I go back and forth on this event. The God of the Old Testament allowed victories and assassinations in wars. The Bible also clearly states God hardened Pharoh's heart, apparently influencing this man's decisions. So God does bring justice through humans, as it appears. Does this all change with Jesus' new Covenant? I know the beliefs and actions of Bin Laden is not in line with who God is. Is it ok to say, "God Bless America, We killed Bin Laden"? I have a hard time believing God is celebrating Bin Laden's death. We are told God delights in His creation. It could be argued God hardened Bin Laden's heart just as he did Pharoh's, but does this mean God is less saddened by Bin Laden's death? I guess I can't say for sure. I tend to think not.
A few things I know, as Christians we are told the greatest commandment is Love. Wishing the death of someone, no matter their iniquities, is not loving. I also know justice is not ours (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19) and mercy is better than judgement (James 2:13). I appreciate the military and all their service and sacrifices in this war. I sympathize with people who lost loved ones in the attack on 9/11. I am angered at the evil of terrorism which has affected so many. I am disappointed in the attitudes of Christians throughout this whole thing.
These are just the thoughts I have running around in my head about this whole situation.
4 comments:
Great post, Cara. I've struggled with this a lot before. I have a lot of thoughts to add, but don't really know where to start.
First of all, I'd be lying if I said I found no joy in Bin Laden's death. I do. His sin is no different than mine in God's eyes, but in terms of the pain and suffering he has brought to others here on earth, it is hard for me to either sympathize or love.
Second of all, I believe - and this may not be popular - that my disdain for him is sinful. I also believe that killing him is sinful, just as I believe that killing someone who intends to harm my family is sinful.
The good news:
God sent us Christ so that we might be able to live out our imperfect lives on this earth without having to worry about suffering any eternal penalty for our sin.
When God saves us, he could have just allowed us to enter heaven immediately. Another option would have been that he could have made us capable of being completely perfect and sinless for the rest of our lives.
He didn't choose either of those paths. He leaves us on earth to live out our remaining lives with the same instincts, strengths, weaknesses, desires, etc that we had before. The only difference is that he has given us eternal forgiveness and redemption for everything we screw up.
I don't think it was coincidence that he chose to leave us on earth as we were. There's plenty of time for us to be perfectly holy and blameless in eternity.
While we're on earth, he needs us.
We may not always understand it, but he left us here with a specific purpose to bring more glory to his kingdom.
That's so churchy, but I believe it to be true. There are things that his will requires to be carried out on earth that he simply cannot send Christ to do. All the episodes of murder and struggle in the old testament that God commands can be justified because they were the will of God. It's important to note that he never asked Christ to do anything like that while he was on earth.
There's some sort of reason God allows Bin Laden to die right now. And there was some sort of reason God allowed Bin Laden to kill so many people over the last 20 years. I agree with your frustration that we as Americans are taking too much joy in Bin Laden's death. We should, however, take joy in the fulfillment of God's will and any glory that these events can bring him in the future.
To address my above comments about the men who killed Bin Laden being sinners, I don't mean that to be any sort of knock on their character or their actions -- completely the opposite. If they have faith in God that what they were doing was his desire and they have faith in God that he has absolved them of all their sin, then I can't speak highly enough about their character. We should all strive to be so strong.
Thanks for sharing James. I agree. I'm certainly happy Osama's evil is gone, however his influence will remain for years to come so it's hard to see it as a victory. I imagine I'd feel differently if I was directly affected, like losing a loved one, by the 9/11 attacks. Lots of things to think about. I'm definitely praying God is honored and his will carried out through all of this.
As always, Cara, you said so well what I have trying to ponder. When I witnessed Wall Street celebrating the news this morning, I was broke by the thought that Bin Laden was actually a prisoner of war held captive by the Evil One. Where is the victory in that? Please keep writing and thinking and challenging.
Thanks Ken!
For other readers: Please let me make clear my heart on this issue: I am in no way minimizing what Bin Laden has done or suggesting he NOT be held responsible for the choices he made. I'm simply saddened by the hatred for this man who was clearly lost to say the least, when we are commanded by Jesus to love our enemies.
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