Why Being A Christian Is Harder Than It Looks

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’

Romans 12:19

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…’

Matthew 5:43-44

Reflection:

On Sunday night, Jess, the kids and I were still at my mother’s house in AZ, on vacation. We had just put the kids to bed, and we were looking forward to playing card games with my mom because it was our last night with her. Then, a text came over my mom’s phone. “Turn on the TV – big news!”

We then sat for the next hour watching the details as they came in. Photos of Osama bin Laden, archive footage of the towers falling on 9/11/01, and tons of talking heads telling us what they thought this meant. As our President spoke and confirmed the rumors, I felt a sense of national pride, a sense of relief, and a sense of disturbed sadness all at the same time.

The first two emotions were motivated by my patriotism, my sense of fairness, and my assumption that bad people deserve bad things. The third emotion, though – the disturbed sadness – I believe came from my life studying the Bible.

You see, we often want Christianity or Jesus to validate, confirm, or support the basic reactions and emotions we have as people. We want there to be some verse in the Bible that tells us it is OK for us to joyously celebrate this man’s demise. He was a mass-murderer for crying out loud! Isn’t it OK to be thrilled he’s dead, God?

Jesus had a lot of encounters with people who wanted him to validate their human emotions of vengeance, greed, or fairness. The disciples had an argument in front of him about which one of them was the greatest, but Jesus re-directed their conversation. A lawyer approached him, asking what he had to do to earn his way into heaven. Jesus re-directed the question. People lined the streets with palm branches in hand, expecting Jesus to offer military revenge to the occupying Roman army. Jesus re-directed their eyes to the cross.

Thus, my disturbed sadness…because from studying and reading the Bible, I know that the part of me that is a citizen of this country still has to come under the part of me that follows the God of all people. I know that we have to struggle with the things that Jesus said and did, because he does NOT simply justify or validate our human need for revenge or what we think is “fairness.” I know that asking God to be fair actually means I’m out of the promise, as well. I know that expecting God to judge like I would is a problem, because I judge imperfectly.

So, my emotions about the news stay mixed up and confused, and I’m OK with that. I am relieved that someone who caused such suffering is no longer able to do so. I am saddened that sometimes in this broken world, violence is a necessary evil (and I am able to recognize it still as an evil, no matter how good it feels). And I am attempting to trust in the two verses I placed above. As difficult as it might be, I can even pray for the soul of this murderer…because it is God who has the final say, not me.

Sometimes, being a Christian makes you do things you never thought you’d do.

Prayer: God of love, mercy, and grace, we pray for all those who suffered because of bin Laden. We pray for all those who bravely brought him to human justice. And we pray for ourselves, that we might find peace and humility in trusting that your justice will always have the final say. Amen.