My thoughts on certain national news

It was on otherwise peaceful Sunday night. 

News sprang forth, on Twitter no less, about the death of bin Laden.

Celebration erupted.

That made my spirit twist just a little, and I couldn't figure out why the celebration made me so uncomfortable. 

Was it because of the assertions, with all apparent certainty by the hordes of commentors, this man was in hell?

That certainly is nothing to celebrate. The thought of an eternity separated from God is unfathomable to me. That is nothing to be celebrated.

And as the risk of sounding sort of Robbellish, how do we know? That bin Laden is in hell, I mean.

 I know, he's an evil man.

Then why did I think of my sin that was covered on the cross?

I'm not as bad as bin Laden. Really.

 I do know the horror and destruction that his man caused. I do. 

And as my 4 year old climbed in my lap this morning, I thought of a 4 year old bin Laden. Did he ever crawl in his mother's lap? Did she kiss his head and rest her cheek on his head too? 

Am I humanizing a monster? 

My point is that he was a child, full of hope and wonder, and then sin crept in. 

And then we know where that sin ultimately led. We were all there on September 11th.  There are other attacks too. Vicious attacks against American citizens that provoked, and still provoke, emotions beyond description.

I'm not cheapening what this man masterminded and executed.

I am pointing out that what caused this destruction was very simply sin. The same sin that we battle. 

And the "fact" that bin Laden is in hell is simply not our statement to make. God alone decides that. If we state very simply that bin Laden is in hell, are we not doubting God's ability to save? What if God did decided to save bin Laden? What if when we get there, bin Laden is there? Would we be shocked? Horrified? 

How could God save him?

And how could God save me?

I've prayed that bin Laden came to know Christ. Does that make me simple and idealistic? Sure. But I'm not sure that's wrong. 

And I can't think of a Scripture that indicates that any amount of sin disqualifies one from being saved. 

In fact, a verse that I keep hearing quoted a lot lately says that God is "...not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (1 Peter 3:10)

One person wandered aloud if perhaps he wanted justice for bin Laden more than salvation for him. This person went so far as to call this a symptom of his "American-ness." 

That's a lot to think about.

I kept thinking about all the times in the Old Testament where God not only ordained war and murder, especially when it involved sinners and/or sins again His people. God's people even rejoiced when their enemies were vanquished.

I couldn't find as much of that in the New Testament. It seems like that part of the Bible is filled with God's show of love in the gift of His Son to not only those that believed, but to those who He died for that were sill in sin. 

And I'm sure I'm missing a lot there. 

I also keep thinking about Sproul's thoughts on justice. He says we can't fully understand or appreciate justice until we fully understand and appreciate mercy.

And I'm not trying to call out hordes of people who celebrated about this death. 

I just have a deep desire for the people of God to respond in a way that would and should represent the Christ that we serve. And maybe celebrating this man's death is totally okay with God.

 I do know that God's arm is not too short to save. I am so thankful that He saved me. I am so thankful that I am not a slave to sin anymore. I'm so deeply humbled and grateful for His gift of His Son, in that He saved me from sin and from an eternity of separation from Him. 

I'm praying for our missionaries who are serving in the Middle East who may become targets more because of their nationality. And I'm praying for our military for the same reasons.

And I'm fully aware that I'm pondering things that I really have no business pondering. I don't know everything involved in all the political inerworkings of Washington. I don't doubt that killing bin Laden was the best thing to do. I'm sure that decision was made my people far more educated than I. It's not his death that I question. Maybe it's just the response to it.

And maybe the response is just fine. I just have to ponder it. Because that's what I do.