People vs Comfort

Have you ever read the book of Jonah? Or at least heard the story? Basically, he is a prophet that God tells to go to the city of Nineveh to preach so that the people may have a chance to repent, and instead of going he runs the other way. He gets on a ship and tries to sail as far from the place God wants him to go. To make a long story short, God basically ruins his plan to run and gets him to go the right way.

When he gets to the city, he preached the message the Lord gave him to speak, and the whole city repented! And in Jonah 3:10 it tells us that God changed His mind and spared the city from judgment. And when Jonah saw this, he went to a hillside to pout and hope that God would still bring ruin to the city.

Now, many have speculated as to why he ran; some say it was fear, others say it was prejudice. But, if we read all the way to chapter 4 we find out why he ran.

“Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:2-3)

He ran cause he knew that God would forgive the people of Ninevah!
Nineveh was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which was the enemy of Israel and the nation by which the prophets said God's judgment would come through for Israel's disobedience.

So Jonah seems to have a "legitimate" reason for running, these people were his enemies, they were going to destroy his country. He wanted God to destroy them not forgive them, so he ran. While he was in his little pity party, God provided shade for him by growing a large vine overnight for him to sit under. However, the next night God took the vine away; and when Jonah got hot because the sun was beating down on him and the breeze was just hot air blowing around, he got angry because now he's uncomfortable! Plus, God still had not destroyed his enemies!

Jonah goes into another pity party and says that he is so angry that it would be better for him to die. God responded to him,
"But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

And then the story of Jonah ends in an odd way; it just leaves us hanging. No closing statement, no conclusion to the conversation. I believe this is intentional for the purpose of challenging the reader.
You see, Jonah was angry that the plant was gone, he no longer had the comfort of the shade. Then God points out that he was more concerned about a plant than he was for the people. He was more concerned about his comfort than he was for the well being of his enemies.

So what about us?

Are we more concerned about our comfort than we are about the well-being and salvation of those around us?

To keep with the context, are we not sharing the gospel because it makes us uncomfortable?

Do we avoid preaching the message of love and repentance to our "enemies" because we would rather see God destroy them rather than forgive them?
And when I say, "enemies," that can be anyone with a differing political view, religion, or someone struggling with homosexuality.

Who around us is not worth our comfort?