No Gloating Allowed

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.” Proverbs 24:17-18

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Luke 6:35-36

One sin I am very prone to is gloating over wicked people who are brought to justice. It is proper for a Christian to rejoice when the wicked are brought to justice – “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers” (Proverbs 21:15). However, it is another thing to gloat over the downfall of the wicked. We have to recognize that, but for the grace of God, our sins could have brought us to a same place and we need mercy from God for our sins as well.

We are called to love our enemies and even do good to them. God is kind even to the unthankful and evil and us Christians have our sins and unthankfulness at times that needs mercy as well. If we want mercy we need to be merciful (Matthew 5:7). If God sees us with a vindictive, gloating spirit over someone who has done wrong He may well turn away His wrath from them as He sees that gloating spirit more punishable than the guilt of the wicked. God expects more from His people.

As I came across this passage recently I was convicted over my gloating spirit when the wickedness of Anthony Fauci had been revealed lately. Many of us thought at the time of the pandemic that government officials such as Fauci were exaggerating the dangers to try to control people. Now we know that Fauci lied about where the pandemic started (to protect himself), efficacy of the vaccine to try to get people to keep taking one after another which harmed many people, revelled in the self-glorification he got for being the lead spokesman for the government/health officials and caused many to harass others who held a counter view. For all the harm he caused I was rightfully joyful to see his wickedness exposed. However, I had a duty not to gloat over his downfall in reputation but rather, in love and mercy, feel sad for a man of such high position that could have become so corrupted and brought to such public shame. The Biden pardon precludes proper justice being meted out to him in this lifetime but I will not gloat over his downfall but hope the wickedness that has been exposed serves as a warning to all of us.