on the death of osama bin laden

many are celebrating today after the news last night from our president that osama bin laden has been killed. while i understand their relief, that his deceptive ways and murderous plots have died with him, i am confused by their celebration.

it has taken me some contemplation to find the words, so be patient with me while i try to explain. whenever i'm unsure as to how i feel about any given issue, i go back to scripture - i start with "what i know"...

• Romans 5:8 says: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
• John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

i have seen just a glimpse of the expanse of God's love in the way he has redeemed my own life. it is not a stretch for me to know that he loved bin laden too. some will struggle with this - but God does not love selectively. God loves us all, but he is displeased by our sinfulness.

so now that i've gone back to "what i know", "how i feel" is this: the Gospel is that Jesus, the perfect Son of God, died to save us from the death penalty for our sins, and not just mine and yours, but everyone's: hitler, hussein, bin laden. so, without knowing what occurred in bin laden's last few hours, what went through his mind and his heart in those last few moments, i can't say for sure where he'll end up... but unless he genuinely sought forgiveness from Jesus, then it's true that he will spend an eternity in hell. some would argue that he deserves it, because they see him as a "bad person" in comparison to themselves, the "good people" that they are. but that is not God's standard. God's standard is "that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

some might say he did it to himself. this would be true. it is only by our own rejection of the Gospel that we spend eternity in hell. but would Jesus be so flippant? i don't think so. Jesus is the epitome of compassionate - it's the only way that he could have died for our sins when he, himself had done nothing wrong.

and so today, i am saddened for bin laden. and instead of focusing on his death, i am choosing to pray for the safety of our troops in the middle east, praying that there will not be a successor to follow bin laden, but instead that his organization will disband. please pray with me.