’t matter. What I am saying is that all lives don’t matter until we can say black lives matter too. 

What matters most to God is people, “red and yellow, black and white.”  As Christ followers, we are to seek justice and love mercy for all of God’s people. Yes, even people who are different from us. In fact, Nineveh Lives Matter!  

Also, see Revolutionary.

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear