Most have heard the phrase, “Your speech betrays you.” The phrase seems to have roots in the biblical account of Peter’s denial of Jesus since he was identified in part by his speech (Matthew 26:73). You probably know some of the contemporary applications: Christians who curse, people who say one thing and do another…. You can easily expand the examples.
Over the past month, I have had two experiences that provide background for this blog. First, this week I have heard or read a phrase several times that concerns me when I analyze it from a Christian-biblical perspective. What do we mean when we say, “That person lost a family member”? Do we mean we don’t know where the person is? Are we speaking of separation from something valuable? The word “lost” has several possible meanings. I will grant that some of those meanings may apply to the death situation, but read on.
Second, earlier this month I spent some time in a spiritual retreat with about 150 folks that for Jan and me have a special place in our hearts. One of our post-retreat observations as we drove home was that this group of our brothers and sisters in Christ has a different view of life and death. What difference does it make when our overarching attitude is that “Life is not always that good, death is a natural part of life and is not all that bad”?
From these two experiences, I raise my question about how we should talk about death. Are there better ways to describe the death experience than those we sometimes use? The person who dies in Christ experiences something better, even as Paul says that death is gain (Phil. 1:21). For Christians, those who continue to live here on earth gain the certainty that a loved one has won the victory and that the struggles are past. I started a list of “losses” and “gains”–my gains list is longer than my losses list.
I am going to try to change my speech with regard to death. To begin, I will simply speak of death and avoid the metaphors–passed on, passed, etc. I will try to incorporate more biblical terminology into my speech and conversations concerning death. Perhaps most important, I will change my attitude toward life and death by thinking about these realities in more biblical terms.
What suggestions do you have? What biblical terms do you like or prefer in describing life and death? How could we reflect a healthier, more biblical attitude toward death?