The Jonah Complex

How often do you feel like you have it all figured out? If you're like me, always. And if you're also like me you are also wrong quite frequently. Rather than think that there may be others who are wiser and have wisdom, we get what I like to call "the Jonah Complex". If you remember the story of Jonah you will recall a man who thought that his own wisdom and decisions were better than what anyone had for him. This list included God. Long story short he disobeys God telling Him to go to Nineveh and goes to the other end of the world and ends up eaten by a whale (actually a giant fish, but we wont worry about the details!) leading him to eventually be put in his place by God. He didn't want to admit God was right in sending him to Nineveh. He wanted to be right and wanted to prove it.

Is this a familiar sight to you?

It is for me.

I find it is easy to think that I have all the answers when in all reality I don't really know that much, in the grand scheme of knowledge. There are many other people who have knowledge that is more expansive than my own. So how do we keep from having an arrogant "Jonah Complex"?

1. Admit when you don't know the answer to a question- Feigning intelligence is a specialty of mine. Rather than be caught not knowing an answer to a question I whip up a convoluted answer that sounds good in my mind. Usually, these are terrible answers. A good apologist and Christian will have the humility to admit when they are outside of their field of knowledge or expertise.  Rather than ramble on, you should tell a person that you do not know the answer, but that you will look to find the answer. Half truths and half knowledge is not good. Truth is great.

2. Be willing to learn from others-  If you are a young whippersnapper like me, taking correction and instruction is hard. It is easy to be deluded that you know everything about everything. If you think this, you need a reality check. God's word is like a never ending gold mine. You can never get enough good out of it. This is the reason you can meet old seminarians who have spent their whole lives studying tiny books like Habakkuk or Philemon. These elders have more knowledge than we can hope for. Look for training under people who clearly do know more than you.

3. Don't be defiant or arrogant in rhetoric- This is especially important in writing, since written words are so easily confused. When you come off as defiant or arrogant you can make people, especially non Christians who only see this, turned off by your attitude. Instead, be gracious and kind. This does not mean to tenacious in your defense of the Gospel, but you can still be kind in these matters. Jesus was fierce at the right times in his life and gentle at other times.

4. Don't look to pick a fight-  Sometimes in defense of the Gospel we can find that at times we instead go on the offense. I have seen many young Christians making the mistake of starting arguments with Christians and non Christians out of a sheer desire to win an argument. This is a huge sign of arrogance. It shows that rather than caring about correcting people and showing them the gospel (Glorifying God) you have a desire to win and show your massive intellect (glorifying yourself). You aren't supposed to use arguments as a way to boost your reputation, but as a way to rationally explain the Gospel to those who reject it. As I've heard many times your goal should be to "win the man, not the argument".

There are other ways to avoid this, but these are some main ones. How can you avoid having a "Jonah Complex"?