The Ripping Jean

Can Christians Fear Death?

2013-04-26T20:32:00.001-07:00

Watching La Vie En Rose, one can not help but think on what this life is for, death and the like. Myself, I don't require much coaxing; as a writer with a sometimes overwhelming imagination, I never really got over Final Destination.

Depending on how much of a rat's tucchus you care about statistics, something like 68% of people fear death. It makes sense we don't want to talk about it. I even heard a recent NPR story where there were groups starting around the country (and world) for that very reason: to air out the difficult topic, to put words to the great fear, which can seem like it's all around us.

Ever Consider This?

You're feeling abnormally confident in your ability to manipulate water, so you jump off the diving board, and into the deep end of the pool/lake/ocean...and drown.
You're driving your car speedily on the highway, when a semi somehow cuts you off, perhaps it's carrying bricks, or logs, or cars, but somehow one gets loose and...you're smashed in seconds.
Maybe you're waiting for some ne'er-do-well to slit your throat while napping in your sedan
Maybe the ne'er-do-well just stabs, and/or shoots you on the street for money, perhaps to feed a drug habit...

This could go on for hours, until you work yourself into an amazing frenzy and anxiety. Let me ask; do the above frighten you? Are you unable to read any longer?

Folks hate to talk about death, like it's not coming, like it's not inevitable, but to avoid it is to fear it. And I do sometimes, more so lately, though this is all do to wrong thinking.

If the possibility of becoming a cadaver scares you, that's it, you're thinking of becoming some neglected cadaver with worms eating you. Wrong. That would be the same thing as imagining yourself like a snoring, drooling, rambunctious mess while you're asleep, which is what death is in light of Christ.

Acts 13:36: “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers”

Jesus used the same terminology. In John 11:11 he says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep...”

Sleep. The thing we each do every night, most more than I. Sleep, the definition of which is to enter a state of unconsciousness without being aware.

None of us actually start sleep, we simply stop impeding it, and allow the process to take place. Our hope is that our tired bodies will do what is best for them: to rest for a better life tomorrow. This is what Jesus desires to do for each and every single one of us: grant us rest.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

Now, it'd be stupid to argue that what Jesus wants is for you to die, that's just bad theology, since he talks a great deal about giving life...But in the end of our run, I believe he no longer desires us to struggle, and he wishes to grant our over-worked bodies rest.

That's all death can ever be for the Christian: sleep, and a sweet sleep at that.

Of course, we can argue there's more: crowns, and thrones, and mansions, and a beautiful New City called Jerusalem (and I'm right there with you), but isn't complete rest what we really long for?

I'm starting to think it sweet: that all those days being terrorized by an alarm clock can be replaced with an easy, delicate rest uninterrupted.

What do you think?

The body is a house...

2013-04-20T20:35:00.001-07:00

“The body is a house of many windows: there we all sit, showing ourselves and crying on the passersby to come and love us.”--Robert Louis Stevenson

God rides the lame...

2013-04-10T10:27:00.001-07:00

"God rides the lame horse and draws straight lines with crooked sticks"--Unknown

Fearing death for the believer...

2013-04-10T04:19:00.001-07:00

Fearing #death for the follower of #Christ is as irrational as fearing sleep; we doze off only to wake up once more(1 Thess. 4:14) #God

The Universal Truth...

2013-04-09T20:49:00.001-07:00

No task has ever been done on Earth by a person that does not know pain, disappointment and frustration

Popularity is the most dangerous...

2013-04-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

"Popularity is the most dangerous spiritual state imaginable, since it leads on so easily to the spiritual pride which drowns men in perdition. It is a symptom to be watched with anxiety since so often it has been purchased at the too heavy price of compromise with the world"--Stephen Neill

How to Create a Loving community...

2013-03-31T15:17:00.001-07:00

“...any effort on the part of believers to create a loving community of hospitality will have to include a focused intentionality and energy on the part of all. Otherwise, believers will just meet to be meeting, going through the motions and not really meaning it. Such an atmosphere of indifference and fiction would not be worth the time expended.”--Steven Fetke

Stress and Family Prayer...

2013-03-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

God grant me the grace to not kill my family. I know the difficulty I endure helps create in me great endurance (Rom. 5:3-4). Yes, that's it. Endurance. #closertogod

76% of pastors...

2013-03-27T11:15:00.001-07:00

When the question was asked, if Christian churches accepted others and loved unconditionally; 76% of pastors said 'yea,' and 80% of outsiders said 'nah'--Barna. Who's the better judge?

99% of what we say...

2013-03-27T11:11:00.001-07:00

"The people to whom we minister and speak will not recall 99% of what we say to them, but they will never forget the kind of person we are"

Angelic visitation...

2013-03-24T14:23:00.001-07:00

My life thus far has convinced me that an honest talk with a good friend is worth 2 angelic visitations. Bless you my friends. Words can not express how you've blessed this life.

God treats you like an adult...

2013-03-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

"God treats the mature leader as a mature adult, leaving more and more to his or her spiritual discernment and giving fewer buts if tangible guidance than in earlier years"--J. Oswald Sanders

Worth of a person...

2013-03-23T16:29:00.002-07:00

"The worth of a man must be measured by his life, not by his failure under a singular and peculiar trial"--James Anthony Froude

God-illusions...

2013-03-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

“We don't want to face sin because we don't want to lose our god-illusions, we're afraid that if we're not the gods our lives and actions we're nothing."--Eugene Peterson

86% of teens...

2013-03-20T12:34:00.003-07:00

86% of teen say they know a Christian, only 15% reported that they could see any difference--Barna

God will not...

2013-03-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

God will not: fit in a box, be a puppet, or condemn those that are in Christ (Rom 8:1) #closertogod

God's creative genius...

2013-03-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

“The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God's creative genius is endless.”
― Eugene H. Peterson

Wondering what God had wrought...

2013-03-16T12:28:00.001-07:00

“We lay on our backs looking at the ceiling and wondering what God had wrought when he made life so sad and disinclined. ”--Jack Kerouac, On The Road

Tired of God substitutions...

2013-03-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

The point our faith becomes most real is when we realize we've been searching for Heaven all along, and disappointed with substitutions. #closertogod

Are you sin insane too?

2013-03-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

When we do the same foolish things over and over, expecting different results, is this not the definition of insanity? Only God can save us from ourselves (Rom 7:15-25). #closertogod

The religious heart...

2013-03-15T11:32:00.003-07:00

The religious heart is unsatisfied until it finds a sinner to prosecute, ask Jesus (John 9) #closertogod

Heaven knows we need...

2013-03-15T06:50:00.001-07:00

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlaying our hard hearts"--Charles Dickens

Pray when you don't believe..

2013-03-14T12:58:00.002-07:00

Pray when you don't believe, give thanks when you're disappointed, and don't be surprised when your heart changes flow and your joy is released. #closertogod

The Internet and God Humility

2013-03-12T10:52:00.001-07:00

In a day in which pastors (that aren't Jesus, by the way) can have over 70,000 Twitter followers, and everyone these days is expected to be an expert on something so they can monetize it. God still calls Ruths Samuels, Davids, Priscillas. He still works on behalf of the people that think nothing of themselves. And He works on your behalf friend. Trust & Wait

The point of failure and frustration...

2013-03-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

"I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level if living I now enjoy"--Tony Robbins