Like many other Americans who stayed up late to hear the news about Osama bin
Laden on Sunday night, I had one eye on my television and the other on my
laptop. I was waiting for President Obama to make his statement about the demise
of the world’s most infamous terrorist, but the White House was moving as slow
as Vermont syrup in December. When Obama finally stood in front of his
teleprompter, many of us had already finished the story—by tweeting, texting and
posting entries on Facebook.
These days we don’t just sit and watch TV. We are involved in the story, and
sometimes we know the news before Wolf Blitzer does. Empowered by our
lighting-fast digital media, we are the commentators now. Yet as I read some of
the verbal shots fired into the Twitterverse by this new army of armchair
journalists (“May Osama rot in hell!” for example, or “I’m glad he’s fish food
now”), I had to ask myself: Is it right for Christians to rejoice over the death
of a criminal—even one who masterminded a plot so evil as the 9/11 attacks?
There are certainly some Old Testament passages that seem to give us
permission to gloat when a terrorist is served justice. Consider Proverbs 11:10:
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked
perish, there is joyful shouting (NASB).”
But the heart of the matter is found in Ezekiel 18:23, in which God asks a
rhetorical question: “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” He
answers in verse 32: “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies
…Therefore, repent and live.”
This verse gives us deep insight into the heart of a God who is both merciful
and holy, both loving and just, both kind and severe. It tells us that although
God’s kingdom has a moral order—and He does indeed hand out severe consequences
for sinners—He does not enjoy seeing any human being sentenced to eternal
death.
It is ironic that while a majority of Americans believe Osama bin Laden
deserves to spend eternity in hell (and many are willing to say they’re happy
about it), a large segment of Christians aren’t sure if they even believe hell
is a real place, or if God actually sends anyone there to stay.
Michigan pastor Rob Bell, author of the controversial
new book
Love Wins, has been labeled a heretic by some conservative
evangelical leaders because he suggests—in vague and sometimes confusing
terms—that a loving God offers ultimate reconciliation to everyone. Bell’s
theology feels awfully similar to universalism—the idea that everyone gets into
heaven regardless of how they lived or how they responded to the claims of
Christ.
I’ve kept my mouth shut about Bell’s book because I’m still reading it. But
Osama bin Laden’s death has caused me to examine my own beliefs and attitudes
about eternal punishment. What really happens to people when they die—especially
those who have never heard the gospel? As pundits debate on whether we should
have buried bin Laden at sea, or if we should release the photos of his corpse,
I offer three points to ponder:
1. People who don’t know the forgiveness of Christ will be judged by
God’s law. I don’t know if Osama bin Laden ever heard the gospel or if
he consciously rejected Christ. (There are Christians scattered all over the
Middle East—and it is probable that someone presented the gospel to bin Laden
and the rest of his al-Qaida henchmen.) Paul wrote that Gentiles who sin “apart
from the law” (ignorant of God’s truth) will be judged by what they know
instinctively—because all human beings have a sense of morality written in their
hearts (see Rom. 2:12-16). Although bin Laden was most assuredly deceived, he
knew it was wrong to murder innocent people.
2. We don’t get off the hook after death. Universalists
believe everyone gets a “come to Jesus moment” after they die. But this idea
contradicts Hebrews 9:27, which says it is “appointed for men to die once and
after this comes judgment.” Death is horribly final. The choices we make in this
life do matter. This is why Jesus preached more about hell than anyone in the
New Testament. And it is why Peter, in the very first sermon preached after
Pentecost, declared: “Repent” (Acts 2:38). To suggest that adherents of other
religions get a special pass to heaven, or that sinners get a second chance in
pergatory, is to make a mockery of Paul, Peter, Jude, John and all other New
Testament writers who plead for genuine repentance and warn of final
judgment.
3. The only way to avoid hell is to believe in the Son of
God. The gospel is “good news” because God offers all of us—no matter
what sins we have committed—amnesty from judgment through faith in Jesus. Hell
is real, but we don’t have to go there. The concept of hell is actually imbedded
in the most famous passage in the Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
shall not
perish, but have eternal life” (emphasis added). The focus here is on the
amazing love and mercy of God—which is free and unmerited. But you cannot ignore
the reality that those who reject the Son will perish.
Bin Laden’s death was a victory for the free world and a signal that justice
prevails. But it was also a sobering reminder that those who don’t know Christ
will spend eternity without Him.
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 11:44 AM EDT J. Lee Grady
J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can
follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His newest book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma
House)
