Two men died within the last week—the Czech Republic’s Václav Havel and North Korea’s Kim Jong-ilVáclav Havel (1936 - 2011) was a Czech writer, dramatist, and politician. Havel was the leading figure in the 1989 “Velvet Revolution,” which brought a new era of freedom & democracy to Czechoslovakia after decades of communist oppression under the USSR. He was the last President of Czechoslovakia, and the first President of the Czech Republic.
Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) was the totalitarian dictator who ruled North Korea’s closed society for 17 years with an iron fist. He was known as the “dear leader,” succeeding his father, the “great leader.” According to North Korean propaganda, Kim Jong-il’s achievements were miraculous! Reputedly he was a jet fighter pilot, a composer of operas, a movie producer with a photographic memory, and a golfing phenomenon who, in his first attempt at golf, scored 11 holes in one!
Nigel Tomes
Joe Carter, the web editor of First Things, responds to the deaths of these two leaders:
One was a playwright, a creator of absurdist fiction, while the other was a filmmaker, a producer of an absurd film about a socialist Godzilla…One became the leader of his country and a famed defender of human rights. The other also became the leader of his country and gained infamy as an oppressor and destroyer of human lives. The death of these two political leaders---Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong-il---highlights the fact that men can live radically different existences but share the same eternal fate.
The history books, judging by the standards of men, will record that Vaclav Havel was a noble hero and Kim Jong-il a wretched villain. They will be remembered on earth for the legacies they left behind. But both men now stand before the supreme magistrate who will measure them against the only truly righteous standard: Jesus Christ.
By his actions Kim Jong-il showed disdain for Christ. His regime routinely beat, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered followers of Jesus and punished the families of those suspected of being Christian. In contrast, Havel expressed an affinity for the "Christian sentiment." Yet, like Kim Jong-il, he appears to have ultimately rejected Christ as his savior.
In 1990 Havel told The Christian Century, "I accept the Gospel of Jesus as a challenge to go my own way." A few years earlier, in his book, Disturbing the Peace, he made a similar remark in which he "officially disclaimed" the rumors about his conversion:
“I don't go to church regularly…some people think I have converted. But genuine conversion, as I understand it, would mean replacing an uncertain ‘something’ with a completely unambiguous personal god, and fully, inwardly, to accept Christ as the Son of God, along with everything that that entails…and I have not taken that step.”
Perhaps in the decade since he wrote those words, Vaclav Havel came to know Christ as his savior. In the coming days his friends and family may share with the world a joyous tale of his conversion. Such hope, however, should not keep us from telling the truth to those who wonder about the fate of everyone who lives, both heroes and villains.
There is no sinner so depraved---not even Kim Jong-il---that our merciful God cannot save him. And there is no human so righteous---not even Vaclav Havel---whose good works can gain him entrance into heaven [& the New Jerusalem]. By his death and resurrection, Jesus atoned for our sin and secured our justification by grace---not by our works. The deaths of these men should serve as a reminder of our need to spread the message that heaven is not the final destination for good men and women, but rather the home for those who have been bought by the blood of Christ.
Still Grateful
To be sure, we can still be profoundly grateful for Vaclav Havel's accomplishments on earth. In fact, only eternal justice can secure the standards by which we measure Havel a hero and Kim Jong-il a villain. Vaclav Havel used the common grace provided by his Creator to do much good (though not ultimate good). Provided with life, conscience, and imagination, Havel used his gifts to help others imagine a life free of persecution and tyranny. In contrast, Korea’s Kim Jong-il used the gifts of common grace to enslave and oppress those he was called to protect.
Reflecting on their lives in the light of common grace will lead us to a greater appreciation of Havel's kindness and a deeper abhorrence of Kim Jong-il's cruelty. But it should also stir within us a longing to share the fullness of the gospel…
We should honor Vaclav Havel because of the God who made him and sustained him. We should praise his accomplishments and his courage. But most of all we should be charitable toward Vaclav Havel’s memory by speaking the truth. His good works could not save him any more than they can save you and me. Havel needed, as he understood, to "accept Christ as the Son of God, along with everything that that entails."
Joe Carter
The complete article can be found at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/12/19/the-shared-fate-of-vaclav-havel-and-kim-jong-il/
Certainly, the "dear leader" will have a hard time impressing the supreme Judge with his stupendous prowess in the fields of art, music and cinema ! Cognac may have been to blame.
ReplyDeleteMen on this earth who have been entrusted with powers above other men will certainly have more to account for when they take their turn on God's judgment seat. Did they use their power for the betterment of God's people or did they use it for something else ? An eternity of punishment awaits those who have failed.