Every Monday and Thursday, I visit a chiropractor in the morning before work. Yesterday morning, Fort Worth and the north Texas area was hit with heavy thunderstorms during morning rush hour. Because of traffic delays and three accidents along the way, I was about 40 minutes late to my appointment. Thankfully my chiropractor and my church both understood. But for the people involved in the car accidents I drove past that morning, this was not the case.
On the interstate, a pickup truck had flipped on its side. Several ambulances and fire trucks surrounded the scene, blocking the entire roadway (thus the horrendous traffic backup). On the exit ramp I was planning to take, a jackknifed 18-wheeler blocked the entire ramp and I was forced to take a different road. And a third truck had crashed on the interstate before I made it to the chiropractor. All three appeared to be fairly serious incidents. I couldn’t help but wonder about the victims as I drove past them. Was everyone involved safe and unhurt? Obviously there was significant vehicle damage in all three cases, but more importantly I was concerned about what happened to the people involved.
Tragedy is all too common these days. While I do not know for sure what happened to the people in those accidents yesterday, two major events have happened recently in which death is involved. First, tornadoes ravaged much of the Southeast last week. Tuscaloosa, Alabama is one of the primary spots hit hard by the weather, but parts of Mississippi and Louisiana were also struck. Secondly, as is well known by now, Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan on Sunday. While I am well aware that “tragedy” may not be the best description of this event, it is still an event that involves death.
This very concept is what has been on my mind today. Innocent victims died in the South and a very guilty man died overseas, and the idea of death has a very different tone for each. Words such as “devastation” and “tragedy” have been used to describe the tornadoes. When President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed, however, his vocabulary was very different. “Justice has been done” was the message he sent to the American people. I wonder, though, if we should view the events so differently. Two prominent questions remain. First, what should we think about these events? Second, what does God think?
I think we should seek to answer the second question first, because I believe the answer to the second question also answers the first one.
What does God think about what has happened to the victims of the tornadoes? Different viewpoints have emerged. In typical Pat Robertson fashion, some have claimed that God sent the tornadoes as a judgment on the people living in the affected communities. With Osama bin Laden, some have similarly claimed – John Piper in particular – that God struck him down. But is such a view truly biblical?
I think Jesus answers this question in Luke 13:1-5. It appears that Jesus encountered similar circumstances. He speaks of two different accounts of death. While we don’t know the complete story behind what had happened, it sounds like Pilate, a Roman ruler, had killed some people from Galilee. The second account describes people who fell victim to a disaster – a tower collapsed and fell, killing some people on whom it landed. Jesus asks a rhetorical question – “are they more guilty than anyone else?” The obvious answer is no.
Similarly, were the victims of the tornadoes in the South more deserving of such an event than anyone else? Obviously not. Even though it’s a chilling thought, we are all sinners just as much as even Osama bin Laden. To say that God wiped these people out because of something they did would mean that God is inconsistent, and this is not the case. While God can use events like these as reminders of our need for Him – and I absolutely believe God does do this – it’s entirely a different story to assert that He purposefully caused these events to happen.
The Bible tells us just the opposite, in fact. Ezekiel 18:32 tells us that God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked (such as Bin Laden). The story of Job and the blind man in John 9:1-3 tell us that circumstances are not a result of sin (such as the tornadoes in the South). The story of Hosea tells us that God continues to pursue us with love even when we act as His enemies. While God is indeed capable of wrath, God offers us love even when we don’t deserve it – this is the Gospel itself.
So as we consider events such as the death of Osama bin Laden, natural disasters such as the recent tornadoes in the South, and anything that may happen in the days to come, be careful in your consideration of these events. Know that God does not wish death on anyone, but in fact desires all to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:1-7). And as God does not rejoice in death, neither should we – whether it is the loss of fellow Americans to a natural disaster or a hated terrorist overseas.
Glad to see that you’re thinking of this as well. I personally hate death to the degree that I don’t even like to visit hospitals. Death is a permanent reminder of how fallen our world is and I prefer to think about Christ’s resurrection and my coming resurrection where death can never touch me again.
You raise some valid points as well. For instance even though there are Biblical texts which at least make it possible, (to retain in our thinking) for God to judge someone by causing their death as judgment (Exodus 11-12; Numbers 16; Deut. 34; Acts 12:23, etc.), ultimately we aren’t privy to that information as to when God does and when He doesn’t. We know God is sovereign over all so He at least permits some things to happen but we go beyond the Bible when we state categorically that we know God killed Osama Bin Laden. I think John Piper may have been referring to God’s sovereignty over all things but I don’t know for sure.
You also raised an important point when stating that God desires the repentance of everyone. That is hard for me to fathom when I think of Osama Bin Laden, or Hitler, or Mao Tse Tong, or Saddam Hussein. However we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and the more we appreciate God’s grace the more we will want others to experience it.
I do believe however that there are different levels of punishment in hell (Rom. 2:6, Rev. 20:12-13, etc.).
The main reason why I raised this issue on Facebook is because I saw in the response of many Christians, to Bin Laden’s death, the opportunity to point out a glaring inconsistency; and that is that those Christians who are “pro-choice” concerning abortion and are at the same time warning others about rejoicing in Bin Laden’s death are contradicting themselves because if you aren’t willing to stand against an even greater evil than terrorism, all in the name of “choice”, then what foundation do you have to question other Christians who have rejoiced in Bin Laden’s death? It can’t be the Bible because you’ve denied it as your ultimate source of authority already by supporting the murder of millions of innocent babies, who were also created in the Image of God just as Bin Laden was, with your “pro-choice” view.
All death is horrible, especially the murder of little babies in their mother’s womb and even Bin Laden’s, but he made his choices and so must we. I choose to hate death period because it isn’t God’s perfect design. Hopefully others will embrace this strand of truth.
I agree with you, Jonathon – I don’t rejoice in any death, whether it be an innocent unborn baby or a guilty terrorist. This is why I’m strongly pro-life and against the death penalty. Also, you’ve stated (perhaps better than I did!) the point that I’m trying to convey that we can’t know for sure that God killed bin Laden. While it is a possibility, those who claim to know for sure that a disaster is judgment (Pat Robertson and John Piper are particularly known for this, as Piper has before similarly claimed that God sent a tornado to Minnesota to stop a conference on homosexuality) are simply taking a guess and claiming to know as fact what they cannot. Thanks for your thoughts!
Jonathan, you do raise an interesting point here. I think there is another thing to possibly consider with recent tragedies, whether we were to choose to agree with the idea or not. That is the idea of balance.
We have long had symbols of balance or the idea of balance between good and evil, darkness and light, God and the Devil. There are a great many who believe that not only does everything happen for a reason, but it also happens to balance out the good and evil in the world.
Am I guilty of being glad to hear that bin Laden is dead? Most certainly so. Do I believe he was a genuinely evil being, possibly to the extreme of being a tool of the Prince of Darkness himself? Yes. So the fact that bin Laden was evil and caused pain, suffering, and death to millions of people world wide is established.
So what of those affected by the natural disasters in the south? Am I saying that they were all subjected to the storms to off-set the removal of a source of such evil that they were randomly chosen? No. Will there be those who believe it may be so? Of course. I simply am wishing to point out that despite the fact that we are all made in God’s image, we are not all people of God. As soon as the Devil started forcing his hand in the world, there have been “beings” who would spit in the face of God, or try to use the name of God to make all sorts of evil deeds seem just. We are not perfect, but instead a flawed species.
The world may be better off without a man who was responsible for as many atrocities as he was, and it is a human response and emotion to be glad that he no longer walks this world.
I, too, am glad that Al-Queda is hopefully a little weaker and that the world is better off. However, I can’t rejoice in the fact that someone who lived a life as an enemy of God now has no chance to repent of his actions and be reconciled to God. I agree that he was a horrible person, but I still wouldn’t wish an eternity in hell on even the greatest of my enemies.
Also, I’m not sure that I understand what you’re saying about balance. I don’t believe that good and evil have an equal part to play in this world; instead, I believe that God is greater than Satan and has dominion and power over him. The only reason that Satan exists is because God permits it, in order to give us the opportunity to choose to follow Him (the ability to choose something is only available if another choice exists). Perhaps you can explain what you mean by this.
Jonathan, I agree with your assessment of the tornados. The same happens with each natural disaster and it is a disappointment that these victims are survived by families that not only have to deal with the loss of loved ones but with their condemnation by members of the religious community.
However, I would challenge your comparison of those victims to the recent death of bin Laden. You run the risk of suggesting we should grieve less for the victims of the tornados. After all, they are not innocent. Of course, we already know this. But does it need to be said? Does it need to be said now? Is it important in the wake of their tragic death? What do we gain by reminding others that the tornado victims are also sinners (comparing them to bin Laden, of all people) other than engendering a loss of respect, sympathy, and compassion? We weep for these victims not because they were innocent, but because they were taken from us unexpectedly and without warning. We weep because they were not able to experience a full life, and that we were not able to experience our full life with them in it. It has nothing to do with them being sinners or saints.
As for bin Laden, should we not rejoice in the lives saved by his death? Why do we have to taint the picture of justice by viewing it so negatively? We do not seek justice because we are bloodthirsty for revenge. We seek justice in order to protect the lives of potential victims. The law (which justice enforces) was not established as a means to seek out and punish but to serve and protect. I do rejoice in the death of bin Ladin. But it is a rejoicing in the lives saved by the acts that brought about his killing. Hopefully I rejoice with all those targeted as his enemies, all those threatened by his continued life. My focus is on fighting for them.
Jonathan, I’d be happy to try and explain it a little better, though I am not quite sure how I will do. And as you know, I am a firm believer in God as the Supreme Being.
First, think of my statement not as a purely religious belief, but as something that many people do believe is present in all aspects of life.
An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.
John Locke
The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.
Euripides
“The word ‘happiness’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” Carl Jung
These three quotes, in their own way, provide examples of why this balance is sought or perceived by so many. Locke is stating that the excellent, or perfect being is a constant, one that will never be changed. And adversely, that an villainous or evil being is always balancing, some more evil than others. To that end, based on the many religious beliefs of people, especially regarding the perfection of God and the many flaws of man, there is only one true “excellent man” and the rest of us are all balancing the degrees of villainy in the world.
Euripides is stating that you must keep your own life in balance. Not to lend yourself towards evil deeds more than good, laziness more than constant motion, work more than leisure. When a balance can be reached, a person can have a better grasp of the world. Euripides helps to explain the prior post as a person may, upon considering everything in their world, tend to reason that for all good, there is an equivalent of evil. Is it a religious response? Most likely not, but not all people are religious, and not all religions agree upon what is and is not God in action, word, and deed.
Jung is very straight forward in stating for happiness there must be sadness, for pleasure, pain. Each force in the world has a balance. To some, this would also mean that for the good in the world, there is evil and that the two balance each other out.
If my explanation is not suitable to explain in different words, I will also now add an excerpt regarding the Ancient Chinese beliefs of the Yin Yang:
The ancient Chinese subscribe to a concept called Yin Yang which is a belief that there exist two complementary forces in the universe. One is Yang which represents everything positive or masculine and the other is Yin which is characterized as negative or feminine. One is not better than the other. Instead they are both necessary and a balance of both is highly desirable.
This thinking is different from the duality of most religion where one state overcomes the other e.g. good over evil. In the concept of Yin Yang, too much of either one is bad. The ideal is a balance of both. The hot Saharan desert for example is an example of extreme Yang while the bitter cold Antarctica is extreme Yin. Neither is desirable.
And this is from the Wikipedia entry…”Yin Yang” is used to describe how polar or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only exist in relation to each other.
I appreciate your clarification, but I respectfully disagree. I believe that our beliefs in God apply to all areas of life. In this particular instance, I believe that if what these philosophers say disagrees with what the Bible says, the teachings of the Bible supersede all other ideas.
It’s interesting that you use a metaphor of temperature, because the Bible also does in Revelation 3:15-16, in which we are warned against being “lukewarm.” It seems that the Bible completely counters the Yin Yang principle. The message in this passage to the church in Laodicea seems to be, “you’re either all in or all out – don’t get in halfway.” I would imagine that someone in that church seeking to obtain a balance of good and evil would have been sharply convicted by this message.
I don’t believe that good and evil have an equal part to play in this world. That would mean that Satan is just as powerful as God. I don’t believe that. I believe that God is all-powerful and Satan isn’t, and I eagerly await the day when good overcomes evil permanently.
You and I both await the day in which Good permanently triumphs.
As far as disagreeing, I’m not so sure that we do. I am merely playing, appropriately named might I add, the Devil’s Advocate here. Not everyone has the firm religious beliefs that you do, and a great many do not believe in God at all, no matter what they call Him. Those are who I was stating might have a belief in the events being used to balance each other out.
Anyone who has read the Bible or heard the stories held therein should be aware of what created the Devil as we know him, or as originally called, Lucifer. He was an archangel (If I remember right) who thought he knew better than God and challenged God for control of the Heavens and the Earth. God threw him out of the Heavens and the two have been at odds since. God was the more powerful entity then, and always will be.
Also, I am curious about something you have said here….
“I, too, am glad that Al-Queda is hopefully a little weaker and that the world is better off. However, I can’t rejoice in the fact that someone who lived a life as an enemy of God now has no chance to repent of his actions and be reconciled to God.”
What I am curious about is who has said that the only time you can repent and be reconciled to God is when you are among the living here on Earth? Do not all approach the Pearly Gates and only then receive a judgment, if one is to be judged? The body is the vessel of the Soul, not the other way around, and the soul is, in my opinion, who we are and what we have done. Not what our body is.