From Pastor Bill Perman:
I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on the death of Osama bin Laden. This is not meant to be the last word but what has surfaced for me after few days of non-stop news coverage and commentary. I welcome your insights and responses.
How does a Christian respond to the killing of Osama bin Laden this week? More specifically, how does a follower of Jesus, who instructs us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, respond? All week, these questions have been in my head and on my heart. I think it is safe to say we should never celebrate the death of another human being, no matter how evil. Even so, I must admit that while I did not celebrate the news of Bin Laden’s death, at best my emotions have been a mix of something like relief and disquiet.
One way in to this confusing space for me has been to ask, “What will I pray about all of this?” Prayer should express our soul’s deepest desires. Is my deepest desire that Bin Laden and his followers would be killed? If all people, even people like bin Laden, bear the Spirit and image of God, then my answer has to be “no.” I do not want them dead. People like bin Laden are lost; are blind; have allowed the Spirit of God within them to be obscured by hatred, yet they are still, by the Spirit, our brothers and sisters.
Recognizing the One Spirit in us all can lead us to despair that people can become so lost and that so many can be hurt because of their blindness. But awareness of the One Spirit can also lead us to hope for, work for, yearn for and pray for redemption and reconciliation rather than for death. When our deepest desire is for revenge instead of reconciliation, the source of that desire is not the One Spirit, but rather our own fear, anxiety, and insecurity. Led by the One Spirit our deepest desire will be for the redemption of those who are so lost – that they would be found; would see the error of their ways; that the hatred of their hearts could melt away and the light of God could once again begin to shine.
It is hard to image that someone as lost and hate-filled as bin Laden could ever have come to know the error of his ways and repent (turn). Maybe he could not. With the blood of thousands of men, women, children; Christians, Muslims, and Jews on his hands, it seems impossible that he could have ever admitted “I was wrong.” But I am not in the mood to celebrate that his blindness led to his death. I am instead now in prayer that all the world may come to see that we are of One Spirit and that through the One Spirit we all can have true and lasting peace.
First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis’ “First Saturday Film Series” will launch Saturday, April 2 with a free showing of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney. John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson.
