Two Deaths on a Weekend

This weekend I received news concerning two deaths. The first was of the death of a friend from my old youth group who was killed in Afghanistan. The second was the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan. It is a strange feeling to spend two days thinking about someone you knew who has been killed in a war, then to find out that the man who was a principle instigator of the war has been killed. Even as myself and people I know mourned over the death of our friend, we felt like rejoicing that our enemy has been killed. It is a very strange feeling, indeed.

The sad truth of the world that we live in is that we will be afflicted by the curse of violence until the coming of the Prince of Peace. We know that sin runs deep and affects every part of our being, our every system, and our every institution. But we also know that the God that we worship and confess is so much greater than any force of sin or violence. According to the gospel of John, the night that Jesus was handed over into the hands of evil, he told his disciples that he told them what he did so that they might have peace. He told them that in the world they will have trouble, but to take heart, because he has overcome the world (John 16:33). To me, this is a great comfort when we live in a world where we face the reality of death and violence every day. Just because Osama Bin Laden has been killed does not mean that we will have peace and safety. After all, it is in the nature of great evil to keep returning in various forms and people. Though we can kill those who would do us harm, we cannot kill the force of sin that makes Hitlers, McVeighs, or Bin Ladens. Only Jesus has killed evil in his obedience to death on a cross, and even at that, he has not yet completely vanquished it. Nevertheless, we can rest assured that the God who gave Himself to an evil world and experienced the power of violence firsthand, conquering it through his resurrection, will be there with us even when our friends fall victim to those forces.

I am glad that this man, Osama Bin Laden, will not be able to harm anyone else ever again. I am thankful for the governments of both the United States, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and all the other countries that have been hunting this man who wanted to do evil (as our President mentioned, he was also a butcher to his fellow Muslims, not just Americans). I also mourn the loss of life, both American and everyone else, that occurred in the hunt for him and his fellow Al Qaeda leaders. We must remember that violence in any form is not the way God wanted us to live. Sometimes it may be necessary to use it against those who wish to do harm, and I think Paul, in Romans 13, makes it clear that the state must function to restrain evil, even using the sword. However, God loves all men and desires all to be saved. He does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, says the prophet, Ezekiel (18:23; 33:11), but wants all to turn to Him. I am disturbed by fact that many people are rejoicing over the blood of Osama Bin Laden. Be glad that he won't harm anybody, by all means, but realize that there is very little that is glorious about the amount of physical, emotional, and spiritual damage that the world has undergone in the process. As Christians, we must pray for all of those who are still directly or indirectly involved with this conflict as we work to bring the gospel of peace to this broken world.