It was daunting for me to even consider writing an article about 9/11; even more so to write about God within such a context. After all, since long before a plane crashed into a tower in New York, people have been claiming God to be behind it all in one way or another. Let’s face it, God comes up a great deal when this topic is discussed; which is why I felt moved to write something about it.
The terrorists and extremists did, almost certainly, believe they were doing God’s will. Many around the world, including so called churches in the United States, have decreed that it was “God’s will” that America be disciplined for its immorality… or some argument of that nature. Still others have surmised that it was God’s intervention that saved the lives of some twenty-thousand people that September day. Many first responders and survivors believe to have been witness to “miracles” amidst the tragedy. President at the time, George Bush spoke of God frequently in his public addresses. Further still, President Obama quoted Psalm 46 as he, and thousands of others, marked the ten year anniversary of the attacks and rescue efforts of 9/11. But lastly, and perhaps most significantly, we are all left asking the questions “Did God allow these attacks to happen?” and, if so, “why?”
I have no connection to the events of 9/11 except the connection of humanity—the feelings of sorrow, loss, bitterness, and helplessness that so many of us felt that day and still feel as documentaries stir up ten-year-old memories. A high school student at the time, I heard the frantic talk of my peers, the crackling radio new broadcast in shop class, and later watched the images on the television—all the while not knowing what to think.
As a follower of Jesus Christ I remember wrestling with the feelings of hatred within me; in contrast to scriptures like Matthew 5:44, the very words of Jesus—“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” These words seemed so wrong to me at the time. I was hundreds of miles away from the terror, with no connection to the events at all. I had not lost a loved one in the attacks, and yet even I was so sorrowful that hatred seemed like the right response. I remember feeling a great sense of justice when America declared war against the Taliban in the months that followed—a feeling similar to when good finally rises up against evil in the movies; like a loud cheer of the heart.
I would spend the next ten years of my life studying the Christ I claimed to know and follow, becoming a pastor in His Church. And on the day the news came across the airwaves that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, my heart turned in a direction I did not expect. The whole Western World was celebrating, it seemed, and yet I was filled again with sorrow.
There were two scriptures from the Bible floating around in my head that day. The first was Romans 12:21 which says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And, the second was 1 Peter 3:9, “Do not repay evil with evil, or insult with insult. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it.”
I was filled with sorrow because humanity had been overcome by evil—we repaid evil with evil. The best course of action we could come up with to ease the pain was to murder the murderer.
I cannot say that Osama Bin Laden’s death weighed heavily on my conscience. Admittedly, there was a deep part of me that felt the world would be a safer place without him. I am still asking God to teach me about that part of myself.
I can say this, however; when Osama Bin Laden received the penalty for his actions—death—God reminded me just how deserving I was of the same fate. You see, God, in his perfect goodness, is so “set apart” from us that all our sin—no matter how tame or severe humanity deems it—is disgusting, terrible and evil in His sight. From the smallest lie or steeling change from our parents’ wallet, to the vile act of rape and the appalling act of murder—they are all sin to God. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned”, and Romans 6:23 tells us that the just penalty for our sin is… death. God breathed life into you and me. We have wasted that life by living against God in sin. We owe God our breath, our life.
It is not my place to judge Bin Laden for his sin; that duty falls to Jesus Christ alone. When I finally tried to give up being the judge, God showed me how to be thankful for the life I am blessed to have in Jesus Christ despite my own sin. God also gave me His heart to feel sorrow for all who are God’s creations who die having not been saved by Jesus.
But, despite the terror of 9/11, hope was not lost that day. Evil did not win.
On that September 11th thousands of people across the nations of this world met evil face-on and countered it with good. 
People across North America welcomed travelers into their homes in a time of great need. Average citizens did heroic deeds to help complete strangers. Emergency workers and first-responders cared for the injured. Police officers pulled people to safety. Friends and co-workers comforted each other in the midst of chaos. Fire fighters ran up dozens of flights of stairs into burning buildings to save those in distress. Passengers of Flight 93 fought with courage to save people they would never meet. And many of these people paid the highest price—laying down their lives—a stark reminder of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who laid His life down to overcome evil.
God repaid evil with good, once and for all. Despite all the evil we bring into this world through our sin, John 3:16 says that “God loved the world so much that He sent his only Son to die; so that whoever believes in Him would not die, but would have life forever.”
We have given God much evil, but He has repaid us with good—complete forgiveness and new life through Jesus Christ.
So, the question now is not whether God let 9/11 happen. Rather, the question we must ask of ourselves—especially as Christians—is “how will I keep it from happening again.”
Evil is what we bring to humanity; it is only through Jesus that our evil is undone.
Will we continue as a race that repays evil with evil, and thus continues a cycle of terror? Or will we know and follow—truly follow—our savior, Jesus Christ, and overcome evil with good?
That decision falls to each of us individually. What will you choose?
