Osama's Dead.....Why I will not Celebrate

I know many that read this blog will not agree with my view of what has happened and I'm okay with that. Before you read you must first know that I'm not writing to stir up any kind of anger and I'm for sure not trying to create sides because I think the last thing a lost and dying world needs is for Christians to be divided over yet another topic. I will try to approach this from a Biblical stance and leave as many of my own opinions out .

Obviously I'm talking about the recent death of Osama Bin Laden. With the rapid increase of people using social media it's so easy for a person to express themselves for the world to hear. I do feel however that Christians ought to be careful that status updates, tweets, and comments match the Bible we say we believe is without error.

I saw one status that was comparing the death of Osama to the triumphant victory of God over evil. The only problem with this illustration is the "god" in it is America.

I do not want this blog to appear political because I really couldn't care less about taking a political stand.

So what does the Bible have to say about our enemies?

Matthew 5:43-44

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:27-28

²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you

Luke 6:35

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

I'm accused like most men of having "selected hearing". Meaning I only hear what I want to hear. I almost wonder if Christians have "selected obedience", we only obey what we like and the stuff that is hard to swallow or even understand we simply sweep it under the rug.

Why does Jesus tell us to love our enemy? When we think of the kingdom of God we have to view things from a perspective that many times is upside down from what is natural to us. That whole "the first shall be last" thing. Our natural desire is to celebrate the death of a "bad" man. In the kingdom of God however Scripture says "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" Ezekiel 18:23 I think Jesus tells us to love our enemies because when we do people will realize that it is there is something different about us because NO ONE wants to love their enemies.

Interesting perspective: My first time to Africa was in 2002. Once I landed in country I began to see anti-american shirts. I also saw a pro Bin Laden shirt being worn. Most American's don't realize that in most every country around the world the "evil" ones are American's. It's all in what lens you are looking through. What if we began to look through the lens of Jesus? Who deserves to go to hell? Who is evil? The short answer is simply, all of us. No one is righteous, no not one. So this whole argument that is being thrown around in social media venue's that we should celebrate because Bin Laden was evil, let us be reminded that NO ONE deserves the grace that God has shown. It's pretty humbling for me to think that I deserved salvation just as much as Osama Bin Laden did.