suicide

[>> Hannah <<]

I got asked this question at a course we run at the church by a supposed non-believer

Is it ok for someone to be suicidal if they are a christian?

what do people think?

[kittylover0991]

no.. it is never alright to be suicidal if one is a Christian...

It doesn't matter the circumstances.. the bible says that it is wrong to take a life, which means your or anybody elses...

God created us and we are his workmanship... we shoudl never take that power into our hands to take away that life... As Christians, we are the temple of the Holy Ghost.. there is a song that called We Preach "We have this purpose, this mission, one reason to remain.. to spread the cross of Jesus and magnify his name"... if God hadnt' commissioned us to spread the gospel, then we would have no reason to be here... we need to say to the Lord, "Here am I Lord. I will if you lead me" and not attempt to take away the precious life we have been given...

I heard someone say, "We might talk about death and it can be fascinating as we don't know much about it other than that is going ot happen(unless you are a Christian, but that is anotehr story ), but... Death isn't cool.. Life is cool". As Christians, we should be looking forward to heaven... but.. never... never take our own life... God gave us our lives and we shoudl be thankful for them...

I would also hate to be the Christian who commits suicide and then must stand before the judgement seat of Christ and have ot answer why they did it...

"Thou shalt not kill"... "Go out into the world and preach the gospel"

[JamieW]

Surly whether someone feels sucidal has little to do with being a Christian or not. Anyone can have such feelings at any time. Its how a person reacts to them.

Satan uses suicide to tempt people into thinking they have a choice whether they live or die - but only God has that authority.

The modern world has become so saturated with depression and suicide that they are almost commonplace. Christians are as vulnerable to these as anyone, perhaps more so because satan is out to rob them of peace and joy and will try anything to destroy lives.

Christian who feels suicidal needs to be loved, to be brought into fellowship and to be prayed for and with and should never be made to feel that what they are going through is wrong because they are a Christian.

Obviously, I am not condoning the act of suicide in any way, but suicidal feelings in any individual should be addressed and counselled the individual should never be condemned or judged by Christians. Afterall - 'there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.'

Even those of us who are not feeling suicidal can be guilty of wasting the life God has given - ever said, 'I have some time to kill,' or, 'Iwas just killing time'? We should not be frittering away any priviledge that God has afforded us - Christ came so that we could have 'life and life abundant' and, as Christians, that is what we should be claiming and utilizing.

Redeem the time God has given you, so that you'll have plenty to tell him about when he asks you what you did with it!

[nebula]

Is it ok for someone to be suicidal if they are a christian?

It's not OK for anyone to be suicidal!

But mental disorders can afflict anyone, just like physical disorders - Christian or not.

[mike2]

Is it ok for someone to be suicidal if they are a christian?

It's not OK for anyone to be suicidal!

But mental disorders can afflict anyone, just like physical disorders - Christian or not.

I agree with nebula.

I wonder if we might be confusing this question with.. 'if someone actually commited suicide'

[>> Hannah <<]

no not actually committed suicide. What the guy asked was "Is it ok for someone to be suicidal if they are a christian?"

his argument being, that if they have been saved and have the peace and hope of eternal life from god why on earth should they be suicidal?

and surely by being so they are sinning!

Remember these are not my words! so dont tell me (>> Hannah <<) i'm wrong, i just wondered what people thought.

Edited March 16, 2006 by >> Hannah <<

[JamieW]

Suicide is from satan - he preys on the christian and non christian. Because you are saved it diesnt mean you are immune.

I still think that its not the feelings that are wrong, but the action.

[buckthesystem]

I got asked this question at a course we run at the church by a supposed non-believer

Is it ok for someone to be suicidal if they are a christian?

what do people think?

Suicide. Yeah, this is a question that has plagued me for a little bit of time now. In 2004 my baby brother committed suicide (he was actually 42 and no "baby" but he was the youngest and the only male, so he was, and will always be, our baby brother).

He drove to a fairly isolated spot and sat in his car and poisoned himself with alcohol. The coroner later said Garth had the highest blood/alcohol content he'd seen. There can be no doubt that it was suicide as Garth left a note for my older sister telling her what he was going to do, apologising for it, and telling her how to handle his "affairs". Garth was a heavily committed Christian, had been for twenty years or so. My older sister is also Christian and didn't want to believe it was suicide but she had to really, especially after she got the note.

The timing was really awful too, as right then my sisters, my husband and myself were all out of work and we had very little money to pay for a burial. Also, my brother and my older sister lived in Auckland - at the other end of the country to the rest of us, so we had to travel up there. Fortunately my husband had a reliable vehicle, so at least there was some transport, but my sisters had no car or anything. Between us we managed to scrape together enough money for a cremation, my sister badly wanted a burial, but we couldn't afford it, so what else could we do?

Garth was very heavily into Christianity and was far more knowledgeable about it than the rest of us. This was literally a few weeks after I had decided to be a Christian, and so at least I "inherited" Garth's bible and collection of Christian music.

Garth had suffered from depression for a number of years, and had talked about it with his girlfriend of eight years (strange in itself to have a girlfriend for eight years, I always wondered why they just didn't "get married and have done with it", now I guess depression is why) , but had not sought help of any kind for it as he didn't want to admit to any weakness. His girlfriend said that many times she had begged him to let her get him some help but he wouldn't let her. I have a lot of sympathy for her. What could she have done?

This was all two years ago now and I am still trying to rationalise it in my own mind and convince myself that it was all "meant to be". Shortly after the funeral I was reading about a NZ evangelist Barry Smith who died himself not long ago. I read about an evangelical meeting he held just after his own daughter had committed suicide and he said "I am sure God will welcome my daughter with or without an invitation". I found that sentence very encouraging and comforting.

When we went to Auckland just after Garth died, my husband went around "interviewing" people that Garth had known in an effort to sort out "why Garth did it". I went with him and listened to everything but at the same time I knew exactly why. I have also suffered from depression for a number of years, but I couldn't find the words to say that to my husband. My husband is not a Christian either.

Being a Christian (well I have found, anyway) does not make you immune to depression and it doesn't make life any more tolerable at the worst times. I have been down "as low as that" on occasions and I've realised that if you are suicidal you just want "out", you don't think of the effect it is going to have on other people, those who are left. I'm sure that if we considered what other people would have to go through on our suicide we'd never do anything like that. A few times I've been going along a steep road on a mountainside and thought "why don't I just speed up a lot a go right off the edge" and then I've thought "but what if I don't die, but just "total" the car and end up a 'vegetable'?". A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from work at about half past midnight (I work the night shift) and I came to the railway crossing (a lot of rural crossings here don't have barrier arms, just lights), I couldn't hear the train as I had the radio quite loud and I didn't take any notice of the lights as at that time there are a lot of trucks and tractors in that area with different coloured lights. I realised that there was a train there in the "nick of time" and came to a screeching halt. But then I spent the rest of the journey home thinking about how easy it would be to "just have kept going". But then, of course, it wouldn't have been very nice for the train driver and it would have deprived my husband of half his income. You have to think of these things.

I rationalised my Brother Garth's suicide by telling myself that maybe it WAS "his time" after all. He planned everything meticulously and it all "fell into place". The fact that "nothing went wrong" for him, possibly, might have meant that "his time was up in 2004 and that was the way God had chosen for him to die". Could this have any logic to it, or is this totally going beyond reason? What does anyone else think?

[nebula]

Buck - first of all

You bring up some good points. We Christians unfortunately have misconstrued ideas about mental disorders, like being a Christian makes you immune to them or something. so, I can understand why the sceptical question which started this thread.

I'm a Christian, I'm so happy!

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart...

And if you don't have this "joy" then there's something wrong with your spirituality.

You are correct that suicide is a selfish act. Unfortunately, someone lost in such heavy depression - what psychologists have called a major depressive episode - has rationalized that everyone else is better off without him/her. I know this because I've been through this several times. Many times the only thing that kept me from surrendering was not being able to see the Lord not being hurt by my committing such an act.

I didn't see killing myself as keeping me from Heaven. What I saw was Jesus meeting me, crying, saying, "Why did you have to do that?"

I don't know what your brother was dealing with or how deep his realtion with the Lord was or not, so I couldn't compare him to me to try to help you understand the cry of his heart that led him to that place. All I can do is try to help you understand what it's like to be under the bondage of a major depressive episode. Truly, it is a bondage, an oppression. Imagine being in a pea-soup fog, it's 35 degree F and a slight drizzle, an you don't have a coat on - and as far as you can tell it will never end. Imagine living this way day in and day out. No hope in sight.

Death becomes the only out.

That's why people surrender to it, why they take death upon themselves and embrace it that way.

They just want to end the pain.

Whether or not someone could have done anything to prevent him from taking his life is hard to say. The bottom line is his choice.

I was fortunate to have been raised under the belief in the spiritual gifts being applicable for today, because my salvation from MDE was people praying and prophesying over me and directly rebuking the darkness/evil spirits oppresing me. Without that, I don't think I would have made it, either.

I guess what I'm trying to convey is that you can't blame yourself for his choice. And I know you have a need to know "why," there really is no rational explanation, only an emotional one - a desparing hopelessness - and often deep anger that has no where to go but inward on oneself. (I know because I've been having to learn how to re-direct my anger, and it's been rough as all get out.)

The best you can do is to just cling to Jesus through the pain. When you think on your brother, picture yourself falling on Jesus with your pain and just cry on His shoulder. That really is the only way you will come to find and know peace through this situation - finding it in His arms.

Blessings!

[>> Hannah <<]

Thanks you both for your posts, i will reply in more depth later x