Love Your Enemy? Including Osama bin Laden?

While fitting with our Western Culture idea of "justice" the picture to the left doesn't quite fit does it?

Yet, if one were to glance about at some Christian blogs recently, one might think this is the kind of Jesus we believe in.

Certainly looks tough, and perhaps a bit cool...certainly more manly than what we are used to...but is it correct?

With the murder of Osama bin Laden, many Christians are dang near rejoicing.  An evil man has been removed from the planet - and some speculate that he is in hell.

Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.  I'm not going to debate that here.

What I wish to bring up is the command Jesus gave us of "Love Your Enemy."

Now, post this (as I have) on some of those blogs and see what you get.  What you get is a laundry list of Bible verses (predominantly Old Testament) pointing out God's wrath and judgement and "destruction" of evil.  Can't argue with the fact those versus exist.

Yet, what does Jesus tell us?

Love Your Enemy.

As in my previous post, this brings up the question of authority.  Does Jesus have authority, or does the Bible.  One or the other has authority.

I'm going with Jesus on this one.

He says, despite what I would rather do, to love my enemy.  No wiggle room, no grey area...it's right there!  Love your enemy.

Now, I don't really care what you can bring to me in the way of "evidence" in the Bible that you might have found that shows that killing OBL was righteous...because, well, I'm going with Jesus on this one.

Take it up with him.  He gave a commandment - follow it, or don't...but don't try fool yourself: he meant what he said.

As a disciple we are to be like our teacher: Jesus.

How many people did Jesus kill?

In fact, he could have killed someone, and he would have been correct, just, and in his divine right to do so.  Yet, well, he didn't.

Of course, this is where you get a bunch of "what if" questions:  what if we didn't fight Hitler, etc.

Those questions, while they may seem to be a valid question, really are shallow in their context and cause us to rule out history and the relationship of cause and effect.

As for violence, sure it may remove a symptom (ie. OBL, Hitler) but it doesn't and NEVER HAS solved a problem.

Also, if ANYONE can find me a list Jesus gives us of all the exceptions to this rule are, I would love to see it.

It's clear, we are taking matters into our own hands...matters that if we were true to our faith, we would leave up to God.  God tells us to do just that.  Yet, we act as if we don't trust him.

Killing Osama bin Laden...

We call it justice...but does God?

Guess we won't know, we decided not to find out.