I did not know any of those who died in the 9/11 attacks. Still, it was way too close to home for comfort – New York City was only 445 miles away from the city I was living in at the time. In response, Canadians firmly took the hands of our friends and stood beside them as they dealt with the tragedy, promising to do whatever we could to help our neighbours. Few of us, I think, could resist the desire to see Osama bin Laden and his henchmen killed. That was the justice we wanted to see exacted.

And yesterday we got it.

The news took me by surprise. I cannot deny that there was a sense of satisfaction in reading this news, but beyond that it I really did not know how to react. Many of the things I read on Facebook rubbed me the wrong way – friends cheering for America and rejoicing in bin Laden's death, all coloured by a spirit of vindictiveness. What troubled me more was that many of these were Christians. While Christians should certainly be passionate about justice, the Bible is abundantly clear that we should not take delight in the death of our enemies (Proverbs 24:17, Ezekiel 33:11), but that instead we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-44). I am just as guilty as anyone else in neglecting to do this; I think I prayed for bin Laden's repentance maybe three times. Jesus never said this command would be easy.

I am thankful for those who took the time to carefully reflect on bin Laden's death, including my friend, Gideon Strauss, who, in response to the event, wrote a very helpful piece in the online edition of Christianity Today yesterday, arguing that while justice has been done, we need to take time to have some serious conversation about this, epecially as we reflect on our own depravity. Gideon writes,

I believe it is necessary for Christians to pause, and to consider the death of Osama bin Laden within the deeper perspective of human sin and divine grace. In the end, no death should give us pleasure. Another Scripture passage coming across the Twitter transom has been Ezekiel 18:23: "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"

...Rejoicing in the death of another, however wicked, involves forgetting the depths of our own depravity and the astonishing reality of our own salvation.

...And as we gain some distance from the events of yesterday, we do need to continue in serious conversation, with one another as believers and with our fellow citizens and friends, about war and justice, about life and death, about retribution and peace.

Read the rest of the article here, and let's heed Gideon's call to have these serious conversations.