Bin Laden’s death and Biblical Balance
Last night I found out, along with the rest of the country, that Osama Bin Laden had finally been killed. Interestingly enough, it was through Twitter rather than traditional media outlets. Social media truly has transformed the world of media and current events.
What I also found out through Twitter and Facebook was that Christians’ reaction to the news varied wildly. Some friends and ministry leaders were exuberant, others were somber. Some celebrated, others mourned such celebration. Predictably enough, the responses seemed to fall along political lines. Christians who are outspokenly Conservative politically, seemed to rejoice; Christians who lean toward the Liberal end of the political spectrum seemed to be shocked and dismayed that Christians would ever rejoice at such news.
My own Facebook post on the subject generated a very interesting conversation among my friends and readers (which I encourage you to read HERE). This conversation, I knew, needed more nuance and elaboration, as Facebook and Twitter feeds are notorious for generating more heat than light when it comes to controversial issues! So that’s I’m attempting to do with this post.
As I said last night, Christians should not celebrate Bin Laden’s death, as such. God Himself does not celebrate the death of individuals, no matter how wicked they may be:
“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? …For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:23 & 32)
“Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they” (Ezekiel 33:11)
Keep in mind, this is the so-called “Old Testament God” speaking–you know, the one who is supposedly the violent, vindictive one, according to (ill-informed) critics! If God Himself, who is the ultimate standard of both Justice and Truth, does not delight in the death of wicked persons, who are we to do so??
However…
Contrary to some Christians who quickly Tweeted the above passage as their prooftext of why no one should feel any joy on this occasion, the Bible also recognizes that joy and gratitude are proper responses to evildoers being stopped and/or judged:
“Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.
Say to me, “I am your salvation.”
May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.
May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away;
may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,
may ruin overtake them by surprise–
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and delight in his salvation.” (Psalm 35:1-9)
The psalmist seems to allow joy as a valid response in when evildoers are judged!
So what does this mean?
It means, that to my Right-leaning Christian friends who delighted to the news that Osama had been killed, Scripture seems to offer a somber reminder that such delight is not shared by God–and therefore should not be embraced by His followers.
In fact, Scripture flat-out warns not to celebrate of the demise of an enemy:
“Do not gloat when your enemies fall;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.”
(Proverbs 24:17-18)
Furthermore, the idea that Osama Bin Laden was actually our “enemy” is one that seems entirely out of place within the Gospel of Jesus:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Osama Bin Laden might have been an enemy to America, but our true Kingdom is not of this world…and against that kingdom he was no more an enemy than anyone else who has rejected the Gospel–including you or me.
But wait…
To my Left-leaning Christian friends, Scripture cautions against the idea that we should not rejoice when evildoers are judged and justice is dealt to those who have shed innocent blood. The desire for Justice to be done and shed blood to be avenged is one that’s found even in Heaven at the present time! That’s right, even in the very presence of God Almighty, those who have lost their lives because of evildoers cry out–yes, CRY OUT!–for God to avenge them and Justice to be dealt out:
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?””
(Revelation 6:9-10)
Even though this is an apocalyptic, and thus symbolic, depiction of Heavenly reality, it should be noted that this is New Testament Scripture and Jesus is the one revealing it to us!
[For more on interpreting Revelation without succumbing to over-literalization or over-spiritualization, please see my DVD set Revelation: A Guided Tour of the Apocalypse.]
Thus, rather than chiding Christians for any celebration or gratitude regarding Bin Laden’s death, we must recognize that there is Biblical precedent for some level of joy at the news that Al-Qaeda’s leader has been brought down.
Okay, I’m confused…
So we shouldn’t rejoice at the death of the wicked, but we can celebrate the demise of evildoers?? How do we do that???
The answer, I believe, is in holding the tension between the two and finding the balance. Balance is, I have said for a while now, the key to walking as Jesus walked and being faithful to Scripture’s full range of teaching.
Balance means actually mourning the death of Osama Bin Laden as a person–a person who bore the image of God just as much as you or me! A person who did great evil, but who Jesus went to the cross to redeem just as much as you or me! A person who was loved by God JUST AS MUCH AS YOU OR ME!
But balance also means being thankful that Osama Bin Laden’s evil schemes and murderous plots were finally frustrated once and for all and he is no longer able to continue his war on humanity, particularly the country we live in. Desiring justice is not wrong.
Balance.
It’s so hard to achieve.
Yet it’s what we see throughout Scripture as a whole. In fact, let’s look again at the full context of Psalm 35. I believe it shows us a marvelous preservation of Biblical balance in the face of evil:
Psa 35:1
“Of David.
Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.
Say to me, “I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away;
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise–
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit,
to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and delight in his salvation.
10 My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, LORD?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
they question me on things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good
and leave me like one bereaved.
13 Yet when they were ill,
I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;
they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 How long, Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
among the throngs I will praise you.
19 Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.
20 They do not speak peaceably,
but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it.”
22 LORD, you have seen this; do not be silent.
Do not be far from me, Lord.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and Lord.
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, LORD my God;
do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
or say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The LORD be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”
28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
your praises all day long.”
In this Psalm, we see a complex reaction to the evil the psalmist is facing–the attempt to honor and love the enemy, even to the point of mourning their ill-fortune–to the longing for justice and vindication from God and a thankfulness when the evildoer is finally thwarted.
And the fact that we see BOTH responses is crucial.
It’s also one that Jesus echoed in His own teaching. The same Jesus who commanded His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them likewise pronounced “the 7 Woes” (Matt. 11:20ff) over the cities that rejected the Gospel and gave the entire vision of Revelation in order to reveal the judgment that evildoers would ultimately face if they do not repent!
Incidentally, this is why I’m not a total Pacifist. Though I greatly respect and admire many of my pacifist brothers and sisters who are convicted to adopt such a position, I believe it goes beyond Scripture and does not reflect the fullness of God’s revealed Word–it doesn’t preserve the balance I believe we see Scripture upholding.
Likewise, this is why I utterly repudiate and condemn any “Christian” nationalism. Rejoicing at the death of any who bear God’s image–ESPECIALLY when it’s done in an “us” vs. “them” mentality (where “us” is defined along cultural/racial/political lines)–has absolutely no place within the trans-national, geographically-unlimited Kingdom of God.
Make no mistake about it, America’s “War on Terror” is not in any way a Heavenly endeavor. THE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MODERN HOLY WAR AND AMERICA IS NOT GOD’S KINGDOM.
So the jingoistic responses of glee on the part of some Christians at hearing the news is sad indeed. (By the way, It will be interesting to see the responses of our Arab Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world to this news and how markedly different in tone it will be.)
But I don’t feel any remorse at Osama’s death…
I had a conversation with a friend this morning regarding the conflicted feelings he was experiencing at hearing all this. One thing he said was “I honestly feel no sadness at hearing about his death.” He wondered if that meant he was “going to hell”…and given the tone of condemnation towards anyone who was glad about it by some of my Left-leaning Christian friends’ posts, I could see why he’d think this!
My response was that while we cannot control how we FEEL about anything, we can control how we RESPOND to it. The Psalmist didn’t FEEL love for his enemy, but he RESPONDED with love toward his enemy–even while inwardly petitioning God for justice and vindication! Likewise, Christians may not FEEL a sense of mourning or loss at news of Bin Laden’s demise, but that does not mean we should RESPOND with snide comments, nationalistic pride or any “ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead” type celebrations.
Jesus calls us to live beyond what the world sees as normative. He calls us to a countercultural view of love, justice, joy and mourning. In fact, how we respond to the following image (which I saw on my friend Kurt’s excellent blog!) says a lot about our view of the Gospel…
Balance.
It’s so hard to achieve.
May we be able to hold the tension between gratitude at the ending of a particular evil in the world and sadness at the Sin that warped a person made in God’s Image to engage in it so fervently.
Blessings from the Dojo,
JM
—————————————————————————-
For info on my Discipleship ministry or to bring me to speak/teach at your church, school or ministry click HERE. For more info on my DVD/Audio Discipleship resources click HERE.
If you’d like to help me continue offering online resources and articles, consider making a donation to Disciple Dojo! You can do so–ANY amount is greatly appreciated!–by clicking HERE.
Categories: Biblical Theology, Blog, Hebrew Bible, Ministry, New Testament, Political/Social issues
Right on. We dont talk balance near enough.
(ps. Just for the record, I lean right and have had nothing but sober thoughts on the matter. But I have seen the divide you are talking about.)
great post.
by Gordon on May 2, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Thanks Gordon. Sometimes I lean right, sometimes left. I admit I leaned left initially on this one, but realized that those leaning right weren’t totally off…well, some were, but you know what I mean! 🙂
by jm on May 2, 2011 at 7:00 pm
I would suggest, rather, that we should delight more in bringing him to trial, and bringing him to justice, than him getting murdered by a swat team or a buzz bomb. God desires Justice, and I wish that we could have forced him to face his accusers and face his crimes, and be judged in a public forum. Death (or martyrdom to his cause) is the easy, cowardly way out. A trial would have held more satisfaction for me, as I am taught to love my enemies. Exposing the darkness to God’s light is important. Goodness hates the light, because its deeds are evil. Murdering him is just more darkness, and allows him to escape to that darkness. That’s why people who go on killing sprees commit suicide afterwards. They get to inflict harm and not face up to their accusers.
You are correct that God holds people accountable for their sin, and puts them on trial, and for that reason we must do the same.
All that being said, JMS, this is some of your best stuff. Maybe the best stuff you’ve ever written. Well done.
by Chris McCauley on May 3, 2011 at 12:45 am
“Goodness hates the light, because its deeds are evil. ”
Typo, right?
Thanks for the comments Chris. I agree. Bringing him to justice alive would’ve been better (as it would’ve been for Hitler…who died on the same day decades ago interestingly enough.
by jm on May 3, 2011 at 1:46 am
There’s nothing more punk than dying a quick death after leading a life of evil. It’s an attempt to escape justice and punishment in this life. Good thing both exist in the next.
by Chris McCauley on May 3, 2011 at 1:58 am
JM–per our conversation 🙂
Very well written article about BL.
I would say I agree with about 70% of what you’re saying.
I always grieve war. Because its like it never should have gotten to that point in the first place. I hate, hate. I hate that BL wanted so much to absorb power and rule with it. I despise that. I hate the intention to manipulate his own people. i hate that.
Certainly Vengeance belongs to God.
You are right in that there is a separation between a holy war and human war. obviously.
And I would say Psalm 35 is one of my all time favorites.
And I recognize that the 30% I disagree with you with is mostly opinion based. Not Scripture based. I think it healthy to want to defend your nation but I also get Matt 5. I think its right to pursue justice and mercy…so I don’t get the concept of standing by and letting the innocent be slaughtered.
I also recognize that your article took no stand on honoring those where honor is due either. That’s interesting. To me that’s the political side of your own heart. But I get that too.
You gave appropriate examples for your points. Which I appreciate and certainly enjoyed reading and reviewing/weighing my heart in them…great challenge.
I celebrate the death of Bin Laden. Not because I’m happy he’s dead. But because I’m SO HAPPY that his plans for unrighteousness have at least stopped…the ones in his mind to be played out. It is so sad really. I was looking at pictures of his family last night. There is so much humanness there. By that I don’t mean happy moments. I mean the humanness that we all relate to. Power hungry, greedy, inappropriate sexuality, and brokenness…and for that my heart breaks for everyone. because I am that in everyone.
I’m thankful for His grace for all of us. And I’m thankful that He also says in the new testament which you are very familiar with that if you upset the king of the land you will pay a penalty for it. I think that justice wasn’t done with BL’s death. I think a consequence was paid in his death. and I celebrate that with the hopes that it will keep world bullying (i.e. terrorism far from all of our hearts). I know that’s a grand hope…
I concede as a warrior that no weapon is strong enough
to take out hate, except love.
hmm…Psalm 35. great stuff.
p.s. it’s not bad to love your country or be proud of your country. I acknowledge that gift in each people and tribe around the world. Sometimes…and I don’t think you necessarily mean to…but sometimes I think you’re a bit snobby about not being associated with your nation/politics/etc. That’s not Scripture based of course 🙂 and is just my little opinion…nothing more. But just in case you might profit from that reflection. I’ll share it. if it doesn’t profit you feel free to discard it completely.
Agape ♥
Chas
by Chastity Kinsler on May 3, 2011 at 3:58 am
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Chas. I receive them completely.
“Sometimes…and I don’t think you necessarily mean to…but sometimes I think you’re a bit snobby about not being associated with your nation/politics/etc.”
I do apologize if it ever comes across as “snobby”…that is certainly not my intent. Rather, I am so repulsed by much of the nationalistic borderline-idolatry that I’ve seen so many Christians exhibit that I often err on the side of sounding unpatriotic, I’m sure! 🙂
I respect those–such as yourself, some of my family, and even C.S. Lewis!–who hold patriotism in high regard; I just don’t resonate strongly with national pride anymore. My ministry experiences over the past 15 years or so, particularly in teaching Scripture both here and in other parts of the world, as well as my coming to grips with the morally-ambiguous history of our country as a whole, have led me away from identifying as strongly with America as I did growing up (I mean, as a kid watching Operation Desert Storm unfold on TV I was ALL ABOUT some Lee Greenwood! haha!)
But I realize this is a bias of mine and one that I need to be aware of; so thank you for pointing it out. Hopefully I can do better in communicating my thoughts without raising unnecessary controversy in the future. 🙂
by jm on May 3, 2011 at 4:13 am
[…] […]
by The Coming Troubles will Separate the People - Prophecy on May 3, 2011 at 8:37 am
Wow. Fantastic and very well balanced post. These words capture well the exact discussion my wife and I had Monday morning over email. Happy that he was eliminated from a national security/political perspective? yes. Happy that another human being, who deserves no more and no less what I deserve for my sin, was killed before repenting and trusting Christ? Absolutely not. Bittersweet, indeed.
by paul dare on May 3, 2011 at 3:17 pm
[…] […]
by 10 dangers of a Christian believing in evolution on May 4, 2011 at 4:50 am
JM, I love what you are seeking to do here, but I guess that once we get into New Testament faith, the rules change a bit. One nuance (and I am tired so I may have read you wrong) is that the Revelation passage can’t be used as us being glad that this evildoer was judged. That’s because the saints in heaven are awaiting ‘God’s action’ for justice, not the US military’s. Overall, I like what you are trying to accomplish in this post, but I think the revealed nature of the Godhead, Jesus Christ and him crucified, overrides balance a bit here.
PS – I hope you don’t consider me one of your “left-leaning” friends 🙂 According to my last theological assessment I have a “moderate tendency” haahhaha!
by Kurt Willems on May 4, 2011 at 6:28 am
“That’s because the saints in heaven are awaiting ‘God’s action’ for justice, not the US military’s.”
Yes, but it can’t be dismissed that it is the Lamb’s opening of the seals which result in earthly wars…which are, in some unexplained and inexplicable way this side of Heaven, part of God’s overall unfolding plan. Revelation never calls believers to pick up weapons or fight in battles on earth, of course. But it does hold the tension when it comes to seeing world events as in some way within the scope of the “Roaring Lamb” (to borrow a phrase from the late Bob Briner) and rejoicing when evil falls (as do the OT prophets’ visions of the Yom YHWH–Day of the LORD–events within their own times as oppressors and murderous rulers fell). I’m not willing to let go of that end of the rope completely…though as someone from the Mennonite tradition, I can see how you would be more comfortable doing so. 🙂
by jm on May 5, 2011 at 1:00 am
[…] Vs. Being a Blessing – Steven Furtick Do We Defend the Gospel? Yes and No – Trevin Wax Bin Laden’s Death and Biblical Balance – James-Michael Smith How Should We Respond to the Death of Osama Bin Laden? – Jim […]
by Tuesday Headlines & Links - Shane Raynor on May 4, 2011 at 12:27 pm
[…] Bin Laden’s death and Biblical Balance by James Michael Smith […]
by the death of Osama bin Laden: a collection of Christian reactions (2) | preacher smith on May 4, 2011 at 2:23 pm
[…] […]
by The End of the World part 6 - Armageddon on May 28, 2011 at 5:57 am
[…] Bin Laden’s death and Biblical Balance (jmsmith.org) […]
by Defend yourself against the devil’s shenanigans on Sep 3, 2011 at 7:56 am