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Our Response?

5/4/2011

5 Comments

 
Not sure a facebook status or a 140 character tweet can quite do justice to the Osama bin Laden discussion.  Not sure I want to get involved, but I have yet to read something that quite expresses my thoughts.  So here are my two cents. 

Should we rejoice in the demise of an evil man who has received deserved justice?  Romans 13:4 tells us that our governing authorities are "an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."  And then there are passages like Psalm 58:10-11 "The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.  Mankind will say, 'Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.'"  Proverbs 11:10 "When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness." 

Or, should we be mourning another unrepentant sinner now suffering in unspeakable torment?  Ezekiel 33:11 (or see 18:23) says, "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?"  Proverbs 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles."

So which is it?  It seems that much of what I have seen or read (with some exceptions) has emphasized one of these perspectives or the other.  The Bible clearly teaches the necessity and certainty of justice being done for unrepentant sinners.  It shows the gladness of the righteous at the execution of that justice.  The carrying out of justice brings glory to God and that is reason for rejoicing.  (Were Moses, Miriam, and all of Israel wrong to rejoice at the demise of the oppressive Egyptians - Exodus 15?)  But the Bible also teaches us love for the souls of the lost, a desire to see them saved, and not taking pleasure in the death of those who remain in that lost condition.  What a sobering thought that we deserve the same punishment, and except for the grace of God shown to us in Christ, we would receive it; another has died without that grace. 

Some won't like this, but I believe our response should be both rejoicing and mourning; a feeling of gladness and relief, but also of sorrow.  We don't require a choice between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.  We believe in both without apology.  So too here.  "For everything there is a a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a  time to dance"  (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4).  Scripture is balanced.  We should be too.
5 Comments
Luyen Westerhof
5/4/2011 01:40:02 am

Thnaks! It was a very biblical "two cents".Even though Bin Laden was an evil man, but I had a little problem with his death's celebration. Your blog helped me to understand what my respond should be, based on the scriture.

Reply
Eileen Wesner
5/4/2011 01:55:28 am

Thank you Pastor Aaron for your wisdom and insite regarding this reality of life! we all need to be reminded of how we need to think rightly! To think rightly, with prayer and God's grace we will have the right heart attitude, which brings balance.
May I respectfully say, Pastor Aaron, you need not apoligize, in your introduction, "Not sure you should get involved", It is a blessing to see you shepherding the body in this most practical way, thank you so much!
You are in our prayers.
A slave of Jesus Christ,
Eileen

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Stephanie Fish
5/4/2011 02:30:32 am

Thank you for this post and Godly perspective. You have perfectly captured the thoughts that have teeter-tottered in my head. And yet, I had not located the exact passages from God's Word to pinpoint His perspective. This has been very helpful. Thanks again.

Reply
Christie Siefer
5/4/2011 03:31:49 am

While it's hard to "celebrate" that someone has died... It's also just a bit of relief that he can no longer scheme and plan for the wickedness that he wished upon others.

Such mixed emotions.... And you put the words together well to give our hearts the words that we needed to see.

Thanks for your insight!!

Reply
Luyen Westerhof
5/14/2011 10:13:37 am

After I read your blog, then I came across this featured blog from Dr. Albert Mohler, and I would like to share what he wrote about the death of bin Laden. According to Dr. Mohler, the death of bin Laden is fully justified as an act of war, but not as an act of justice. Because this man is dead, so we never had the satisfaction of seeing him arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced. Also we are robbed of the satisfaction of seeing him answer for his crimes.
However, death in itself is never to be celebrated. Such celebration points to the danger of revenge, and this is a very powerful human emotion. Revenge has no place among those who honor justice. Also, God is capable of vengeance, but human beings are not. Furthermore, when we celebrated the death of bin Laden on the streets, we are simply taking satisfaction in the death of an enemy. That kind of revenge just produces greater numbers of enemies.
So, we can response to this event any way we want to. However, we need to take a deep breath to check at our emotion first, and then the result of our response.

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    When I quote Scripture In this blog, unless otherwise indicated, the quotations are usually from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission.

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