May 3 - Justice

Week 18 (18 Min Run : 18 Push-ups : 18 Sit-ups)

Ezekiel 18:23

23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Obviously, this is directed towards the popular news of the death of Osama bin Laden. There are three types of people I found in this entire process:

First of all there is the joyous and overexcited person. This person has no lament for Bin Laden or any other Muslim extremist. He or she yells in excitement and possesses the attitude that the US is the strongest, biggest, baddest, and most perfect country in the world. No tears are shed. No good things are said (not that there are really any positive things we can say about a man like that).

Secondly, there is the uneducated or unknowing person. This person is very "out of the loop" and almost apathetic. Disrespect or neglect towards our military is often in this person's character.  Famous lines of this person include: "Who cares?", "Who is Bin Laden?", "Why the big fuss?", "Explicit, {anti-government}, explicit, {anti-positiveness}".

Lastly, there is the Christian view that many of us are struggling with. This person struggles because half of he/she wants to celebrate and feel joy that justice has been brought swiftly through an evildoer. The person behind thousands of deaths and schemes to kill more has been eliminated. We are caught in the middle because our Christian beliefs cause us to feel sorrowful that this man never received Christ as his Savior. We are hesitant to rejoice because we would be rejoicing the death and eternal burning of a human life.

The question that surfaces in my view of this entire situation is that in the third person (the Christian). If we mourn or pretend to mourn because as Christians we are expected to do so, WHY ARE WE NOT TRYING TO REACH THOSE THAT ARE LIVING?!

Honestly, I'm not sure of anyone that would walk up to Bin Laden's doorstep with Bible in hand and preach the gospel. If someone disagrees I have two responses:

It's a lot easier to approach a deadly terrorist with the gospel when they are dead.

and...

Why didn't you, or someone else, make an attempt to reach Bin Laden?

We can take this experience as a learning opportunity and begin to try to reach every person, no matter their level of dangerousness. One thing is for sure though, we can celebrate that we know an awesome God who loves his people and delivers justice where it is needed. It is not our place to celebrate the death of a human life, but we can rejoice that God is in control and justified in his actions.