Another pastor killed himself. But this time he was my close friend, and that’s why I keep asking myself: how can I understand this?
After all, this experienced shepherd was not a false Saul (1 Samuel 31:4); He was a true believer whose life had paid off; he was not a guilty Judas (Mt 27:5). He loved Jesus and understood the Atonement of Christ; he had a strong theology and doesn’t even seem to be running away from scandal.
- So how can I understand this terrible tragedy? In the last month.
- I have thought about my friend’s suicide remembering the following realities: good and bad.
- They can be useful if you are in a similar situation.
Can’t we ignore the fact that ours? The adversary, the devil, walks like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour?(1 Peter 5:8). There is a state of spiritual warfare. Planned, invisible, and wicked beings constantly attack us, telling lies and seeking any failure of our armor to sow doubts and accusations that may try to keep us away from our Lord.
Were Satan involved in this destructive darkness?But stop here and say the devil and the devil just pushed my friend to do this?It’s too simplistic.
As you can imagine, some difficult circumstances influenced the fact that my pastor friend committed suicide.
In this case, did you work hard for years in evangelism and discipline, preaching, administration, and hospitality?And his little church has shrunk. He took other jobs to support his family. The conflict of relations began to envelop his ministerial team. Over time, the church shrank to less than ten people and was despondent and discouraged, feeling battered and a middle-aged loser.
After leaving, selling your home has become a rare nuisance. Did your son break his arm and his new role in a new city?A shepherd associated with the service of a younger person looked like salt in a wound.
In David’s words, the waters reached up to the neck (Psalm 69: 1)
But many people have gone through even greater difficulties and have not succumbed to despair, so my friend’s death cannot be attributed entirely to his sad situation.
Unsurprisingly, my dear friend had a history of medical treatment for depression, we still know very little about the brain, but theologically, we have always known that we are boring souls (Genesis 2:7). bodies, he himself took shape and promised one day to raise and glorify our bodies. In other words, who are we connected to physical matter, proteins and protons.
In the process of finding a new doctor, my friend started with a different dose of medication, but instead of helping, he ruined your head and I couldn’t think clearly. Something was wrong with the chemistry of his brain. Have you ever been deprived of sleep or have you been drugged a lot or are you seriously ill or with hormonal dysfunction and haven’t felt it in your mind?It happened to my friend.
This explanation helps us, but we are not fully satisfied. It’s not like I died of cancer or another medical disability; made the decision to kill himself.
We must consider Satan, circumstances, and diseases. But we must also understand that my friend’s fatal choice was a sin for which he is guilty. Suicide is self-murder; it’s a violation of the sixth commandment, it’s a selfish act that hurts a lot.
My dear shepherd brother left a broken-hearted widow and three confused children and left his church. In this last moment of darkness, he did not trust God and took matters into his own hands, lost faith, and yielded to bitterness and despair.
Is suicide never a justifiable or excusable solution regardless of the magnitude of the temptation, the severity of the situation, or the severity of the condition?My friend not only made a bad decision, but he sinned gravely against God and others.
Does the sin of suicide mean that this beloved shepherd cannot be saved?No, sin is incompatible with being a born-again believer. And yet we are all filled with inconsistencies and sins (i. e. 1 John 2:1). leaders fail miserably and suffer horrible evils. Consider King David, who committed murder and adultery.
But did David repent (Psalm 51)? And my friend probably didn’t regret it. After all, when someone commits suicide, there’s rarely enough time.
This is where The Protestant understanding of justification by faith is so critical. Are we inseparably united to Christ by grace by our often hesitant faith?Not through our works. With our conversion, Christ’s work irrevocably becomes ours: His death has paid for all our past, present, and future sins; His unique life of absolute fidelity is fully accredited to us and you saw us. In other words, for Christians, was God’s verdict on the time of the end ever pronounced and declared irreversibly against us?JUST said, though we remain sinners, even if we do not ask for forgiveness after each specific sin.
When someone commits suicide, only one reason rarely explains it. It is often the result of many complex factors in a world in decline. Biblically and theologically, these categories mentioned above should help us avoid simplistic answers, while also guiding us toward a semblance of understanding.
And yet, at the end of the day, it still doesn’t make sense. Why does a defeated enemy like Satan still cause such destruction?Why, if Christ builds his church, the circumstances of my friend’s life and ministry are so difficult?Why can’t doctors treat your condition?And how would someone who would otherwise be so sane and altruistic do something so stupid and sinful?
We have so many unanswered questions because we are not God, and secret things belong only to Him (Deut 29:29). We cannot fully understand their impenetrable ways (Romans 11:33). Each in these days?This was written in the book of God before our birth (Psalm 139:16), which means that, in a way, this terrible thing happened according to God’s good plan.
I fight deeply with all this. I don’t understand much It doesn’t make sense to me. And finally, I can only trust God.
After all, if he does not organize everything according to his mysterious plan, but wise and good, then our world is totally meaningless and hopeless. But did Christ’s horrible death in the fulfillment of the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3) go on?For his victorious resurrection and his promised return? gives me a good reason to rest in his sovereignty even in the midst of this painful and bewildering situation.