Stop Calling Natural Disasters God’s Judgment
It happens every time there is a natural disaster. Some “godly” person says that this tragedy is God’s judgment on the sinful people. From the hurricane in New Orleans, the tsunami in Asia, a tornado in Minnesota, and the earthquake in Haiti, everyone is quick to say that God is judging. But no one says that when it happens to them. These religious people only say this when disaster strikes somewhere else.
Please stop. Stop being arrogant and self-righteous. We are all sinners. Stop acting like “we” are godly and “they” are sinful and deserve judgment. We deserve God’s judgment. I deserve God’s judgment. All people deserve God’s judgment. There is no one who is righteous, there is no one who is good, not even one (Romans 3). These disasters are simply the consequences of living in a fallen world. Be grateful that the calamity was not where you live. Pray for those who are affected and are suffering. Help those who are in need in crisis. When the hurricanes blew through south Florida five years ago, we were very grateful for the prayers, generosity, and support of Christians throughout the country. Prayers, generosity, and support should be offered for any disaster in any place around the world.
The message is not that God is trying to kill or judge the sinful right now. Such an idea breaks far too many scriptures like 2 Peter 3:9. However, one message ought to be clear: we never know when our time on earth is over. Do not assume that we have next year, next month, or next week. Turn to Jesus and live for him while you can.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:13–14; ESV)
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5 Comments so far5 Responses to “Stop Calling Natural Disasters God’s Judgment”
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Gary Zimmerli
January 15, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Amen, Brent! Amen!
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5 TNIV)
We’re all in the same boat, so to speak. None of us is good enough. We’re all sinners. We are only saved by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus!
Jamey Hinds
January 15, 2010 at 6:55 pm
I thought of Luke 13 also (as did Gary above). Jesus’ statement is directly applicable to natural disasters. Also, consider James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” People, including professing Christians, too quickly give God credit for bad things; the Scripture here is clear: IF IT’S GOOD, IT’S FROM GOD.
John Svensk
January 17, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Amen to that! Thank you for saying what, unfortunately, needs to be said by those of us Christians who are at least trying to walk a little more humbly before our Lord. What’s happened to our call to help the poor and afflicted? I know we are supposed to stand firm in the truth (not that what was said was truth), but what about speaking with gentleness and respect? Comments like these that are made after such disasters make me wonder if they really know Jesus at all. From my own personal experience, they turn more people away from Christ than they convict people to repent and turn towards Him.
Jeremy
February 13, 2010 at 11:37 pm
In addition to your request to not call these events “God’s judgment,” I would also make a request to you to stop calling these unfortunate events “tragedies.” A tragedy is a very specific literary thing. “Acts of God,” or whatever you want to call them, are just simply bad events. There’s nothing tragic about them.
Richard Vandagriff
February 15, 2010 at 11:23 am
Hello Jeremy,
Something for your consideration: in English, while the primary definition is as you state, all dictionaries do include other usages. It is also defined as “a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster: the tragedy of war; the tragedy of the President’s assasination”, (from Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language).
I might suggest, that you may concede that the events in Haiti do indeed qualify as a tragedy. However, definitions aside, Brent’s point is that the events were not necessarily God’s finger actively stirring things up in some sort of a reprisal for bad behavior.
Thank you for your interest, and in responding to the post.
Richard Vandagriff