Should we rejoice over Osama bin Laden’s death?

Osama bin Laden is dead.  Nearly ten years of searching is over. 

Perhaps the most startling aspect of Osama bin Laden’s death was the reaction it garnered from people around the States.  I found it interesting, first of all, that most people probably haven’t given a thought to bin Laden on a daily basis.  But now that he’s gone, people celebrate like Mardi Gras.

Secondly, it was bizarre to see college students celebrating in the streets of D.C.  Some of these students were eight years old when the search for bin Laden first began.  Eight. That’s a sobering thought. Finally, I was immediately torn when I saw the reaction of Christians online. Some couldn’t sleep because of the excitement.  Others were immediately critical of those same sleepless people around the country.  Which side should I be on?

I think as Christians, we need to walk a fine line here. During my personal time of worship this morning, I spent some time meditating on Scriptures that were challenging and helpful to me with this particular issue. I pray this helps you, too.

First of all, we cannot condemn a country or government for pursuing a violent man who harms and makes threats toward others. Romans 13:1-4 teaches us that the only government that exists is one that God has put in place.  Some are good, and some are bad. Still, one purpose of government is to punish evil. That is what happened last night when bin Laden was killed.

Therefore we rejoice that justice was done, and thus hope that this will bring relief to those who have suffered because of bin Laden’s leadership. We rejoice that God, in his divine wisdom, used human means as an instrument of wrath. 

Nevertheless, we mourn the fact that a life was wasted on desires to harm people and gain money, power, and control.  We mourn the fact that a man made in the image of God lived his life in opposition to Jesus and rejected him as the only hope of salvation.  Even Jesus wept over the lost people around him (Matt. 23:37; Luke 19:41; 23:34). 

God does not smile over the fact that Osama bin Laden has been killed and now faces judgment. God does not delight in the death of any wicked man (Ezek. 18:23; 33:11). However, God ordains everything, including death (Deut. 32:39), so does God ever delight that a wicked man is rightly punished? Deuteronomy 28:63 and Psalm 5:4-6 tell us plainly that God does delight in punishing wicked, unrepentant people. Is this a contradiction? No. As Denny Burk points out, Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11 mean “that God prefers for sinners to repent rather than to perish.”  Furthermore, Burk writes, “If they refuse to repent, however, God delights in His own justice to punish them appropriately.” 

Therefore we rejoice, as God does, in his justice and glory, not in the fact that bin Laden ceases to live on earth.

This morning 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 was particularly helpful for me as I wrestled with this and I pray it is helpful for you as well.  The context is marriage, but in these few verses, Paul speaks to all of life. I won’t comment on these verses. I pray that the weight of Paul’s words crush your spirit and cause you to have a Christ-centered, eternal perspective on every circumstance in this world (my emphasis in italics):

This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

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Read this post by Christopher Morgan at The Gospel Coalition blog for more on this.

The Koran-burning Guy

Terry Jones, a “pastor” in Florida, is going to host International Burn a Koran Day this Saturday, September 11. You can read more on their Facebook page.

I don’t want to take up space writing about what I think. What I can say is what my wife said this morning: “It’s because of people like this that people hate Christians.”  This is true.  This guy is a fool.  Is that unloving? No. Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus and mocks, belittles, and disrespects other people to the degree he is qualifies as such.

I believe that Islam is wrong and that it is a barrier to people seeing Jesus Christ for who he really is. But that doesn’t mean we burn their Korans. It doesn’t mean we hate them. No, we love them. We invite them to talk about their book, and we also ask them to talk about ours.

I want to point you to a great post by Abraham Piper about this.  In my opinion, this is Abraham’s most thoughtful post ever, and he’s had some good ones.  Thanks Abraham for your clear, thoughtful communication.

Sermon 2: Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
Series: Debated: Answering Hard Questions About Christianity
Pastor Steve Moltumyr

John 14:6; 1 John 4:1-10

• There are three ways to deal with this most important question:

1. You can outlaw religion  (such as China and the former Soviet Union).
2. You can condemn religion through education.
3. You can keep religion a private matter.

• What we see so rampant in the world today is what we call postmodernism.  Postmodernism is the belief that everything is relative and there can be no objective reality in the universe.

• Christianity is not unique in it’s claim to truth.  When it comes to deciphering through all the worldviews, we must sift through three important questions.

1. Decide which religion is true.
2. Decide that atheism is true.
3. Decide that postmodernism is true.

• When it comes to the first of these options, you need to answer these questions when trying to get to the bottom of whether a religion is true or not:

1. How did life begin?
2. What is the meaning of life?
3. What is the moral code to live by?
4. What is the primary spiritual need?
5. How will life end?

• A postmodernist will usually argue along these lines.

1. Each person has the right to determine the meaning of what they read.  This means that if I write an email that says, “It’s cold outside,” someone can actually interpret it as, “Steve said it’s warm today!”
2. Moral and ethical behavior is not a result of any final reality such as God.
3. All religions are man made and none have a corner on the truth.
4. “I can create my own faith.  My own generic religion.”  (This “religion” does not confront people with the brokenness of humanity and the need for a Savior.)

• 1 John 4:1-10.  Jesus has “come in the flesh” (v. 2).  What has Jesus “come” from?  God.  How can Jesus be the only way to God?  He is God.  He was God in the flesh who came to give what no other so-called “deity” ever gave.

“The Truth”

Artist Michael D’Antuono’s painting “The Truth” about Barack Obama.  Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“More than a presidential portrait,” writes D’Antuono on a website touting the painting, “‘The Truth’ is a politically, religiously and socially-charged statement on our nation’s current political climate and deep partisan divide that is sure to create a dialogue.”

Like others in the news who have depicted Obama in Christ-like imagery, D’Antuono insists he isn’t claiming the man is Messiah, but only inviting “individual interpretations.”

“‘The Truth,’ like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder,” claims the exhibit’s press release.

Read the whole thing.

D’Antuono has encouraged viewers to email him and respond to the question, “What is your truth.”  I plan to work on my response sometime this weekend and then post it here on the blog.

A Muslim Wants to Come to My Church

Last night I hung out with six southern Africans at an apartment near where I live.  It was a motley crew, the kind Jesus would have shared a meal with.  If Pharisees would have been around, surely they would have said, “Why are you with those sinners?”

Everyone smoked constantly (not us, no emails please), we shared a few beers, one of the guys (MJ) quite inebriated, and for the most part, he talked about getting laid all night long.  Rylan and I were there because, I think, Jesus would have been there too.

So when we arrived and introduced ourselves, naturally there was the “Why are you in South Africa?” question.  They asked if we were studying at the University.  I said no.  So they asked again.  I looked at Rylan and then said, “Well, I’m kind of a campus pastor.  I work for a Christian group here in South Africa.”  Lucas, one of the guys, said, “Whoa.  You are drinking a beer.”

And so it started.

We talked about everything you can fit into a two and a half hour conversation.  We discussed the World Cup, politics, South African beer, sex, and of course, Jesus.  The Jesus conversation was riveting, but the best part of the night came when MJ asked Rylan what our thoughts were on sex before marriage.  In a sheer moment of brilliance, Rylan said, “Well, James, I think you can answer that better than I can.”

After a large gulp, I obviously told MJ that sex before marriage is a big no-no.  I told him about the wounds of sexual addiction before marriage.  I told him about the pain it can cause him and the women he sleeps with.  He told me that he has to sleep around to find the woman who “likes the same stuff I do.”  I told him that when a man and women love Jesus first, then fall in love with each other and capture each other’s heart and mind, then when they are married, they will have the best sex.  I said that married couples have total freedom, with no guilt, to experiment and learn with each other and together they will experience excitement, passion, and complete approval from God.

After I was finished, Nash (pronounced “nosh”), looked at me and said, “That makes so much sense.  That’s the way it should be.  I want to come to your church!”  Now, Nash is Muslim.  She openly admitted to sleeping with her boyfriend (who is Catholic).  She told me earlier that she would never leave the Islamic faith.  She quickly caught herself and said, “Well, obviously I can’t because I won’t stop being Muslim.”

I think that there was a small seed planted in Nash’s heart (as well as everyone else in the room).  I openly talked about Jesus and though Nash is very confused about who he is and what he has done for sinners, she heard a small, yet beautiful, truth.  She heard what kind of a change Jesus can make in a person’s life.

There is a different way to do marriage and sex.   It’s completely and wholly good.  It makes sense, but it only makes sense with Jesus, not Islam.  The cross needs to be made glorious to Nash and MJ and their friends so they can experience change.  Lord willing, as time goes on, Jesus will reveal himself to them and they will experience the change and abundant life that he alone gives.

Richard Dawkins, Are You Serious?

Dawkins, famed atheist and scientist, is leaving his position at Oxford University to write a book about the effects of Harry Potter on kids.  The point mainly is to stir kids away from magic, spirituality, etc. toward science and evidence (as if the two were mutually exclusive).  In the article link, Dawkins is quoted at a recent conference, talking about a related subject.  He said:

It is evil to describe a child as a Muslim child or a Christian child. I think labelling children is child abuse and I think there is a very heavy issue, for example, about teaching about hell and torturing their minds with hell…It’s a form of child abuse, even worse than physical child abuse. I wouldn’t want to teach a young child, a terrifyingly young child, about hell when he dies, as it’s as bad as many forms of physical abuse.

Dawkins is blind to the light of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4).  We can’t blame him; he can’t help it.  He is especially lacking common grace from God.  Yet, he’s still responsible for his sin and folly.  I honestly don’t think I know anyone, even the most liberal person in my sphere, who would say that physically hitting a child is better than calling them a Christian.

I can only ask, “Richard Dawkins, are you serious?”