Jonah vs. Jeremiah: Two Ministries, Two Results

How would you answer the question, was your ministry successful? Would you reply with the number of participants at your church’s summer VBS? Would you give the dollar amount raised for orphans in Uruguay? Would you tell the number of people saved at your revival service? How would you answer? 

For many years, I have listened to camp directors give summer recaps, mission groups give accounts of their time overseas, or friends talk about their service for a Christian nonprofit ministry—all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, among all of these responses, I heard a constant statistic given: the number of people saved. 

This number was typically used as an exclamation point for the ministry. “We saw 126 children saved, and 258 more made decisions for full-time ministry.” “On our medical mission trip, 58 people received the Lord.” “Through your donation, 600 people heard the Gospel, and 91 made a confession of faith.” Sound familiar? I have heard these phrases time and time again. I always loved hearing these words of encouragement and blessing, but being the overthinking person that I am, I always ask myself one question. If no one had been saved, would they still say their ministry was successful?

JONAH, A SUCCESS?

From simply a human being’s perspective, Jonah has a successful ministry. He arguably has one of the greatest ministries in human history. He goes on a journey to the city of Nineveh and sees most if not all, the citizens of the city repent and be saved in no more than 1-3 days. Some believe this number is in the hundreds of thousands, a miraculous success!

For comparison, this would be equivalent in modern times to flying to the city of London, preaching for a day or two, and then seeing a city-wide conversion. This would also included the King of England and his court. 

If an evangelist did that today, they would write books on faith, be called heroes of the faith, be asked to speak at college graduations, and probably be heralded as the foremost expert on evangelism—or, as humans might call it, a major success!

So why is Jonah never talked about as one of the heroes of the faith? The Bible never refers to Jonah as that great or fantastic man. Why does no one wear What Would Jonah Do bracelets? Why is there no book on how to have a ministry like Jonah? And yes, I did look that up, just in case!

Where is all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Jonah?

I think it’s pretty obvious. First, he did everything in his power to avoid the will of God. Jonah 1:1-3 says, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah had no desire to see the people of Nineveh saved. He fled in order to avoid his ministry. 

Second, Jonah was mad when the people did get saved. Jonah 4:1 says, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.  Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’” I mean, could you imagine the disgust you would have for an evangelist who threw a fit over people being saved. You would be, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted.

Overall, Jonah was not pleasing to God. He did not act in faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” He had no desire to bring glory to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 states, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Therefore, after reading the book of Jonah, it would be safe to say Jonah saw great things happen, but his personal ministry was not a success.

JEREMIAH, A FAILURE?

From a human perspective, Jeremiah was a failure. He spent forty years trying to get the tribe of Judah, particularly the city of Jerusalem, to repent before destruction came. During these forty years, his family turned against him; he was whipped, put in prison, and tossed in a well. For his trouble, the city did not repent, and the Bible does not suggest that anyone was converted to following God through his message. Jeremiah, in human terms, was a failure in ministry. 

Let’s apply Jeremiah’s ministry to modern times. A missionary to Zimbabwe has spent forty years planting one church and has seen no converts. His family doesn’t respect him; he has been beaten by local officials and incarcerated multiple times. This missionary comes to your church? What would you do? Would you give him more money for expenses and the church? Would you have him speak at a missions conference on how to reach people in foreign countries? Would you believe that he had been unfaithful to God, or maybe God had a different plan for him?

So why is Jeremiah seen as a great man of God? The Bible never explicitly refers to him as a great man of faith. Why is he considered one of the foremost godly prophets nowadays? Because he served God faithfully and did the will of the Father for the glory of God. Jeremiah did precisely what God told him to do, despite not seeing numerical results. He did what God asked of him in his ministry. He proclaimed the messages of the Lord to the people of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it, the people of old received their commendation.” Jeremiah demonstrated faith.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

In today’s society, we put such a high value on numbers because they give us a calculable method by which we can quantify our success. It’s no different than any other calculation we make: how much money we save, how many kids we have, and how many people are in our congregation. It is a way to gauge success or standing.

However, I don’t think these examples reflect every situation perfectly. I think it does shine some light on the question of success for Christian nonprofit ministries. In human terms, Jonah is a success, but in terms of faith was a failure. Jeremiah was the flip side. Though he did not see a mass conversion, he was faithful to God. Jeremiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

These stories provide perspective on whether numbers should be the measurement of an effective ministry. One other story I find very interesting, yes I know the title is called “Two Ministries, Two Results,” but I think this text also provides some insight.  Luke 10:17-20 says, “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” I think this text is intriguing because Jesus does not emphasize the ministry results as something to rejoice over. Not that Jesus was opposed to the results, but he was focused on something greater: the fact that those who were saved had a place in Heaven.

I am not against numbers. My heart rejoices when I hear of those who are saved, and we should rejoice. Luke 15:10 says the angels rejoice when a sinner repents, and if angels are rejoicing, so should we. I also believe numbers can help keep organizations and individuals accountable. However, they do not tell the whole story. They do not represent the complete picture of the work being done in this world.

I believe ministries should focus less on salvific and attendance numbers and more on faithfulness and glorifying God when presenting results. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” If an organization is faithful and God glorifying and they will be successful. No matter the results.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of today’s blog is not to answer why more people were saved through Jonah's ministry than through Jeremiah's ministry. The real purpose is to ask why we place so much emphasis on numbers as a measurement of success. Why can't we simply say when giving a report that we were successful because we remained faithful to God, we did our best to do the will of our heavenly Father, and ultimately, we believe we were God-glorying?

My challenge to you, the reader, is this, next time you give a report on your ministry, emphasize your faithfulness and your drive to glorify God. Give the number of people saved, but don’t make it the measurement of success in your presentation. If you are a listener of a presentation on a recent ministry trip or at a fundraiser, ask the leader what they did that demonstrated their faithfulness or ask how they tried to glorify God through ministry. Don’t abandon numbers, but focus on what really matters; faithfulness and God’s glory.