Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

As most of you know by now, Osama Bin Laden was killed by elements of U.S. Special Operation forces. I would like to share my reaction to this news. I hope this will help you to become more thoughtful, prayerful and, ultimately, a better follower of Christ.

As I watched the news this morning, I was filled with mix emotions. Yes, I am glad Bin Laden was brought to justice. He was an evil man and he needed to be brought to justice. I am thankful for our Intelligence Community and military. The men and women of our defense community hunted Bin Laden down and made this world a safer place. So, I would like to go on record as saying 'thank you' to the men and women in our military and intelligence community.

I would even argue that it is Biblical to be thankful that our military and intelligence communities were able to protect us by hunting down Bin Laden and other elements of Al Qaeda. Consider Romans 13:1-5, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience." Governments are instituted by God to restrict the rampant spread of evil. By killing Osama Bin Laden, the U.S. government took action to keep evil from becoming pervasive throughout the world.

After having said all this, however, I am not in a celebratory mood. Instead of celebrating, I am mourning. I am mourning that we live in a sinful and fallen world that gives rise to evil men such as Bin Laden. I am mournful that we live in a world where it's necessary for nations to maintain militaries and intelligence communities. (When Jesus returns to judge and set things right, we'll no longer need military forces.)Lastly, I am mournful that we live in a world where it's necessary for governments to order the execution of evil people.

As Christians, we should take this time to remember a few things. First, the only permanent solution to the rise of evil is Jesus Christ. The root cause of evil is sin. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has delivered us from the guilt and power of sin. As fully God and fully human, Jesus lived the perfect life and became the necessary sacrifice for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins. With our sins paid for, we can receive God's forgiveness and have a restored love relationship with God. We become children of God. As God's children, we receive the Holy Spirit. As we walk with God through faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit works to transform our hearts and makes us more like Christ. We begin to love God, ourselves and others with the same type of unconditional love that God has for us.

Along with remembering Jesus as the only permanent solution to evil, we should also remember God's command for us to love and pray for our enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48 and Romans 12:14-21) Yes, we need to pray for the Muslim extremists who are intent on killing us. We need to pray for their salvation, that they will come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

So, celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden with a guarded celebration. Be happy that justice was done and evil was dealt a tremendous blow. Temper your celebration, however, with mourning. Mourn for the sinful state of this world and allow this mourning to lead you to earnest prayer for our military, intelligence community and the salvation of Muslim extremist. May this mourning also propel you into more fervent efforts to share your faith with everyone you can.

May God bless you.