Everyone knows the story of Jonah. But what you might not know is that God chose a man whose name meant "peace" to proclaim destruction on Nineveh. And Jonah, the man whose name means peace, knew that if he went to Nineveh and proclaimed God's judgment, the people might repent and God would forgive them. Jonah did not want those people to be forgiven, so he did everything he could to avoid going to Nineveh. The man whose name is "peace" wanted to see God destroy the sinners of Nineveh.

All Christians have a secret middle name. It is yonah. Christ tells us the He leaves us with His peace. We are to proclaim peace to a world at war with God. If we don't proclaim this message, God's wrath will come upon the world. Unfortunately, many modern yonahs really would rather see wrath. So, we keep quite. We think, "Those people have treated me badly. Those people are corrupt. They are evil. They deserve judgment. I'm not going to tell them that God will forgive them and heal their warring hearts."

Once I attended a Sunday School class for adults. The topic was the awful disgrace of the strip club that operated a few blocks away. The leader said, "Those girls are not like us. They are in sin. God will punish them. Aren't you glad that God has forgiven you." I thought, "What a travesty. We are no different at all. We are sinners too, saved by grace."

It's easy to play yonah in life. But the Prince of Peace has commissioned us to tell the world that there is peace with God for everyone because everyone is just like us.