Jonah 1:8

Jonah 1:8 says, Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?  The ship's crew had some faith in the lots, but didn't rush to judgment.  They wanted to know several things about Jonah.   First, they wanted to know the cause of the evil that had come on them. What evil thing had Jonah done that the gods were after them.  People today want to look for the cause when things go wrong, and as Christians, we need to ensure that we are not the cause.  If God's people are running from Him, then evil will run rampant.  They wanted to know what he did for a living, where he came from, and what group of people he came from.  They at least were trying to get the facts.  We today need to get the facts in any situation before we act.  If we start to believe we are capable of making the best decisions based only on our own knowledge, without the leadership of God, we will often come to the wrong decision.  One reason they wanted to know Jonah's country and people was to determine what god he might serve.   There are regions of the world today associated with a particular god, and if we find someone from that country in our midst, we may figure that evil is going to follow them.  We must remember that the cause of the tempest on this ship was not those who followed a false god, but Jonah who believed in the One true God, but was running from Him.  If we find the world to seemingly be overcome by evil today, we as followers of Christ must first ask if we are at least part of the problem.  If we are not following the teachings of Christ and are surrendering to the evil in the world instead of working to overcome it, then we are part of the problem. Once again, we are called to go into the world, not to withdraw from the world.