I don't agree. I may not be a famous activist (many of whom I admire) with eloquent words but allow me to explain my thoughts from my Christian worldview.
I am glad this man is dead. He has perpetuated much evil in the world and would be continuing it now if he were still alive. Yes perhaps the LORD would have called him to repentance, but we are not called to guess "what-if" but instead are called to be advancing Christ's kingdom. This is why I work with education in Sierra Leone. And this is why we appoint leaders to help eradicate evil (and to call evil "evil") where we see it. And I believe that God is at work through leaders and nations (Proverbs 21:1), and that through them He does deliver justice and give us relief as we struggle here on earth waiting for His Kingdom.
So when I heard that bin Laden was dead, I was not relieved (God was still Sovereign when he was alive on Saturday), but I was glad and thankful. Thankful for the reminder that sin and evil will not reign victorious forever. Glad that as a Christian I can say "This man's repeated actions against many people of many nationalities and faiths were absolutely wrong and needed to be stopped." And to be glad they were stopped. Now many people were glad that would say they do not believe in Christ. Their gladness and mine speaks to the desire that recognizes evil and longs for something more. A desire that I believe points to the reality of God. This, I might add, is the same feeling we feel when the White Witch is defeated in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia or Sauron is eradicated in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Voldemort is destroyed in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series.
I was not, however, gleeful or giddy. Instead, I was sobered. Because I know that the only thing that separates me from bin Laden is the grace of the Holy Spirit in showing me my need of God, Jesus' conquering of sin at the resurrection, and the Father's love in drawing me to Himself and refusing to let me wander away toward the evil of my own devices. And the magnitude of this grace makes me feel small. But it does not keep me from naming an evil ruler an evil ruler or being glad that an evil ruler is gone.
Now, I would imagine that many of my friends might agree with me. And I recognize the sentiment of their posts and their disgust at sensationalism. But for my friends that are Christians, I would caution to not let the popularity of isolated quotes on non-violence or post-modernist thinking muddle our call or voice to the belief of absolute truth.
I do think the response of our President is a good one. He talked in his speech about how "Justice has been done." And then gave a reminder to America that we need to love our Muslim neighbors here and abroad.
Let's move forward reflectively in love.
2 comments:
While I agree with the importance of justice and absolute truth, there is a great tension in God's word between seeking justice and sacrificial love of one's enemies. I believe that many people's reactions reflect this tension, including my own. I would be careful in assuming that those that don't feel exactly the same way about the situation have been "muddled" by postmoderism or have fallen for popularity over absolute truth.
I usually feel weird, like I'm intruding on something special and sacred, when I stop by your blog. Hence why I have never commented, but today I have to tell you though that I really liked this post.
I found it difficult to sort through my feelings of gladness of the news that Bin Laden would not hurt another person and at the same time saddened at the responses of so many, practically gleeful with the prospect of him in hell. You captured both emotions beautifully and with grace.
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