A man I know who rather regularly disparages Christians suffered a death in his family. What fascinated me was that nearly everyone spoke of how they would be praying for him. Or how he’d see the person again in heaven.
When he has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in God and finds those who follow Christ to be simple-minded fools, why would it comfort him to have that “unliving god” or a “unbelievable spirit” asked to give him relief from his loss?
These condolences are only helpful to someone who believes in Almighty God and knows the person believes in Christ’s death and resurrection. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:23.
Which still leaves me with a conundrum: how to console a non-believer about another non-believer’s death and provoke a discussion about God, Jesus and eternal life.
