Ding, Dong

The witch is dead! Which 'ol witch? The Wicked Witch...

The correlation is inescapable. The first thing I thought upon hearing of the death of Osama Bin Laden was a recreation of The Wizard of Oz scene. Munchkins representing their Lollypop Guild jumping and celebrating the death of this horrible menace to their miniature society.

There is a trick to all of this however: He didn't just die, he was killed on sight. A man was identified and killed in a matter of seconds along with the four or five people in the room with him. Part of me wants to bust into a munchkin dance and give a "Christian equivalent" to the finger to the entirety of the insurgent groups, political groups, and terrorist cells that protected and supported him. Another part of me, just for a moment, takes pride in the idea that Bin Laden now sees the error of his Islamic ways and is suffering for his crimes. Then another part breathes a sigh of partial relief. My father is in Afghanistan. Part of his purpose in being there is the effort of the military to find terrorist leaders. Mission Accomplished? Then I feel a sense of nationalistic pride and want to watch Rocky IV.

At about this time in my mental process, my heart stops, my breath catches and my demeanor changes. A man just died, yes people die all the time I know, but this particular man died with an unrepentant heart and without saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Yes, what Osama Bin Laden did in his life was horrific. He ended or brought about the end of thousands of lives in the name of Allah. He cursed Christians and western culture in general; he damned us all to hell under the tenants of his religion. While I take hope in knowing that, by the power and perfection of God, justice will be served, I also can't help but hurt for Bin Laden's soul at the thought of eternal punishment. The grace that Christ extended to me could have saved Bin Laden from such an existence.

As I think about a sell-out crowd(near 50,000 people) in the Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park chanting "U-S-A" as news of Bin Laden's death permeated the crowd, I can't help but drop my head and think of Romans 3:22-26(God's prominence in our salvation; we have nothing to boast about) and how I could just as easily be damned in the tenants of the faith to which I hold dear. It is only by God's grace and provision that I'm any different than the man, whose death we cheer.

I can only pray that God make my reflections on this moment in history glorifying to Him. I can only rely God's power and knowledge to manage my conflicting feelings. So hard to see God's love in the face of God's justice, alas I resign myself to the faith and grace that saved and continues to sanctify me.