Examining the key words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, the emphasis in step 2 of the lesson, “What Hope Do You Have?,” is that Christians should not be ignorant and grieve in the same way as unbelievers who have no hope.To make my lesson interesting on the point of ignorance, I'll cover the afterlife alternatives offered to unbelievers by various worldviews and religions (see Mark Rathel’s commentary).
For the element on grief, I’m considering an example of what Christians ought not to emulate by reading this 1932 poem by Mary Frye. I’d really appreciate your thoughts. Am I interpreting the poem as something unbelievers advise doing?
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2 comments:
The poem strikes me as falling in line with the Christian Science belief mentioned in Mark Rathel's comments, i.e. life is simply mental - I think therefore I am.
Upon death, I don't want to be in all those things mentioned in the poem. I want to be with my Savior! That's what I'm living for.
I think the sentiment in this poem, while clearly unbiblical, is very popular today with unbelievers and even with "cultural Christians" who might claim to believe in heaven, reincarnation and this sort of pantheistic universalism all at the same time. I'm sure more than one pastor has been asked to read this poem at a funeral.
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