I don't need to tell you that American troops succeeded in bringing down Osama bin Laden. It is all over the news. It is all over Twitter. Facebook is inundated with status updates and article links pertaining to it. The general consensus is that this is a day of rejoicing for the American people. The mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks has been "brought to justice." There is dancing in the streets. Mike Huckabee has welcomed bin Laden to hell.
As a Christian, I have a real problem with all of this. Not so much the idea of catching criminals and stopping evil. But, rather, the celebration of their deaths. According to the Bible, Ezekiel to be exact, God does not rejoice at the death of the wicked. He would rather have all men come to repentence.
Since God does not rejoice over this, I cannot myself rejoice over it. I know that God has made the right decision, but I can't help but hope that bin Laden came to a place where he repented and turned from his ways of hate and toward the way of love in Christ through faith. Everything I've read says he didn't, and that he was not at all remorseful about what he had done, but that doesn't mean that one can't have hope. Love does win after all.
At the same time, though, since it is most likely true that he is eternally separated from God, I have to praise God anyway as His justice is meted out. While the sentencing to hell of any individual sends shivers down my spine and turns my stomach, I must acknowledge that God is just, and as a result, His judgment will be just as well. He will make the right choice.
But I cannot, and no Christian should, rejoice at his death. I will go so far as to say that to do so is a sin. It not only goes against God's character, but it also goes against the ethic of enemy love that Jesus was so very clear about.
So today, do not rejoice over the death of this evil man. Rather, praise God for His justice. And have hope, and fervently pray, for God's grace to break through in the hearts and lives of our other enemies who are still at large.
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