Overjoyed by Death? A response to the death of Osama bin Laden

Recently I viewed ABC’s World News special report on the assassination of Osama bin Laden and I was struck by a passing comment by correspondent Pierre Thomas when he said “officials are overjoyed by bin Laden’s death.”

“Overjoyed by death?” Really? Is that possible? I’m not sure if such a response can rightly exist. It sounds like an oxymoron. Never in my life had I ever heard anyone say that they were “overjoyed” by someone’s death.

Now, I believe Osama bin Laden was a horrible tyrant and that he knew this day was coming. I share the peace that the families and loved ones of the 3,000+ victims of 9/11 must feel knowing that the man responsible for their death has been brought to justice and is no longer a threat to their well-being. But the idea of being “overjoyed” by death seems a bit out of focus. Now, more than likely Pierre Thomas and other news reporters were probably at a loss for adjectives for describing the peace and comfort we feel and I give them all the benefit of the doubt. Their words are not held against them.

But with such a comment the question now arises, was Osama bin Laden above redemption? Were his sins too great for us to show him grace? The answer of course is no. Christ died to take away the sins of the world, including the sins of mass murder by Osama bin Laden.

The fact that Osama bin Laden is dead is not something we should feel joy about. We can feel joy that the threat of his influence and networking of terrorism is gone. We can rest easy knowing that justice was served and that the threat of terrorism has been greatly reduced, at least in the short term. This is something we can be overjoyed about. But we must not forget that Osama bin Laden was also created to be a child of God. He was created to love God and be loved by God and give God glory by loving Him. The God of the universe created Osama bin Laden to be in a mutual love relationship with Him and bin Laden rejected that invitation. Because of such selfishness, he murdered millions in the name of a false God and false hope and this ultimately led to his own death. His death is not something we should be overjoyed about but instead it should grieve us as Christians. Osama bin Laden was loved by God, just like us. We must remember that our sins are no different than bin Laden’s, though we often express godless passions of murder in our hearts and not with our hands.

It is saddening that Osama bin Laden rejected God, rejected love, and rejected grace in exchange for hate, selfishness, greed, and envy. Now he is in God’s hands and has been judged by a holy God who is loving and because of that love will give bin Laden what he wants, which is selfish and egocentric love and the removal of God’s relational presence in what Christians call Hell.

Osama bin Laden chose death instead of life, but that is not what he was created for. He was created for life and it saddens me that death has defined him.

I commend the President for his courageous efforts in finding bin Laden.

I applaud the team of NAVY SEALS who risked their lives bringing down the world’s most wanted murderer.

I salute those all the men and women of our country who have lost their lives in defense of freedom, having fought the many agents of bin Laden’s terror networks. Likewise to those who have fought and returned (some of them friends) and also those who are continuing to fight.

I mourn with all of the families of the 3,000+ lives lost on that sad September morning 10 years ago.

I admire all those around the globe who did not back down in the face of terrorism and violence but instead united and rose up to proclaim freedom, peace, love, and grace.

I honor those members of Osama bin Laden’s family who greatly disagreed with him and stood for justice and peace in condemning his words and actions and supported our efforts to bring him to justice.

And I proclaim that God is bringing about resurrection and redemption to his broken world and is recreating us as we seek to participate in His grand story.

While the death of Osama bin Laden comes in the name of justice, we must remember that we are not called to rejoice in death but to inhabit and embody life that is brought about by the resurrection of Christ. We must be overjoyed by new life.