News broke all over the world of Osama Bin Laden’s death. President Obama addressed the nation live stating “justice has been done.” U.S. Citizens and others went to the streets rejoicing and celebrating the death of this man. People have flooded Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. with their opinions, jokes, comments, etc.
In the case of Bin Laden, or enemies overall, what is the response of the Christian? How should a follower of Jesus Christ respond?
It’s a tough question. On one hand, a popular leader of terrorists has been taken down which can lead to less violence and evil around the world. On the other hand, a man has died and chances are he is not a believer in Jesus Christ, making his eternal destination hell and he will be forever separated from God.
As a believer, this is a burden to me. Not only for him, but for others who have died and more importantly in our current situation, for those who are living and still don’t believe in Christ. They too will go to the same place at the end if they choose not to surrender their lives to Him. I am thankful for my relationship with Christ first and foremost. I am thankful for the time period He has allowed me to live in, I am thankful for the country He has placed me in. All of the hard work of others to help bring justice to those who deserve it, I am thankful for, and I appreciate. And at the end of the day, I must trust only Scripture to guide me because while I may have Christ living within me, I am the most sinful person I know.
Ezekiel 33:11 – Say to them,As I live, declares the Lord GOD,I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
God has absolutely no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is a God of justice, yes. Should we glorify Him through justice, yes. However, there is a difference between justice and vengeance. Justice would be bringing someone to justice according to the law and having them face the consequences of their actions. Vengeance can be defined as a desire for revenge. Since someone has done this evil act, we will seek out an evil act right back. How does this make us any different? How will it glorify Christ?
Proverbs 24:17-18 – Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.
The Bible tells us to not rejoice when our enemy falls, to not let our hearts be glad when he stumbles. It tells us not to rejoice because once again, God is not pleased in the death of the wicked. Likewise, as followers, we should also not be pleased. We can take this opportunity with what has happened to pray, and glorify Him by being the more urgent to spread the Gospel and lead others to Christ. Telling others how happy we are and how much we are rejoicing over the death of someone, simply doesn’t make sense and is against Scripture.
My question for us would be, if you are happy about that, how does that glorify Christ? If we have surrendered our life to Him, which means we no longer have any rights and we live for Him, then our lives need to be moving in a way that will be more reflective of Him and this is another opportunity for that growth to take place. My prayer is that no one would be separated from Christ for eternity. True, it will happen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take every opportunity seriously to share what Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross on our behalf. That through His death and resurrection, our sins have been forgiven and we can have eternal life with Him.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one can come to the Father except through Him.
