At 10:00 PM on Sunday, May 1st, 2011, my father-in-law called me to say that I should turn on the news; Osama bin Laden was dead. I switched over to CNN and NBC and watched the President come out and announce that indeed, bin Laden had been killed by US military forces. I opened up Facebook and watched in wonder as friends and family members took to the internet to express themselves in this moment of patriotic celebration. Osama bin Laden was an evil man, who perpetuated great crimes of suffering and death on thousands of people, and the events of Sunday night revealed that human justice had been doled out. The people of America breathed a collective sigh of relief and threw up their arms in jubilation that our generation's "bogeyman" had been destroyed. As an American, I was proud of our service men and women who have given so much in the hunt for this man. I was remorseful for those who lost loved ones in 9/11, that perhaps they had received a moment of peace in their long journey. And as a human being, I was grateful that a truly evil presence had been removed from the world.
But as a Christian, I was saddened by the misplaced anger and hatred that began to emerge in ever-virulent posts. I saw members of the Body of Christ expel venom and retributive anger with terrifying ease. A numbing pall washed over me as my brothers and sisters in Christ arrogantly claimed to know the mind of God, and proclaimed dastardly retribution, in God's name, upon this person. I saw people who claim to be followers of Christ post comments that have nothing to do with Jesus or his teachings. "Burn in hell", "Glad the bastard is dead" and "He got what he deserved" were thrown up on Facebook as regurgitory exclamations by the same people who routinely post Bible scriptures and sermon quotes. These careless expositions were emotionally thrown out as we proudly claimed credit for God's divine justice, as if Americans somehow hold a unique place in God's kingdom as avenging angels. All that could come to my mind was the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:44; "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Where had our compassion gone? Where was our gentleness and our mercy? What had we done with the grace we had received from God? Had we become the very hatred that we had loathed in our enemies for so long?
Yes, Osama bin Laden received appropriate human justice. He was a murderer and terrorist and a nation that had been held hostage by his twisted movement sought him out and delivered a verdict of death upon a man who had spent his life dealing in it. But as a follower of Christ, I mourn the death of another human who had obviously never experienced the mercy and grace I have been so blessed with in my journey with God. As a follower of Christ, I recognize that God will dole out God's justice as God sees fit, and I have nothing to offer to that proceeding (Job 38:2 - Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?). And as a follower of Christ, I also recognize that while there are those who feel Osama got what he deserved, he actually got what we all "deserve" (Rom. 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death...).
My hope in all of this is that Christians in America take a moment to separate patriotic pride from Christian imperatives. As an American I am proud and relieved that an enemy of our state has fallen. As a Christian, I pray for this man's family, friends, and followers, that the hatred and evil that he espoused and the pain they are experiencing now is overcome by the mercy and grace that I know is present in a loving and just God. I also pray that God's peace and comforting presence will continue to break into the world, that the day of God's kingdom might come when all of God's children can be done with hatred and wars and evil (Rev. 21:4 - Death will be no more, there will be an end to mourning and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away).
As the posts exploded on Facebook Sunday night, a small presence of people began to come out, pressing on us all to not let our compassion and mercy be overwhelmed by vengeance and bravado. I leave you with these words, written by a young mother that my wife and I have known for several years, and who truly touched me with her profound expression of the tension that existed that night: "[tonight] I will think about the families that lost loved ones and how they have suffered. I will think about the pain that ran through my bones on 9/11. I wont try to make sense of it, I wont try to understand everyone's ideas of God, or what he thinks or says is right... I will feel the peace that a Mother who lost her child to this mess feels tonight...even if just for a second."-Molly
May the peace and grace of God be known to all of God's children,
Mark