How should a Christian respond to the death of Bin Laden?

 

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How should a Christian respond to the death of Osama bin Laden?

This post is more of me just thinking out loud than any sort of a position paper or conclusion on the subject.

I think a good place to start is by saying that this is obviously a great victory for the U.S. military. After almost ten years of searching for this man that murdered many Americans he has been found and "justice has been served". It probably also brings a little bit of peace and comfort to the families of 9/11 victims. Let me also say, that I am so thankful for the men and women who serve in the armed forces and sacrifice so much to keep our country safe. I know that the military is necessary and on one hand I am very much pro-military. I would not protest at the funeral of a fallen military person, I would attend and love on the family and be sad for the loss. The loss of any life is a great tragedy...unless they know Jesus, then there is also an element of joy. 

Let me repeat that so it sinks in, the loss of any life is a great tragedy.

Now all politics aside...

Let us think about this biblically and try to set politics aside for a moment. Let us think about Jesus, remember him? The one who said to turn the other cheek and if your enemy asks you to go one mile to go an extra mile also. The one who said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The one who DID love his enemies and DID pray for those who persecuted him. The one who was led by his enemies like a sheep to the slaughter and opened not his mouth. The one who said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." The one who died for ALL sinners that would repent and place their faith in Him. The one who died for you and me and Osama bin Laden. 

When I heard the news this morning I didn't know how to feel. You see, I have prayed for Osama bin Laden and Qaddafi and Ahmadinejad. I have prayed that the Lord would give them visions and dreams of Jesus and draw them to Himself. I have prayed that they would come to know Christ. I suppose no one can know if bin Laden might have had a vision of Christ the night before he was killed. God is Sovereign after all and knew this was all going to happen. Maybe he decided to be merciful and draw him to Himself in the hour of his death. I don't know. None of us do. I have heard many stories of God meeting Muslims in their dreams to present Christ and the gospel to them. Many Muslims have been converted to Christ through such dreams. So I pray this will happen for all Muslims and also for the radical leaders like Qaddafi and Ahmadinejad. 

It makes me think of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. He was an evil king like many kings are past and present. He commanded that all bow to him and there were 3 young men who wouldn't. They were put in a blazing furnace to be killed and God protected them miraculously. Those looking on saw a "fourth person" in there with them. When they came out they didn't even smell of smoke. This was Neb's response:

 ²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

Let us remember that God can change anyone's heart. He can change the hearts of evil kings and rulers if he pleases. Remember Saul of Tarsus who became Paul? He persecuted and killed many Christians, yet God was merciful to him. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and brought salvation, mercy, grace, and forgiveness to this "enemy". Jesus died for his enemies, even men such as Osama bin Laden.

It makes me sad as I see Christians putting up facebook statuses being excited about Osama's death and "go USA", "We got him." Oh, and not to mention the videos of patriotic country songs. Although I understand their excitement our allegiance is first to a King, not a country. Our allegiance is to King Jesus first. We are Christians first, and Americans second. This is not our home. We are citizens of heaven. We should not rejoice in a soul spending eternity in hell, no matter who it is. We should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Right?! I mean, please tell me if I'm wrong. 

 I just read the parable in Matthew 18 about the unmerciful servant. He owed a rather large debt to his owner and begged for mercy from the owner. The owner granted him mercy and canceled his debt. Then this same servant wouldn't grant mercy to a fellow slave who owed him money. When the owner caught wind of it this is what he said:

  ³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.    ³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

We are that servant who should be begging for mercy from God. Let us not forget the sin debt that we have incurred towards a holy God. We are all sinners and if it weren't for the grace of God in our lives we could all be "Osama bin Laden." Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15  "Here is a trustworthy statement that deserves full acceptance: Christ came into the world to save sinners- of who I am the worst." We should all echo that statement of Paul. As we come to grips with the holiness of God and our own sinfulness we should rightly say of ourselves that we are each individually the worst of sinners. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ! 

Let us all turn to Jesus for salvation (if you haven't) and thank him for that salvation (if you are already his), American and Arab alike. Let us all seek to be like Jesus. Let us love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Yes, even radical Muslim leaders. They are not too far from the grace of God.

What are your thoughts? How did you feel when you heard the news? How should a Christian think through this and respond to the death of bin Laden?

And for another great post on this subject... How should Christians think about the death of Bin Laden?