When Judging is Right and When Judging is Wrong

Jonah; Psalm 134; Proverbs 30:1-4

Have you ever seen someone getting ready to do something stupid? If you have, have you ever tried to warn them or prevent them from going through with their stupidity?

Why is it that when I warn a friend about stupidity, it’s perceived as a warning, but when I warn a friend about sin, it’s perceived as a judgment? Shouldn’t it still be considered a warning? Yet people so quickly throw out the line, “Stop judging me.”

Sometimes it is right to judge. And sometimes it is wrong. How do we know the difference?

In the story of Jonah, God tells his prophet Jonah to go preach against the wicked city of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1). What message does Jonah end up preaching?

Forty more days and Ninevah will be overturned. – Jonah 3:4

Is that a judgment? Or a warning?

From God’s vantage point, it’s both. It’s a judgment because God had already condemned the wickedness of the Ninevites, and it was only a matter of time before God destroyed Ninevah for their wrath. But it’s a warning because God wouldn’t have had Jonah preach this message if there wasn’t still time for the Ninevites to repent. If God’s judgment had been final, He would simply have wiped the Ninevites off the face of the map. So it’s a judgment (in the sense of a decision) against their behavior, but it’s not yet a final judgment where the punishment has fallen upon Ninevah. It’s just a warning.

And the Ninevites took advantage of the warning. They repented—all of them, even the king (Jonah 3:5-9). And God had mercy on them (Jonah 3:10).

But what about from Jonah’s view? Was his message a judgment or a warning?

Jonah intended it to be a judgment. In fact, he knew that God meant the message as a warning, and that’s precisely the reason Jonah ran away from delivering the message at first—Jonah didn’t want God to have mercy on the Ninevites! So from Jonah’s perspective, the goal was judgment, not warning. He said to God,

O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee 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. – Jonah 4:2

So Jonah knew that the judgment coming from God was really a warning. But Jonah meant it as a judgment, as a final condemnation and punishment on the people of Ninevah.

Final conclusion? What’s the difference between a judgment and a warning?

Answer: The difference is probably not the words that are used. Jonah spoke God’s words, when he finally spoke. The difference is found in the heart of the person speaking. Are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like Jonah, who can’t wait to see you get what you deserve? Or are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like God, who can’t wait to see you stop sinning so that you can escape punishment?

The judgment (decision) about what will happen to those who continue to sin is final: they will be punished. But that doesn’t have to be the final decision about you, me, or anyone else. Our God, the Judge, is a God who warns. He’s a God who wants people to live. May we His people have His heart.

Can you share a time when someone’s judgmental-sounding warning helped turn your life around for the better?