The Ultimate Death

Well, as everyone has heard by now, Osama bin Laden is dead.  I am not a fan of war (who really is?), but thought, okay, that's cool.  My immediate reaction was why was he killed and not just captured (which I don't think they've really answered)?  Well, I'm a news junkie when it comes to big world events, so I'm watching and listening and enjoying everyone's creative facebook status updates.  I just didn't know how to respond.  Everyone was so happy - celebrating death!  I believe the Bible says not to kill, so I just can't celebrate murder.  There is only one man's death in which I shall rejoice.  That of my Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ.  I mourn his suffering, but appreciate what his death means for us.  It means life.  One might say that about Osama's death - because of him so many have died.  But it was Christ's mission and message to die for us so that we might live.  Bin Laden's mission was to kill.  They both had their lives taken from them, but Christ did not remain in the grave.  It was part of a greater plan.  He arose and claimed life for us all.  So while I support the ending of terrorism (in peaceful ways), I find it hard to support the death of a man.  A human being, with just as much of a right to life as any of us.  Christ died for him too.  We all sin, and my gossip, or your lies, or his lustful thoughts are on an equal playing field with a mass murderer.  The world doesn't see it that way, but Christ died for the sins of everyone past, present, and future.  I understand that unfortunately our world has come to a point where murdering murderers is completely acceptable, and because of the way things work these days, there aren't many other options.  But why can't we try?  I would have felt much better supporting the justice system and capturing, trying, and sentencing him than just taking his life.  What if sitting in prison in his loneliest times, he was able to hear God.  The chance of his redemption was robbed from him.  I understand that is not likely, but again, why can't we try.  Everyone deserves a chance.  Many chances.  God gives us an unlimited number of chances.  And he never gives up on us.  He hadn't given up on Osama.  We could have destroyed the greatest redemption story in history by robbing this man of his life.  Any man.  No man deserves to die at the hand of another.  Christ preached peace.  Love.  Kindness.  Not once did he preach retaliation.  His death is the only one in which I could ever understand or in which I could find peace and joy.  He didn't spend years hiding.  He knew his death was for the greater good of mankind.  I suppose the deaths of all of the Christian martyrs can be paralleled to that of Christ.  It is a willing, personally accepted death.  For the greater good.  To advance the Kingdom of God.  What sort of message does murder send?  Not one of Christ's love and peace.  It is a message of hypocrisy when we kill someone because they have killed others.  Christ was about justice, yes, but not this kind.  He did not kill.  He did not retaliate in anger.  He loved even those who sent him to the cross.  Why can't we be more like Jesus in this world?  How has the world gotten so far lost from the ways of the Lord that we actually can't function in those ways.  The world has in some ways made it impossible for Christ's message to shine.  I say again, why can't we try?  It takes all of us to reverse the evils of this world.  Not one of us can do it alone.  It's about the way people think.  World view.   That's where it's at.  It's a hard task.  Seems impossible at times.  Why can't we try?  Christ never gives up and neither can we.  He is an advocate for the least of these.  And he has passed that task onto us.  I fear that more people are celebrating the death of bin Laden than the death and resurrection we just remembered last weekend.  It changed the world.  More than any other death in history.  So sorry bin Laden, but you are just not that important.  I certainly understand that this is important to those who have lost love ones to 9/11 and the War on Terror - they can feel that their fighting and deaths have not been in vain - and I am not trying to downplay what they have done in the slightest.  But we do many things in faith that we cannot understand the importance of and may never see the benefits of.  Like Moses who began a journey for freedom.  Like Jim Elliot and Nate Saint who not only opened the door to relations with natives, but have been an inspiration for so many others.  I appreciate this great country we live in, and its resources.  I certainly do not want anyone to die at the hands of a terrorist.  Yet, I do not believe that killing that same terrorist sends the right message as followers of Christ.  I know that many may not agree with some or all of the things I've said - and I apologize for any mistakes or misunderstands as this was just my stream of consciousness as my thoughts unraveled in these important moments in our history.  Our story.  We own it.  We all take responsibility for this world.  God has entrusted his followers with it.  And I know that the quest for bin Laden's head was not a religious one, so you may say this doesn't apply.  But it's not just about Osama.  It's about the choices we make each day as we represent the Kingdom of God.  We are his ambassadors.  We are to love.  We are to create peace.  We are to battle injustice.  We are to protect the least of these.  We are not to kill.  We are not to lie, cheat, or steal.  We are not to gossip or fall into hypocrisy.  We are to follow the perfect example we have in Jesus Christ.  God is love.  We are to be love to the world.  Is that not the greatest commandment from the one who made us and watches after us and loves us unconditionally?  It's hard.  I know we can't just snap our fingers and instantly be changed into perfect disciples.  But why can't we try?  He doesn't expect perfection, but He desires effort, and He promises to be with us and reward us for those efforts.  For we are called to love.  We are called to try.