Osama Bin Laden deserves death and eternal damnation. And so do you....The appropriate Christian response lives in the tension of these verses:Proverbs 11:10 - When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.Proverbs 24:17 - Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, & let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.These verses elicit mixed emotions: the joy of justice enacted and the sorrow at the reality of destruction. The relief that accompanies the news of Osama's death should be without vengeance (Deut. 32:35), yet tempered with regret at the death of any image-bearer of God.
When I heard the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead, I couldn't help but feel relieved and satisfied. The search is over, some of the air of his invincibility is surely damaged, and perhaps this event will help bring about the beginning-of-the-end of our struggle against these rogue forces in the world.
In the morning, I began to see on the news the chanting and cheering in the streets in different locations, and I could tell that the nation was reacting more strongly than me. Some for good reason; I have been removed personally from the bloodshed of 9/11 and the following wars, so those who were affected more closely surely have deeper emotions than me. But I couldn't help but see a similarity in the celebrations in our streets to some of the news footage of other celebrations, even those that followed 9/11 in some Muslim nations, and I thought, "Shouldn't we be different?"
Whether I should expect Americans to be any different is open to debate, but I think as Christians we are compelled to have a different response. The prophet Ezekiel says, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked..." (Ezekiel 33:11). Jesus revealed to us that our Father in heaven loves those who love him as well has those who hate him, and that to be perfect like our Father, we too must love our enemies. And while it is true, as the Proverb says, that when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness, we who are wise are told, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls..."
So what about justice? Can't we be satisfied that justice is done? There is a difference between the official actions of the state, and our personal action (and attitude) against personal enemies. It is the state's place to administer justice (not personal vengeance), because they are God's chosen servants, "an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4). But we are instructed in Romans 12, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay.'"
Sin brings destruction and death begets death--it is just and it is sad. We as Christians can praise God that he has seen fit to bring about this measure of justice in this life and be sure in the hope that justice will be complete in eternity. But we cannot gloat or rejoice in the death of anyone; it is contrary to the heart of God and it fails to acknowledge that the only thing that separates our fate as believers from that of Osama Bin Laden is the grace of God and the blood of Jesus.
So when you hear people praise the new "unity" the nation has in the aftermath of this victory, be discerning. It is not good for us to be united in hate or vengeance against an enemy--that will only break down into hate for new political enemies among one another once this emotional high wears off (you can already see it as people rush to either give all the credit Obama for this victory or none at all). And it's not good for us to be united in some sort of reassurance that America really is as big, bad, powerful and awesome as we like to imagine it is. God warns all nations that no one is too powerful to be humbled.
The death of the wicked brings gladness because it brings hope; it reminds us that God really is just and that we will make everything right in the end. Sunday was, as the President said, "a good day for America." But just as we are told not to grieve "like the rest of men, who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13) when someone we love dies, let us not lose our eternal viewpoint or lose sight of the example and teachings of Jesus at the time of the death of our enemy.
Another perspective (from our former pastor John Blase)... http://thedirtyshame.blogspot.com/2011/05/now-git.html
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