Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart- Ecclesiastes 7:2 NKJV

 I have seen some crazy stuff in recent weeks.

 I have seen individuals so committed to sanitation they wear face masks driving alone in their car. Last week I saw a store clerk with a weed sprayer filled with what I can only hope was hand sanitizer shooting it into the air and at shoppers who happened to be passing by.  I have concluded there are people who believe germs die instantly upon hitting the surface of a glove of any kind. It’s the only reasonable explanation for the people I have seen wearing plastic gloves and sticking their fingers in their mouths.

 Just wash your hands people.  

 On a more serious note the outbreak of Covid-19 has brought our culture’s deeply conflicted attitudes concerning death to the surface.  On the one hand, our culture embraces death (Proverbs 8:36). Over half of all Americans consider abortion and euthanasia to be inalienable human rights. Over the course of the past month many critical medical procedures have been declared “unnecessary”. The reason given is those procedures “waste” valuable medical resources like masks and PPE’s.  However, in some states including my own, abortion clinics that “waste” those same resources have remained open for business. Even more shocking, there is an active campaign within academic circles to place a thirty day “waiting period” on the lives of all newborns (Psalm 127:3-5). Parents would be free to end the life of their newborn son or daughter anytime and for any reason within that thirty-day period with no earthly penalties or consequences.

 Conversely, many of the laws passed in recent decades expressly forbid adults from doing stupid things that might cause them to accidently take their own life (seatbelt laws, helmet laws, warning labels on tobacco products). I, like many people my age was taught growing-up that open casket funerals were icky and wrong because it was “cruel” to force funerals-goers to look at a dead person for an hour (Ecclesiastes 7:2). No one says “died” anymore. Instead we’ve developed dozens of idiotic euphemisms like “expired” “passed” or “moved-on”. Even a casual perusal of social media clearly indicates many people, even some Christians are absolutely terrified at the possibility of dying from COVID-19. The most persuasive argument that’s been made for the widespread quarantine of healthy people is that it is “unacceptable” for anyone no matter how old or sick to die from Covid-19.

I am not suggesting we allow anyone to die without a fight from Covid-19 or anything else. Nor, am I suggesting human life becomes less valuable at its end. That being said, there are no words for the horror I felt at the macabre hypocrisy of Andrew Cuomo losing his mind over the prospect of even one unnecessary death from COVID-19, just fifteen short months after he gleefully signed into law the most liberal abortion bill in the country.

 Covid-19 is forcing our culture to examine its view of death. For that reason, this is a good time for individual Christians to do some soul-searching concerning their views concerning death. Christians should never do anything to cause death before God wills it and it is perfectly reasonable to feel a certain level of fear over the possibility of something we have never experienced before. However, it is not natural or reasonable for a physically healthy believer in Jesus Christ to be so terrified at the prospect of their own death that they cannot live life joyfully (albeit somewhat more carefully) during the outbreak of an illness with a relatively low death rate (Revelation 12:11) such as the one we are experiencing.  Any Christian who has an excessive fear of death should carefully and prayerfully examine that fear (2^nd Corinthians 13:5, 1^stJohn 4:18). 

In a culture where life expectancies have shot up in recent years it is easy to forget that we will all eventually die of something. Christians and Christian leaders must become more comfortable gently confronting people concerning their fear of death. It’s time for all of us to stop avoiding the subject of death and what happens after we die. In a very real sense death is the best evangelistic tool we have in our toolbox and it’s our responsibility as followers of Jesus to use it.  

 It is critical Christians be willing and able to articulate the hope that we have in Jesus Christ (1^stThessalonians 4;12-14) 1^st Peter 3:15). It is our high and holy responsibility as believers to tell the world that death is not an end. Death is a beginning. For those who choose to put their faith in Jesus Christ death is the realization of hope and the beginning of every good thing imaginable (Romans 5:1-5). That said, it is every bit as critical we tell others the hard truth that death is the beginning of eternal punishment for those who foolishly refuse God’s free offer of salvation (Matthew 13:24-36, Mark 9:43-47, Hebrews 9:27).

 God loves people enough to force them into situations where they must decide what they think about key issues. It’s clear to me God wants people everywhere to think a little harder about what happens after they die. Christians should be ready to give answers.