How to deal with someone else’s bad attitude …

It doesn’t feel good to have a bad attitude, but it may be worse to be on the receiving end of one. For many people, being the brunt of someone else’s bad attitude is stimulation for having one of their own!

How do you deal with being the dumping ground of someone’s bad attitude without striking back in like manner?

God gives us a great example when He dealt with the infamous bad attitude of Jonah.

Jonah had a truly nasty attitude with God. So bad that when God gave him an assignment, Jonah literally ran in the opposite direction, bought a ticket, and got on a boat to sail away in the opposite direction God had pointed him (Jonah 1:1-3).

That’s a bad attitude!

You know how the story progresses, from Jonah being tossed overboard, God sending a large fish to save the attitudinal messenger, and Jonah finally carrying out the mission God had given him.

The mission worked out the way God wanted: the people of Ninevah repented, so God did not destroy the city.

A good end to a wild story, right?

Not quite.

Jonah’s attitude got worse! Check this out (from Jonah 4):

“This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.’ The Lord replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about this?’ Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.”

Jonah throws a fit with God, then finds a place to sit and pout. Seems like he didn’t learn much during his time inside the belly of a fish!

How did God respond to Jonah’s ugly attitude?

First, He expressed a lovingkindness:

“And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant,” Jonah 4:6.

In the midst of Jonah’s bad attitude, God first reassured Jonah of His love for him with a tangible kindness.

For many of us, when someone’s attitude goes south, so does our care for them. Not so with God. Before God addressed Jonah’s attitude, He expressed His own: He loved Jonah unconditionally. That meant bad attitude and all.

Then He extended a lesson designed to reconcile Jonah to a right attitude. While God doesn’t stop loving us or caring about us when our attitudes fail, He also doesn’t tolerate a persistent petulance:

“But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. ‘Death is certainly better than living like this!’ he exclaimed. Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?’ ‘Yes,’ Jonah retorted, ‘even angry enough to die!’ Then the Lord said, ‘You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?’” Jonah 4:7-11.

That’s where the story ends.

God responds to Jonah’s bad attitude with love and a lesson.

How do you respond to being on the receiving end of a bad attitude? What can you take away from God’s example with Jonah?

Scotty