Gloat

Proverbs 24:17-18 (NIV)

Do not gloat when your enemy falls.

We seldom or never discuss politics on this Church site because we saints do not belong to this world. But the recent spate of political violence across the spectrum of all political colors and stripes makes us wonder if the Lord's prophecy of the end of the age is coming true. As Christians, not only do we not belong to this world, but we should neither gloat nor celebrate when we believe God is executing His wrath and justice. Gloating and bragging when your enemy falls is something that heathens do. How can a true believer rejoice when his enemy falls? How can a saint who should celebrate life, celebrate carnage and death, even if we believe that a sinner has been judged? How can a Christian celebrate the creation of widows, orphans, and widowers? Not only is that inhumane, but it is also not biblical. Instead, we should pray for the enemies of God who, in their confused and deceived states of mind, are deluded by Satan into advancing their agenda in God's Name. We should look after the widows, the orphans, and lend a helping hand to the widower who may have said and done hateful and spiteful things, but are still human beings made in the image of God. We Christians should leave judgment to God and not gloat when the enemies of God fall. Instead, we should love and serve them, and pray for God's mercy on their departed souls.

What is more equally un-Christian and reprehensible is vigilante squads of so-called "Christians" going around trying to find people who have expressed their opinion, unloving and hateful as it may be, and getting them fired from their jobs, having them deported, rallying the community against them, and so on. The Lord Jesus Christ was constantly vilified, insulted, and humiliated by the Pharisees, who even called Him Beelzebub. But Christ never used His Divine power to destroy the Pharisees, strike them dead, have them fired from their positions, and so on. Such revenge actions never glorify God and are just as unholy as those who celebrate the killing of their opponent. Instead, Christians should be tolerant and only take action if the rhetoric turns into violence or promotes violence, not merely despises someone.

May God Almighty have mercy on all the unloving and intolerant, even on the so-called "Christians" who are espousing their values in God's Name but not promoting true biblical love.