Saturday, August 16, 2014

On Suicide and the Gospel


Suicide is an all-too-common part of culture. From the tragic and unexpected death of famous actor-comedian Robin Williams this past week to the frightening and bizarre case just two weeks ago of a young twelve year boy in Michigan who stabbed his nine year old friend to death before telling first responders, “I want to die, I don’t want to live on this earth anymore,” we all have become accustomed to this disturbing new trend in society.

As the news continues to cover these sobering, heart-wrenching tragedies I have noticed a lack of discussion on what the Gospel has to say about suicide. While other, more qualified professionals and even lay-counselors can debate the exact and often confusing motives behind a person taking their life, I think most of us find our hearts and minds sincerely asking, “is there hope for someone who commits suicide?” If we are honest, many of us want that question answered just as badly as the reasons behind a loved ones tragic, self-inflicted death. The question then is quite simple: can the Gospel bring any hope in the midst of the tragedy of suicide?

Why Suicide is a Tragedy

We all seem to intuitively know that suicide is a deep, acute tragedy. We sometimes even struggle to say the word itself without lowering our voices or looking around us to make sure no third parties are listening.  This discomfort is widespread; almost everyone can name at least one person in their lives who has either committed suicide or been directly affected by it.  But why is suicide such a dark tragedy? Why do we all instinctively and inwardly mourn in a totally unique fashion (the mourning of a person who passed away from cancer is markedly different than a self-inflicted death) when someone, whether a friend, family member, or someone we simply hear about, takes their life?

Suicide is a devastating loss because when someone takes their life, an uniquely created image-bearer of God is destroyed. As divinely crafted, uniquely created humans, people alone stand as the pinnacle of creation. God said when he created man and woman:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over…all the earth…so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them,” Genesis 1:26-27.

A couple unique truths should stand out to us here. One, we should notice the heavy emphasis God places on His loving creation of man and woman. Notice that in two verses the author mentions God “making” or “creating” mankind four times. Four times in just two sentences. In Genesis 2 we read that rather than just speak creation into existence like He has done all other things, God particularly molds and fashions Adam and Eve with His hands before breathing life into them. There is a closeness to God that each of us as humans can enjoy that is unmatched in the rest of creation.

Second, we should notice humanity has been given an extraordinary calling – God gave us dominion over the entire earth as His representatives. Before mass media and communication existed, ancient kings and emperors would often reign over vast tracts of land that they themselves might never see. In order to remind those who were a part of their kingdom of their authority, kings, emperors, and pharaohs would set up statues or images of themselves throughout their lands. Thus an image would serve a representative of the ruler of the land. While he himself might not be present, his image reminded his people of his authority. To be made in God’s image then means to be specifically created to show all of the world who God is and what He is like. To display His grace, kindness, joy, creativity, work-ethic, love, holiness, and more to everyone and everything around us.

Like a dark cloud that blocks out the sun, suicide obscures our view of God. When a human who was uniquely, specifically, intentionally created by God to show the world some piece of His greatness, forfeits that calling through suicide, the world has suffered a great loss. What’s more, as the author of life, God is never revealed when a person kills themselves. Suicide is an unspeakable tragedy in part, because it is a surrendering of the highest calling by the highest, most beloved beings in all of creation. We were made to image the God who deeply loves us, not surrender that privilege through suicide.

When humans, God’s most wonderful, cherished creatures, commit suicide, the universe is robbed of a unique soul with a unique calling. Indeed to quote one author from this past week, “Robin William’s death is a tragedy not because of his celebrity, but because he was human.”

The Gospel and Suicide

Does the Gospel offer any real hope  in this gloomy arena? Can the death of Jesus really offer healing, hope, and peace for those affected by suicide? Or even those who commit suicide?

Yes. Resoundingly, emphatically – yes.

To be fair, the Bible has little to say directly about the topic of suicide. The only reference to suicide in the New Testament is a brief story of the disciple-turned-traitor Judas hanging himself. Every other account of suicide is in the Old Testament and is merely a story, not a theological treatise, on a man ending his life. To my knowledge Jesus does not broach the topic of suicide in any of His teachings, nor do any of the writings in the New Testament.

For some reason, suicide has for some time been viewed as the unpardonable sin. Perhaps this ties back to the famous Inferno by Dante that firmly plants anyone who commits suicide in a gloomy corner of hell. But the Bible says no such thing. In context, the unforgivable sin has more to do with some kind of denial of the Holy Spirit and rejection of Jesus (Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29), not suicide. So if suicide is barely discussed at all by the Bible and is not even remotely in view when Jesus discussed the unpardonable sin, where can we turn to see if the Gospel offers hope?

Romans 5 offers us the answer. After spending some time showing that all people, regardless of age, race, creed, nationality, gender, or class are guilty of cosmic rebellion and sin against God, the apostle Paul showed the only possible hope for our rescue from the death we each have earned by our sin is the death of someone else in our place. Only through some perfect, obedient substitute could our sins be punished, justice be satisfied, and our lives be spared. This was the mission of Jesus. To build God’s Kingdom on earth by standing in our place and taking our punishment and making those who trust and follow Him, His own special people. This rescue is fueled by a love and an inexplicable, un-earnable kindness (grace) toward us that is radical:

“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21

Where sin abounded, grace (God’s un-earnable, compassionate affection toward us) hyper-abounded. Where sin and death flourished, grace outpaced and outgrew it even then. If sin were the Mississippi River, grace would be the Pacific Ocean. If sin were to score 90 on the exam, grace scores a 110. If sin were represented by the Empire State Building, grace would be Mount Everest. That is the radical truth of the Gospel. When sin steps in and does unspeakable damage that seems irreversible, the grace of God comes in to forgive that wrong, sparing the sinner-turned-child-of-God of eternal destruction.

This is why Paul can triumphantly say that everyone who is called by God will one day be made right with God (justified), made to look more like Jesus (sanctified), and one day fully and finally freed from sin and death itself (glorified) (Romans 8:30). The chain is unbroken: one leads to the other to the other to the other. Belief leads to forgiveness and peace with God, to following Jesus and looking more like him, to finally being reunited with Him beyond the stain, power, and harm of sin and death one day in His Kingdom. This certain, unflinching chain of events is sure because our rescue hinges not on our works but on God’s grace. Where our sin abounded, grace – through Jesus’ death in our place on the cross – has hyper-abounded. So radical is this grace that God says of those who have trusted Him:

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more,” (Hebrews 10:17).

Grace obliterates and overcomes sin and death.

How does suicide play into this? Whether or not a person commits suicide motivated by mental illness, a drunken or drug induced overdose, or yes, even by their own choice, the un-earnable, compassionate, radical grace of God is enough to cover even that. Sin and death are undeniably linked in Scripture – where one is, the other soon follows. So even if someone commits suicide with diminished self-control and capacity, their death nonetheless is a startling reminder that they, like all of us, are a sinner in need of rescue.

The question then, when each of us stands before the Lord after our death will not be “were you good enough to get into heaven?” or even “you committed suicide, how could you possibly think you could enter into my kingdom?” The question for all of us will simply be, what did we do with the free gift God offered us? Did we accept in faith and lay down our spiritual sin, pride, and rebellion. Did we let God become the King in our lives again and stop trying to reign ourselves? Or did we persist in stubborn, proud rebellion until the very end, refusing to acknowledge Him as King and neglecting, even scorning, the offer of rescue He gives us through His Son?

So can a legitimate, follower of the Lord despair so deeply and take their life yet still find rescue in eternity? While the Bible never answers this question head on, the answer seems to be, yes. Where sin and death abound, grace and life abound all the more. Two years ago I attended the funeral of a friend who I genuinely believe knew the Lord, trusted him, and followed him. Yet in a season of dark, trying despair, he took his life. While his death was shocking and unnerving, the surety of his rescue is not in question. It never depended on him in the first place – it always rested on Jesus providing and him simply trusting in Christ. So even when my friend took his life almost two years ago to the day, his and my hope remain firm because it never rested in his good deeds to save him. It always rested on Jesus, and though sin and death may abound in this life, for those in Christ grace and life abound, all the more.

Resources:
If suicide or thoughts of suicide are something you struggle with or if you know someone struggling, I hope these resources will encourage and help you:

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