I think we all have our own personal Nineveh. For some of us, it really is a place. For others of us, it’s particular types of people. For others of us, it’s maybe specific tasks. But all of us, I suspect, have a personal Nineveh.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jonah. The Lord called him to go and preach to Nineveh – the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were the sworn enemies of Israel. They were constantly making war against them and were going to be the ones who would destroy the Northern Kingdom and send its people into exile.

Unsurprisingly, Jonah is not too keen on the assignment. So much so, he jumps on a boat to Tarshish, bang in the opposite direction. There’s a big storm and Jonah tells the sailors to chuck him into the sea to stop it breaking up the boat. In other words, he would genuinely rather die than preach a message of repentance and salvation to a bunch of horrible Assyrians!

Unfortunately for him, God isn’t happy to let him die. He’s swallowed by a big fish and, when he repents during the 3-days he’s inside the fish, he is vomited up on dry land to set abut his task. He realises he’s got to do what he’s got to do and heads for Nineveh. He preaches God’s message of judgement and Nineveh repents en masse. Giving the game away, Jonah then gets a massive cob on. Most of us would be delighted at such an amazing turning to the Lord as a result of our preaching. But Jonah tells God this was the reason he didn’t want to go in the first place. He knew this would happen. Nineveh would repent and God would relent of his anger. Jonah had no interest in their repentance, he wanted the Lord to get on with smiting them.

Jonah really, really hated Nineveh and its people. It was not entirely unjustified given their behaviour of the years. But he hated them. He would rather die than go to them. He was mad that when he did eventually go that God didn’t judge the city because they repented. They were his enemies and he wanted them dead. He would rather die himself than give them the chance to repent. Salvation, as far as Jonah was concerned, is simply not for the likes of them.

Who, what, or where is your personal Nineveh?

I am convinced most of us have one. That person who has caused so much damage to you that you just want the Lord to get on with judging them. That place you just can’t stick full of people you want nothing to do with. That people group or demographic that you have absolutely no interest in whatsoever and think are probably beyond God’s power to save. That sub-culture that you just can’t get your head around and have no time for. Those people you think are so hardened to the gospel there’s just no point in bothering.

Many of us are a bit more subtle. We’re fine for someone to go to them – after all, we at least believe in theory the gospel is for everyone even though we aren’t too sure about them – we’re just certain that person shouldn’t be me. No chance I’m cut out for it, they wouldn’t listen to me. If they do go, and there is a Ninevite-level turning to Christ, we don’t really like the fact they are coming into our churches, making them all different and doing things we really aren’t too keen on. We don’t mind them in the church, just not our church. In fact, everyone would just be happier if they had their own church, in their own place and kept to their own kind. If they’re not going to do everything we expect them to do, we’d rather they didn’t come to Jesus at all.

I wonder, who, what or where is your personal Nineveh?