Christian Living

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(The following subject is very sensitive, and I am not intending to offend anyone. If you have had a loved one pass away recently who never made a confession of faith in Christ, you may not want to read it.)

I went to another funeral. We all know that the nice thing to say is that the deceased is going to heaven, or if heaven is not mentioned, then to a place of eternal joy and beauty. That is normally said, even though the person may not be a Christian, or gave no evidence that he or she was.

Yet, we as Christians believe, based on the claims of Christ and the teachings of the word of God that eternal fellowship in God's presence, is conditional upon His redemptive work, by grace through faith.

So, what are we to do? Too often, especially at funerals, everyone wants to believe that all people go to heaven, regardless of their beliefs, and the vast majority of people believe in some form of conscious afterlife of a blissful nature.

What makes matters worse is that many of us believe in a literal hell. Books have been written by very sane, credible people who claim they have died and in one case, went to and saw heaven, and in another incident, died and went to and observed hell. Both people came back and spoke of a literal existence and place. In both situations, it was exactly as the Book of Revelation describes it. There is no credible reason to discount either of these revelations.

With all of this said, I have a difficult time at funerals, mentally speaking, unless the person has made a profession of faith in Christ. Then, of course, it is a time of rejoicing.

Funerals, of course, are supposed to be a time of comfort and rejoicing, but I can't help but think to myself, "If they only knew?" What do you think about in this situation?

I guess all we can really do is to have greater zeal to proclaim His truth and walk the talk, so that others will ask about "the hope that lies within us."

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