Death of bin Laden

As the news is declaring all over the world, Osama bin Laden was killed recently by US forces. It has been fascinating to see the reactions being shown on television. If you saw just one individual city's reaction, you would not be able to tell the difference between this celebration and celebrating a sports team winning a title.

This reaction got me to thinking what the biblical response should be to news like this. First, and I believe foremost, we should feel a sense of relief that justice has been served. God is a just God. He is the defender of poor, the weak, and the innocent. When a person intentionally inflicts pain on others, justice must be meted out. Paul states in Romans 13:4 that "the state bears the sword" indicating that God has given the state the responsibility for carrying out justice as God's representative.

A second reaction that I had to the news was some of the Psalms that David wrote. He seemed to ask for and even celebrate at the destruction of his enemies. I have not studied all of the relevant Psalms, but I noticed a couple of things in a cursory look at a few of the relevant Psalms. David's celebration is in connection with God's glory and vindication, not the destruction of others. Also, David asks for the enemies destruction from the position of God defending His name and His people.

My third reaction is less biblical and more experiential in nature. It is hard to celebrate with a party like enthusiasm when it involves the death of a human being. I have been in the room on several occasions when a person has died. It does not matter if it is a family member or a stranger, Christian or non-Christian, there is a sense of sadness to the passing of another human being. With a non-Christian, it is even worse because you know they will spend eternity being punished for their sins.

I can't help but feel people are celebrating the misery of others. As Christians, we must always be aware of our motives. If what brings us joy is the misery of others, that is not really joy. We should be pleased that bin Laden was brought to justice. The families who lost loved ones should be relieved and have some closure at the perpetrator of 9-11 being brought to justice. We should even feel a sense of relief at the closing of a chapter in our nation's struggle against a sworn enemy. We should not let those emotions cause us to be indifferent to the taking of a life.