GLOAT: ROBIN WILLIAMS

The word that came to my mind when I read a preacher's FB post on the suicide of comedian Robin Williams was, "gloat." Perhaps, I got it wrong, but it was hard for me not to sense from the tone of the post, intended or not, actual delight in proclaiming the actor's death and suffering in hell's flames. Yes, in my mind, "gloat" is the word: Gloat - to observe with a malicious satisfaction and delight over another's misfortune. I offer no argument for the comedian being in heaven or any defense for his sinful lifestyle. Yet, it seems contradictory to me that a professed rescuer or healer would gloat over the loss and death and suffering of one whom it is the expressed mission of that rescuer or healer to seek to save. Suppose a fireman is active on the scene when a resident of a burning house succumbs to smoke and fire in spite of the firemen's attempts to rescue him. Suppose, that the fire was the fault of the victim for wrongfully smoking in bed. Would the fireman gloat over the victim's death with the justification, "He deserved it for smoking in bed."? Doesn't that smack of contradiction of a fireman's mission and goal? Suppose a doctor has told a patient repeatedly that she must stop drinking alcohol. She will not quit. She develops cirrhosis of the liver which eventually becomes cancer. The doctor does all he can to treat her, but the woman dies. Does the doctor gloat over her death with a "Well, she should have quit drinking."? In both cases, if their motives were congruent with the mission of their professions, I think the fireman and doctor would have been grieved--frustrated, perhaps, but, no doubt, self-evaluating over whether they had done all they could have to save those who had suffered and died. Jesus reserved His harshest criticism, not for rank sinners, but for those whose religious spirit could also be characterized as a self-righteousness that gloats over those deemed unrighteous sinners. What is God's attitude about the death of Robin Williams? "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and li..." (Eze 33:11). And, "The Lord...is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2Pe 3:9). Admittedly, Scripture records, as in Revelation, rejoicing at the judgment of the godless, the rebellious, the enemies of the people of God. Yet, that rejoicing is for the rightness of God. It is a rejoicing that justice has been done, right has triumphed over evil, the godly have been vindicated. If the writer of the post's mission is to win souls to Christ, what impression would the post leave on the actor's family and friends? What impression would they gather from it of Christians? What impression of Christ? Of the Gospel itself? How can I gloat over the death of the lost and ever hope to win their surviving loved ones? It is true that the unredeemed spend eternity in hell. But may we speak that truth in love not gloat. The doctor can name the patient's liver disease and condemn the drinking of the liquor that is causing it. He still need not gloat when she dies.