Dear Friends,
Since my last letter there have been two headline grabbing events which have caught the attention of the nation and indeed the world. They could not be more different. There has been the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton; now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. And then there was the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
I was surprised by the size of the crowds who gathered to fill the streets of London for the wedding. I suspect there were a number of reasons for the massive interest.
In a time of recession there is no doubt that the festivities and celebrations created a short lived escape from the harsh realities of wages and jobs cutbacks, the increasing cost of petrol and weekly shopping, and the prospect of reduced pensions in the future. Some of the major retailers are reporting a significant rise in spending on food, drink and ‘party trivia’ in the weeks leading up to the wedding, bucking the trend of recent months.Human beings appear to have an inbuilt defense mechanism that seeks to escape uncomfortable reality in a world of leisure, pleasure and entertainment. We see a lot of this in our society. This is just one indication that we have moved away from a ‘Christian’ world view into what is often called a ‘post-christian’ or ‘post-modern’ way of thinking. It is a way of thinking more similar to the pagan ideas of ancient Rome and Greece than it is to the Christian world of post reformation Europe.
How should Christians respond to these trends?
We should certainly join in the celebration. Marriage is part of God’s design for life and we should join in the rejoicing over the wedding of William and Kate. That said, we do need to be careful not to be swept up with the modern way of thinking that escapes reality in a whirl of pleasure and leisure. Instead we should seek joy, security, pleasure and delight in our relationship with God through Jesus. From this position of security we can face life’s difficulties – it’s pain, hurt and fear – knowing that God is at work for our good and that all his power and presence is with us to help us to cope. As we face hard times with Jesus we can hold out hands of help and hope to those around us. Maybe as we do this, pouring our love selflessly into their lives, we may have the joy of leading them to find security peace and acceptance in God through faith in Jesus.
I was probably as surprised as most of you to here on the news that after many years Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed by US forces. I was unsure how to respond. There were many news headlines in the newspapers urging me to rejoice and even to gloat. There were other voices suggesting I should hang my had in shame. Finally when I heard the Archbishop of Canterbury saying Bin laden’s death left a bad taste in his mouth I felt the time had come to put some thoughts together. I have decided to share here a little bit of wisdom I found on the internet.
In 2002 Don Carson published a book Love in Hard Places (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002). Carson updated his notes after 9/11 to include a 37-page section entitled “Hard Case Two: Osama bin Laden” (pp. 108-44). Amongst other things he wrote:
Therefore, in the present struggle, even while we must try to prevent the terrorists from doing more violence, we must eschew a vendetta mentality. Love demands that we do not demonize Osama bin Laden. He is a human being made in the image of God. He is an evil man, and he must be stopped, but he is a man, and we should take no pleasure in destroying him. Vengeance is the Lord’s alone. Do not offer the alternative, “Should we weep for Osama bin Laden or hold him to account for his genocide and prevent him from carrying out his violent intentions?” The right answer is yes.
Carson is right to highlight the tension we should feel between a godly desire for justice through God ordained authority and our concern for individual human beings made in the image of God.
At the end of the day all human authority and action is tainted by sin. The ‘bottom line’ is that we will all stand before God the righteous judge who judges justly. Our only hope of acquittal is found in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners. Apart from him we stand no hope. God’s justice will demand our punishment. This leads me to conclude that our only hope lies in the Gospel. I pray that in God’s good providence, the death of Bin laden will lead to greater peace, freedom and opportunity for Christians to proclaim Christ the hope of sinful people.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
John Edmonds
