This article urges Christians to refrain from allowing funerals to be replaced by celebrations of life.
A celebration of life evades the inescapable fact that there’s been a death.
Instead of an acknowledgement of that they become “post-mortem roasts for non-celebrities.”
Jason Allen isn’t against laughter and a sense of lightness, but any lightness should come from the sustainable source of Jesus’ victory over death.
[Funerals] force us to consider soberly what comes after the finality of death. The preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us, “It will be well with those who fear God” and that “It will not be well with the wicked.” These contrasting truths follow the preacher’s comments on the burial of the wicked. Once praised in the city, presumably praised at their burial, this wicked person is now dead—and what matters now is whether they feared God.
Does this mean all funerals should be dreary and depressing? Of course not. Instead, their emotional tenor should be appropriately attuned to the sad reality of death, even as it’s considered alongside the joyful remembrance of the dead.
After all, death is God’s enemy. Paul tells us as much in 1 Corinthians 15:26. But it’s an enemy that has already been defeated by the resurrection of Jesus. What better venue than a funeral to highlight this glorious truth?
mgpcpastor's blog 