How Should Christians Respond to the Death of Osama bin Laden?

Photo by NYCMarines

The Christian blogosphere has been rife with articles about the proper Christian response to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Many say that we should never celebrate the death of another human being, but rather, be sorrowful at the death of a man created in the image of God. But here’s a question I’ve yet to hear asked:

“How should Christians respond to the salvation of Osama bin Laden?”

You heard me correctly. If Osama Bid Laden repented and turned to the Lord in the hours or minutes before his death, then he’s in paradise. Just like the thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus.

Would you celebrate?

Of course, I understand the concept of heavenly rewards and those that will “suffer loss” (1 Corinthians 3:15). But what about the fact that Bid Laden could even be in heaven (the real one, not the Muslim one with all the virgins)... while many of the people he killed – good, honest, hard-working mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters – are not? Where’s the justice in that?

We think it’s wonderful that we’re washed in the blood of Jesus, that our past is completely forgiven, that our sins are atoned for. But in the back of our minds, we harbor this thought: that our sins are not so bad compared to the next guy’s. Even the worst alcoholic, drug addicted sinner who abused and abandoned his family, robbed convenience stores to support his habit, did hard jail time, then repented and turned to the Lord can look at Osama bin Laden and say, “My sin wasn’t as bad as his.”

But here’s the fly in the ointment:

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3, Italics Mine)

You see, it’s our nature, not our behavior, which condemns us. But so often we haul out the scales of justice, heap our sins on one side and the sins of another person on the opposite side ... and feel quite justified when it tips to our favor. But on God’s scale, our sin weighs in the same as Bin Laden’s. If you think that’s harsh, consider the words of Jesus:

You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, “Do not murder.” I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother “idiot!” and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell “stupid!” at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. (Matthew 5:21-22, The Message)

Or Romans 3:9-19:

There is no one righteous, not even one;
   there is no one who understands,
   no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
   they have together become worthless;
   there is no one who does good,
   not even one.
Their throats are open graves;
   their tongues practice deceit.
The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
   ruin and misery mark their ways,
   and the way of peace they do not know.
    There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Isn’t that the whole point of the Gospel?

“But what about the people Bid Laden killed? Doesn’t he have to answer to them?”

King David wrote Psalm 51 after his adultery with Bathsheba. You may recall how he’d gotten her pregnant while her husband was off fighting in David’s army. Then David conspired to cover it up by bringing her husband back for a conjugal visit. When Uriah refused, David arranged for him to be placed on the front lines of battle where he would be killed.

Inarguably, David sinned against many people, not the least being Uriah. Yet in Psalm 51:4 he tells the Lord, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight...” In our self-conscious, self-centeredness, we often overlook the fact that the person who has sinned against us has really sinned against God – and we ought to let him deal with it.

Earlier I asked where’s the justice if Bid Laden could be in heaven while many of the people he killed are not? Here’s where the justice is... at the cross, where Jesus Christ was crucified and died, taking on the sins of the world – including Osama bin Laden’s. I’ll leave you with Psalm 130:3-4 to consider:

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
   O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
   therefore you are feared.

How To Invite Your Friends To Easter

How To Invite Your Friends To Easter@SCG from SeaCoast Grace Church on Vimeo.

“Is this all?”

Photo by Mysi

Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — “Is this all?”

— Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique)

Since then, millions of women have entered the workforce. I wonder if they’ve discovered what millions of men have known for centuries:

Each working husband struggles with this alone. As he made his sales quota, shopped for office supplies, matched the new brochure to the corporate colors, ate lunch with his co-workers, chauffeured Clients and VPs, sits at his desk at day’s end — he was afraid to ask even of himself the silent question — “Is this all?”

— John Tabita (The Masculine Mystique)*

* Not a real book

The Other Psalm 91

“Welcome Home.” Photo by The U.S. Army

Psalm 91 is often referred to as “the Soldier’s Psalm” because of its promise of protection. But it’s not the only one to do so:

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
  where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
  the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
  he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
  will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—
  the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
  nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
  he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
  both now and forevermore.

What Will It Take For You To Finally Be Free Of Sin's Power?

Photo by seanmcgrath

A few months back, I wrote a blog post on Turning off Sin’s Power. This week on Facebook, my former pastor posted the following:

Pop Quiz: What will have to happen in order for you to finally be free from the power of sin?

On Sunday, I read the following in a book I happen to pick up:

Did you ever stop to think about it: Salvation belongs to the sinner. Jesus already bought the salvation of the worst sinner, just as He did for us. That’s the reason He told us to go tell the Good News; go tell sinners they’re reconciled to God.

It goes on to say that if the sinner doesn’t know this, it won’t do him any good. It makes sense – salvation is a free gift that I receive by believing. If I either don’t know or don’t believe, it’s of no avail.

The salvation the author is talking about here is freedom from the penalty of sin. That’s for the sinner. But freedom from the power of sin... that’s for the believer. Romans 6:6-7 says:

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

If I received freedom from the penalty of my sin by believing verses like Colossians 2:13-14 and Romans 10:9, then it stands to reason that I won’t really receive freedom from the power of sin unless I believe verses like Romans 6:6-7 as well. As Romans 6:11says, “...consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

So it turns out that getting free from sin’s power also requires belief, or faith. You have to believe what the Word says. Go figure.

Seeing God’s Face

Photo by spoon

I had an interesting thought the other day on the way to work, something I had never really thought about before: Will we see God’s face when we’re in heaven?

You see, the night before, my youngest son had been having trouble sleeping because of bad dreams. So I sat with him at bedtime and read Scripture to him. I found myself reading out of the Old Testament… the sixth chapter of Isaiah where he has a vision of the Lord seated on his throne… Exodus 33 when Moses is on the mountaintop speaking with God.

I wanted Josh to see the bigness of God, so I read the part where Moses tells the Lord, “Now show me your glory,” to which God replies:

“I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

The narrative goes on to say that the Lord placed Moses in a cleft in the rock and covered him with his hand until his glory had passed by, then removed his hand so that Moses would see his back because “my face must not be seen.”

So if seeing God’s face spells certain death, will heaven be like Exodus 20:18, with the Lord on a smoke-filled mountaintop and we trembling at a distance, telling Jesus, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”?

But everything I’ve talked about so far is Old Covenant. Hebrews 7 and 8 says we have a better covenant founded on better promises. One way the New Covenant is superior to the Old is that our very nature has changed. You see, under the Old Covenant, sins were merely covered, not atoned for. That’s why the priest had to continually offer sacrifices. (See Hebrews 7:27.) But under the New Covenant, Jesus sacrificed himself “once for all.” In doing so, he took on the penalty of our sin upon himself and exchanged our unrighteousness for his righteousness:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)

That’s why David’s psalms continually exhort us to “seek his face.” I believe David foresaw the day when we, as spirit-filled, born again believers, would be able to see his face and yet live… and also to the ultimate Day when “we shall see face to face:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Cor 13:12)

The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.

We sometime forget that, beside leading the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. was also a man of God.

So I say to you, seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in your life. Without Him, all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without Him, life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing.

But with Him, we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him, we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St. Augustine was right — we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in Him.

Love yourself, if that means rational, healthy, and moral self-interest. You are commanded to do that. That is the length of life. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That is the length of breadth of life.

But never forget that there is a first and even greater commandment,“Love the Lord your God with all thy heart and all thy sol and all thy mind.” This is the height of life. And when you do this you live the complete life.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.