I apparently haven't added a blog in close to two years, but I felt compelled back into the "blogosphere" by a number of comments that I have seen floating around social media in the wake of Robin Williams' suicide. First of all, I sincerely grieve the loss of a human life, a very talented actor, and one of the funniest men on the face of the earth. During some of my most formative years, I soaked up both the hilarity and poignancy of movies like "Good Morning Vietnam," "Mrs. Doubtfire," and "The Dead Poets' Society." Robin Williams had the ability to make me both laugh and cry within a matter of minutes. He will be missed.
In the wake of Mr. Williams' suicide, I also grieve some of the statements that I have seen Christians make about depression and suicide, and some of the misunderstandings that my non-Christian friends have expressed toward Christians. While I cannot claim to speak for all Christians on the matter, I thought it would be beneficial to try to make a clear statement about suicide from a biblical Christian viewpoint. I'll do this by attempting to answer three questions:
1. Does the Bible talk about suicide? The Bible records God's long term plan to redeem messy broken people from the messy brokenness that they have fallen (or plunged themselves headlong) into. As such, it records and addresses a lot of messy subjects, including suicide and depression. Saul, the first king of Israel committed suicide (or at least attempted it) by falling on his own sword (I Samuel 31:4), Zimri, another king of Israel burned himself alive inside his own palace when he feared that he would lose his kingdom (I Kings 16:18), the hero Samson chose to wreak revenge on his enemies one last time, even though he knew it would mean destroying his own life as well (Judges 16:28-30). Perhaps most famously, Jesus' disciple Judas committed suicide by hanging himself after suffering intense guilt and shame over betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5). It must be noted that, in all of these instances, the details of the suicide are simply stated as they happened with little or no moral comments about the actions themselves. We would have a hard time drawing a strong biblical doctrine based on these passages alone.
The Bible also refuses to shy away from the reality of depression, which is sometimes a large prompting factor in suicide. While they never took action on their feelings, such heroes of the faith as Elijah, Job, David, and Paul "despaired of life" and even prayed for death at different points in their lives and ministries (see I Kings 19:4, Job 3:11-13, and 2 Samuel 18:33, and 2 Corinthians 1:8). All of this is to say that the Bible is not a sterile book far removed from the realities of human suffering, even the deepest kinds of suffering--God knows how messy and broken we are (and He has chosen to do something drastic to remedy our messiness and brokenness--but that is another topic).
2. Does the Bible make any statements about the moral implications of suicide? Quite simply, yes. One of the basic assertions of God, who created human life, is that human life is precious. "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Human beings were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and granted the gift of life from God (Genesis 2:7), therefore human life belongs to God alone and no human being has the right to take life--another's life or his own life. This becomes doubly true for a follower of Jesus Christ, because "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you . . . you are not your own" (I Corinthians 6:19) In this sense, we must affirm that suicide is indeed a sin against God. Suicide is a form of murder--the murder of oneself, and as such, it is an act to be resisted and rejected with as much horror as any other murder would be resisted and rejected. There is no significant moral difference between me claiming my neighbors life because I hate him and me claiming my own life because I hate myself (or for any other reason). Naming suicide as a sin and offense against God naturally leads to the last question.
3. Is a person who has committed suicide automatically damned to hell? Once again, the biblical answer can be stated simply: No. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the teaching that suicide is a unique and unforgivable sin that would prevent a person who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ from entering into the salvation that Christ has achieved for them. In fact, the Bible is very clear about the fact that there is only one thing that keeps people from entering into salvation: "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:17-18). The singular act that will prevent a person from receiving salvation and eternal life is not a sin or sins (not even murder or suicide) but a rejection of and refusal to believe in, trust in, and submit to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
There will be murderers in heaven (Moses, David, and the apostle Paul were all murderers) because salvation is not based on what we have done, but on what Jesus has done for us, and I fully expect to see brothers and sisters in Christ who have committed suicide in heaven as well. I do not know whether Mr. Williams ever trusted in Jesus and received salvation by faith through grace (I pray that he did), but for those who have placed their faith in Christ, I praise the Lord that nothing, not even an act of sin as seemingly final as suicide, is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:39).
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