I am taking reading suggestions for these next few months while out on maternity leave. I tend to favor nonfiction, but am going to try and keep things light for the summer, as I'll also be sleep-deprived and chasing two children. No books about POWs or the last 17 centuries of Afghanistan. I'll also take fiction suggestions, as long as they're really good. No Sookie Stackhouse or Twilight please...
Floor is opened for suggestions....
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Stubborn Grace
I have been in a very pensive mood all week, trying to sit with exactly how I feel about Osama bin Laden's death. So much detail is still inconclusive about exactly how it all went down, who was where, who used whom as a human shield, whether he was captured then killed later, or whether he was killed more or less on sight. I'm leaving out those parts of the equation that are still murky.
There is no question that what he did/planned was horrible and despicable; were he to be tried as a criminal (which is what he was/is to me), he'd almost certainly fry. I don't support capital punishment - it's all part of being pro-life to me - but I can recognize that it would be a likely scenario for crimes of such magnitude.
What is the question for me is this: how does killing him eradicate evil in the world? Has evil ceased to exist? I believe Paul knew what he was talking about when he said that our battle is not against flesh and blood; were that the case, evil could be eradicated if all the evil people were killed. Well, the truth is that we are ALL evil, and you don't have to be a murderer to be evil. If you've lost your temper with your children, if you've ever lied to or about anyone, if you've ever lusted after a person you're not married to, if you've ever put anything in a place of more importance than you place God, then guess what? You have evil in your heart. I'll say it again. You (and I) are in the same category as Osama bin Laden. I know those are tough words to swallow; I'd like to think that there are a few things I've done better than him to put me a bit closer to God than he presumably was. But Scripture says that before a righteous Almighty God, even my good deeds are as filthy rags. Like used toilet paper; maybe that's a decent 21st-century comparison. (If not, one of my pastor or seminary student friends can correct me and provide me with one that works.) There is no way that killing him - whether by electric chair, or by some other extrajudicial means - will rid the world of evil.
The other thing I haven't been able to get out of my head is this: what potential testimony is gone because someone else decided to take Osama out now? Imagine what would have happened if the early Christian community had decided that they'd had enough of Saul breathing his 'murderous threats' against them and had sent a specialized kill team after him? The Bible is silent on exactly how many Christians he was either directly or indirectly responsible for killing, but it's pretty clear he was a mass murderer no less than Osama....and he went on to write half the New Testament. What an amazing testimony to the stubborn grace and mercy of our God!
What if, instead of killing Osama, he had been captured and detained? What if, during his detention, a group of committed Christians had reached out to him and visited him? Brought him packages? Written letters? Prayed for/with him? Told him they love him and God does too? I realize this flies in the face of human logic. The man was responsible for the death of thousands of innocents. It is natural to want the worst for him (which is, apparently, more or less what he got). But Christ did not come to earth to allow us to continue to be who and what we've always been. He came to demonstrate that, in the words of Corrie Ten Boom, there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. Could you imagine the impact in 5, 10, 20, or however many years, that Osama's book about his journey from terrorism to Jesus, would have on the world? It might not have happened....but it might have. Can you imagine?
There was grace for the Samaritan woman at the well, who'd been with five husbands. There was grace for the Roman centurion [read: representative of the empire]. There was eleventh-hour grace for the dying thief on the cross. And there was grace for a terrorist-named-Saul-turned-evangelist-named-Paul who later considered suffering for Jesus his crowning achievement.
There is no question that what he did/planned was horrible and despicable; were he to be tried as a criminal (which is what he was/is to me), he'd almost certainly fry. I don't support capital punishment - it's all part of being pro-life to me - but I can recognize that it would be a likely scenario for crimes of such magnitude.
What is the question for me is this: how does killing him eradicate evil in the world? Has evil ceased to exist? I believe Paul knew what he was talking about when he said that our battle is not against flesh and blood; were that the case, evil could be eradicated if all the evil people were killed. Well, the truth is that we are ALL evil, and you don't have to be a murderer to be evil. If you've lost your temper with your children, if you've ever lied to or about anyone, if you've ever lusted after a person you're not married to, if you've ever put anything in a place of more importance than you place God, then guess what? You have evil in your heart. I'll say it again. You (and I) are in the same category as Osama bin Laden. I know those are tough words to swallow; I'd like to think that there are a few things I've done better than him to put me a bit closer to God than he presumably was. But Scripture says that before a righteous Almighty God, even my good deeds are as filthy rags. Like used toilet paper; maybe that's a decent 21st-century comparison. (If not, one of my pastor or seminary student friends can correct me and provide me with one that works.) There is no way that killing him - whether by electric chair, or by some other extrajudicial means - will rid the world of evil.
The other thing I haven't been able to get out of my head is this: what potential testimony is gone because someone else decided to take Osama out now? Imagine what would have happened if the early Christian community had decided that they'd had enough of Saul breathing his 'murderous threats' against them and had sent a specialized kill team after him? The Bible is silent on exactly how many Christians he was either directly or indirectly responsible for killing, but it's pretty clear he was a mass murderer no less than Osama....and he went on to write half the New Testament. What an amazing testimony to the stubborn grace and mercy of our God!
What if, instead of killing Osama, he had been captured and detained? What if, during his detention, a group of committed Christians had reached out to him and visited him? Brought him packages? Written letters? Prayed for/with him? Told him they love him and God does too? I realize this flies in the face of human logic. The man was responsible for the death of thousands of innocents. It is natural to want the worst for him (which is, apparently, more or less what he got). But Christ did not come to earth to allow us to continue to be who and what we've always been. He came to demonstrate that, in the words of Corrie Ten Boom, there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. Could you imagine the impact in 5, 10, 20, or however many years, that Osama's book about his journey from terrorism to Jesus, would have on the world? It might not have happened....but it might have. Can you imagine?
There was grace for the Samaritan woman at the well, who'd been with five husbands. There was grace for the Roman centurion [read: representative of the empire]. There was eleventh-hour grace for the dying thief on the cross. And there was grace for a terrorist-named-Saul-turned-evangelist-named-Paul who later considered suffering for Jesus his crowning achievement.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Bin Laden is dead
Does this make the world a less evil place?
In this situation, who wins? Is it the cross?
Has justice really been served?
Does man's wrath bring about the righteousness of God?
And can we please ****ing bring the troops home now?
I'm not into partying in the streets singing the national anthem and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead". There was a Christ that walked this earth that told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I'm pretty sure 'Love your enemies' doesn't translate from Aramaic to English as 'kill them' or 'be happy when they die.'
In this situation, who wins? Is it the cross?
Has justice really been served?
Does man's wrath bring about the righteousness of God?
And can we please ****ing bring the troops home now?
I'm not into partying in the streets singing the national anthem and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead". There was a Christ that walked this earth that told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I'm pretty sure 'Love your enemies' doesn't translate from Aramaic to English as 'kill them' or 'be happy when they die.'
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