A life and death issue

The debate on euthanasia is not going to go away. We’ve blogged on how we approach the issue ourselves, as Christians: and Dr Jason Roach guest-blogged a medic’s perspective.

But what about the question asked by a friend over a coffee at work, or on the way home from football, or at the school gate?

Here, for what it’s worth, is what we think we might say:

• Is this an issue you’re facing personally at the moment?
• Pain is awful. It’s a reminder that the world is not a perfect place: Christians would say it is not the perfect world God made. Things have gone wrong. And because pain is awful, it’s unsurprising that people feel it makes life unliveable, and we all seek to avoid it—sometimes even by dying.
• But dying to avoid pain makes one huge assumption: that dying is the end of pain, that death releases us from suffering. That’s such an important part of this debate, and so little talked about, that it’s worth focusing on it now. Is dying the end of pain?
• Only one man’s ever seen beyond death and lived to tell the tale. That’s Jesus, who died in great pain but then rose. In doing that, he proved he is God, with power over life, death and what is beyond (We can talk about how we know he did that later – for the moment, just work with me!)
• And Jesus explained that we all go somewhere after dying. One place has no pain at all. It’s a place with him, knowing him as our God. In that place, we enjoy the life that we all want. But the other place Jesus described as “torment” (Luke 16 v 23)—it has greater pain than anything we experience here. It’s a place without him, and it’s the existence we want to avoid.
• So, if someone dies not knowing Jesus as God, they won’t be with him when they die—they’ll be in that place which is far worse than here. Helping a person who doesn’t know Jesus to die isn’t helping them to end their pain—in fact, it’s doing the opposite.
• And someone who does know Jesus as God wants to live his way. He is the one with power over death—no one else. Pain’s a reminder to look forward to perfect life with him—it’s not a reason to take his role and decide when death should come.
• Now, if Jesus didn’t rise, it’s still a huge assumption that whatever’s beyond death is better than pain here. If he did rise… well, would you like to talk about why Christians are so sure he did?