Suicide–Why it’s so dangerous to our salvation.
This is the last post is a series that started here. If you’re interested, it would really be best to start at the beginning and work your way through the series to help understand what I’m proposing now.
As I said in this post, I don’t think that every case of suicide necessarily results in eternal damnation for the sole reason that a person can’t ask for forgiveness of it. But that’s not to say that suicide isn’t dangerous to our salvation….And here’s why.
I believe that the real danger in suicide is that
it exhibits a lack of faith in God.
In many cases, suicide is a bold pronouncement that God is wrong and we are right.
Think about this statement…. I have nothing to offer the world, and they’d be better off without me. That statement, a sentiment similar to that of many people dealing with thoughts of suicide, is in direct conflict with God’s promises to us.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. God has created each of us to be workers for Him. And just because you don’t see a work that you can do, or don’t believe there’s a way for you to contribute, doesn’t mean that you’re right and God is wrong. Our own short-sightedness doesn’t make God’s plan a failure.
1 Corinthians 12:18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. Pay attention to the last part of that verse. God has created His children AS HE CHOSE. We often use that verse to talk about song leaders or teachers and preachers. And if we only look at the verse in that sense, it might be true that you have nothing to contribute. But there’s so much more to a functioning church than those things. Some people are blessed with more patience, more compassion, more wisdom, or frankly better personalities than other people. And while the things you DO might not seem like much in His kingdom, it’s THE PERSON THAT YOU ARE that will make His church better.
To say that you have nothing to contribute to your family, His church or the world is to say that God made a mistake when He created you, or that He lied when He said that He has good works for you to do, or that He was wrong when He wanted you in His church.
When you end your life because you believe you’re worthless, you’re choosing your own wisdom over His…And have lost your faith in God.
Or think about this common phrase….“I’m not pretty enough, or skinny enough, or smart enough, or handsome enough, or strong enough.”
Psalm 139:13-15 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Coming from a middle-aged father who has a bit less hair and a bit more waistline than I’d prefer, I can understand the frustration people have with their physical appearance. But I think that we sometimes misunderstand or misrepresent Psalms 139 in that regard. I don’t believe that Psalms 139 teaches us that we are all beautiful, but rather that we are all beautifully made.
And if we choose to end our life based on our outward appearance, we’re completely ignoring the fact that HOW we are made is fearful and wonderful. What we look like is temporary. That we are intricately woven in secret speaks to the eternal power of God.
But to say that we’re not worth living because of our outward appearance is to deny the wonder and power that God exhibited in creating us.
Lastly, suicide is shouting from the rooftops that God can’t handle your problems.
If you believe that when Wall Street collapses and wipes away your life’s savings, or when you lose your job, that God can’t help you….You’re putting your faith in yourself rather than God.
If you believe that God can’t give your life happiness and purpose and save you from your depression….You’re putting your faith in man’s solutions rather than God’s.
Psalms 34:17-19 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. God promises us that when we’re brokenhearted He’ll be near to us. That when our spirit is crushed He can save us. And that no matter how awful our afflictions seem that He can deliver us out of them. The question is whether or not we’ll believe Him.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. This is a very interesting passage….Look at what it says about casting our anxieties upon God. We can only cast all of our anxieties on God AFTER we’ve humbled ourselves. Trusting in ourselves is in direct conflict with trusting in God. If we’re still looking for our own solutions, if we’re still trying to fix our own problems (or sinking into depression when we can’t fix them ourselves) then we’re not casting our anxieties on God.
Veggie Tales sings that God is bigger than the boogie man, He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV. But suicide is a telling the world that although God can soothe the fears and anxiety of a child, He’s no match for “grown up problems like mine”.
And that’s why suicide is so spiritually dangerous….It’s a bold proclamation that God is a liar. That God is a second-rate help to those in need. That God is smart, but that He doesn’t understand how life works as well as we do.
Suicide is proof that we trust ourselves rather that God to solve our problems. And there’s no other way to evidence a lack of faith in God than to end your life standing in defiance against God, trusting in our own solutions more than His.
And these are the answers that we should be giving to the problem of suicide. Faith in God and His promises isn’t just where we find our salvation, it’s where we can find relief for the trials of this life as well.