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Have you prayed for the salvation of Osama bin Laden today? 

I ask this deliberately provocative question because I fear that American Christians are failing to act distinctively Christian during our nation’s War on Terror. Militant Islamic terrorists mean to do us Americans harm. They are our enemies. Simple justice requires that they be stopped. And according to Romans 13.4, government is God’s agent for doing precisely that. 

For he [that is, the government] is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 

But what governments do is not the same thing as what churches do. God instituted government for reciprocity, to reward good and punish evil. He instituted the church for reconciliation, to bring sinners to salvation through faith and repentance. The criminal whom the state must punish is the very same person whom the church must strive to redeem. 

And that brings me back to my fear about us American Christians. As long as our nation’s leaders and soldiers justly prosecute the War on Terror, we can legitimately pray for them. We are simply asking God to help them do their job. But if we do not also pray for the salvation of our enemies, then we are not doing the job God has given us. 

Paul outlines the church’s God-given responsibility in Romans 12.17-21: 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:  

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."    

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Notice how radically different the church’s job is from the government’s. The government reciprocates, punishment for crime, reward for well-doing. That is what Paul means when he speaks of “God’s wrath.” The government is the divine agent of judgment. But the church rises above the level of reciprocity. We do not wait for our enemies to treat us well before we begin to treat them well. We treat them well proactively and without expectation of similar treatment. We overcome evil with good. 

So back to my opening question: Have we prayed for the salvation of Osama bin Laden lately? Have we prayed that God would pour out saving grace on the Muslim world? To bring the matter much closer to home, have we prayed for the redemption of people who make our life difficult? And have we taken practical steps to follow up on our prayers? 

If we cannot answer yes, what makes us distinctively Christian?