How I'm Reacting to the Death of Osama Bin Laden as a Christ-Follower

* UPDATE: Apparently this post has gained traction - - in the past 10 hours, it has been viewed by over 700 and "Liked" via Facebook 112 times.  We'll go ahead and open up the Comments section - - would love to hear your thoughts!

I work like a horse on Sundays, so I tend to go to bed early.  Sometimes I'll read a book, but last night I opened up my MacBook to catch up on blogs. 

And then I saw the Breaking News banner:
"Pres. Obama to make statement at 10:30pm, subject unknown." 

I shared the headline with my wife.  She knows I'm a news junky.  "Let's go!"

As the delay in an announcement stretched for an hour, I had fun tweeting with friends about the newscasters frantically vamping live on national tv.

Then the news.  Osama Bin Laden dead.

 
I'll be honest - my first reaction was as an American - "We got him!"  As the grandson of proud immigrants, I was ready to bust out some Lee Greenwood.

Then I felt guilty for feeling that way. 
I'm a pastor... a follower of Christ... and I'm celebrating death?

I came across this great post from Josh Howerton.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'm reposting two of his thoughts which sum up my own on how to react to today's news:

• We should rejoice that justice has been done.
  It is not wrong to desire justice – in fact, it’s one of the most prominent commands in Scripture – and justice includes the proportionate punishment of the wicked.  One of the specific roles that the Bible outlines for human governments is to “bear the sword” (Romans 13:1-7).  Even the most quick, cursory reading of the prophets shows that justice is central to the character of God.  Rejoicing in justice is not wrong.

• We should mourn that a sinner Jesus died to save perished and dropped into the eternal wrath of God.
  Proverbs 24:17 instructs us not to “rejoice over the death of our enemies” and not to “let your heart be glad when he stumbles.” 
  Ezekiel 33:11 shows us God’s heart for the death of the wicked: “As I live, declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” 
  The unified heart of all the New Testament authors was one of brokenness and mourning for the lost to know Christ and be saved from God’s wrath. 
  We should feel this too.  For Osama Bin Laden.

An unmitigated embrace of either of these feelings to the exclusion of the other misses the heart of God today. We should feel both of these things.  
We shouldn’t be verbally dancing on Osama Bin Laden’s grave, hatefully laughing at the fact that he’s in judgment.  But we also shouldn’t be regretting that justice was done with unmixed sadness. This is important because we’re also instructed to guard our hearts (emotions) “above all else.” 

Examine your heart today and ask, “Am I feeling what God is feeling?” 
Repent if necessary.

 

Comments

[Krystle]

When I heard the news, I was very skeptical of our governments words. I thought it was all a hoax then soon realized that it wasn't. I got on Facebook a few short minutes later & was disheartened when I saw many of my friends & family celebrating the death of Bin Laden. I know they feel justice has been served, but where is that line drawn and who's the one authorized to draw that line? The whole justice pill is very hard for me to swallow because as a Christian, God wants me/us to forgive those who have done wrong to me/us. Maybe I just need a better understanding of it all?!

[Tammy Nicol]

I haven't posted on this subject yet because I wasn't sure what my reaction should be...I loved reading this point of view.

[Lola Flores]

well put, I know it is a mixed bag of emotions for our country.

[Sara Linder]

Thanks for posting. A lot of my peace-loving Christian fb friends were doing the "shame on you" thing the ones who were rejoicing over bin Laden's death. I understand that we shouldn't be "dancing on his grave" and whatnot, but it was bothe...ring me that these same people were seeming to ignore that justice has been served and since we serve a God who is just, shouldn't we be rejoicing when evil is overcome? You put it in a really good perspective that kind of settled my conflict over this whole thing and alieved my guilt for feeling some sense of relief in the whole thing. I don't know if this makes sense... :)

[Libby Bohley]

Thanks for having the courage to post this awesome blog. We are held to a higher standard when we choose to follow Christ and you really hit the nail on the head. Our feelings should be two-fold.

[Liz Whiskeyman]

I agree with Tammy - I had to take a step back and look at all the reactions of others because I just wasn't sure how to react. When I saw it on the news for the first time, my initial thought was "they took off the last 15 minutes of my show to tell us that?" I mean, really, I have always thought the media goes wild over the smallest thing. Yet - except for the day of and day after the tornado's in the southern US... I haven't heard anything more. It frustrates me that people will jump for joy and celebrate the death of a terrorist when, while Bin Laden may have been the "leader" of the attacks - he had many followers. The death of one man does not mean the end of terrorism. I certainly don't mean to sound as if I'm being unsympathetic towards the victims of 9/11, but I personally don't know that "an eye for an eye" is cause for celebration. Thanks for posting this!