A cannon has a lot of similarities with a good leader. Both are powerful and aggressive, both are able to change a situation, both stick to a plan.
Yeah, well, you may not be so sure about that. Neither am I, to be honest.
Do you ever watch an old battleship movie? All the creaks and groans of the soggy wood and thick ropes give the movie gripping texture.
When those ancient ships entered a battle, they lined up beside each other and fired cannons. After a cannon was fired, it was pulled back from the outside railing by thick ropes to the center of the ship. Then it was stuffed with gunpowder and ball for the next round.
But those creaky ropes sometimes broke.
Suddenly a 3500-lb monster on wheels was raging wildly on the ship. Every wave brought a new direction for the cannon, which could easily crush a sailor or bash through the railing of the ship.
Loose cannons were terrifying. Deadly. Uncontrollable.
So my opening analogy falls flat on its face. A leader and a cannon have little in common.
Until something changes, both a leader and a cannon look successful. Both seem to accomplish what needs to be done.
Jonah was a successful leader in ancient Israel, a counselor to the king, a man of renown.
He was a prophet, accustomed to hearing God’s message and passing it on. But, when God gave him a message he didn’t like, Jonah became a loose cannon.
He severed the ropes that held him to Israel and took off. On a ship, appropriately, just to stay with our metaphor.
Jonah believed he was so established as a leader that he could decide if a plan was good or not – even if it was God’s plan. He also thought he could escape God’s presence and not be bothered anymore by God’s idea to help someone in danger.
Jonah made some odd assumptions:
He chose to escape God’s presence on a ship manned by pagans. He wouldn’t go to pagan Nineveh but he could use a pagan crew to help him get away.
He went to the hull of the ship, as though that was even farther from God’s presence.
When the storm hit, he made no effort to comfort the terrified sailors with the power and compassion of God. Was he even aware of God’s compassion?
He was willing to be thrown overboard rather than give in to God.
What kind of leadership was this? He didn’t care any more for the sailors than he did for Nineveh.
And finally we come to it: Jonah was self-centered. He knew God was offering an escape to people but he didn’t approve. These people didn’t deserve his compassion. He assumed his status – his successes – gave him the right to serve his own ideas.
There are times when a leader looks successful. Invincible. Like a powerful cannon. Sometimes we measure leadership quality by results rather than by how we help people.
As we consider our own leadership qualities, we have to look at how much we value success. What will we sacrifice to be successful? And when could that turn us into loose cannons?
QUESTION: Why would a leader trade compassion for success?
That’s a common response but there’s more to Jonah than that big whale. In fact, the whale isn’t a major part of what we’re going to learn about leadership.
A little review:
Jonah was an ancient prophet of Israel. Israel in those days was located similarly to where it is today. It’s important to realize that Israel was called the chosen people of God in ancient times.
You can find the entire story of Jonah in the Bible. It’s only four chapters long, a quick read.
Jonah was a successful prophet who advised the king and that’s a big deal. He gave a prediction to the king and it happened just like he said. In those days, prophets were expected to speak God’s message.
That’s a pretty amazing occupation and Jonah did it well. He connected the king of Israel with the message from God. He was a huge success.
This happened before the story in the book. In the book of Jonah, another message came to Jonah from God. This one was as clear as the message that gave Jonah his fame.
This time, Jonah was told to go to a city and announce a warning. That doesn’t sound so bad until we get to the details.
This city was Nineveh, the capital of the nation of Assyria. Assyria was known for its incredible cruelty to people it conquered. Think of ISIS in its prime. Ugly stuff.
Jonah had some attitude about this new assignment. Why warn people unless you were giving them a chance to change their ways? God was giving these people a chance.
And these people were not only hated barbarians, but they were also hated enemies of Israel.
Jonah said no. He hired a boat going in the other direction ran away from God. Or at least he assumed he did.
Jonah thought God couldn’t follow him to the far end of the Mediterranean Sea. But God wasn’t limited to a geographic area (why would he have cared about Nineveh if that was true?). Instead, God sent a storm to get Jonah’s attention.
Jonah finally begged the sailors of the ship to throw him overboard, to appease the storm. That’s when he ended up inside a big fish. He spent three days there with the opportunity to contemplate what he’d done.
Contrary to common belief, he didn’t repent. He just agreed to go.
Jonah gave God’s message to the people of Nineveh and then did something that really showed what he was about. He climbed a hill outside of town, put up a little shelter, and waited for the fireworks.
He expected God to send fire from heaven, an amazing light show that he could enjoy. You wonder if he popped popcorn.
But the unexpected happened. The people in Nineveh listened and changed their ways. They begged God to relent. And he did.
Here’s the kicker: Jonah was furious. And then his pleasant shelter withered away and he was more furious. In the end, God challenged him.
Jonah cared more about his own point of view than he cared about an entire city. The story ends without resolution. Did Jonah learn compassion? Did he change his point of view?
Those make great discussion points, especially in a leadership context.
So here’s the summary of the story of Jonah. Here are some of the posts examining leadership lessons:
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