So. I always seem to start my blog posts with a propositional statement bringing into light something that correlates with the title and I haven't really figured out how to stop doing that. Maybe it's because we as humans have a strong aversion toward spoilers, and expect to know what we're getting into immediately, and maybe I like to open in a traditional sense by providing a hook, a clause, and a point, just as I was taught to write. To understand where I'm going with this you'll simply need to read because at this point I'm more entrenched in the idea of transitions and explanations than I am with stylistic writing that allows for ease of reading.
Or I could turn around right here and attack the point straight on. Why does it sound like I'm avoiding a subject, or trying to change the topic before we get there? Because I am. Why am I doing that? Because this topic is heavy and deep. It doesn't frequently allow for words to come up because this topic is generally unconscious. But it is also the most debilitating, systemic, truly attached to humanity issues that could really come up, in my opinion. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it would be more interesting to stop fearing death that it would to figure out why we have a sin problem.
I don't know anyone who has achieved it, and I don't believe anyone who tells me that they don't fear death, which could be why I've never met anyone to achieve true fearlessness. It's such an interesting subject though, no matter where your views lie. Say you're an atheist and you're reading a Christian blog for some reason, and you stumble upon this post talking about the fear of death. If you don't believe in an afterlife, and you are nihilistic enough that there is absolutely no purpose in life, especially if you subscribe to the most scientific way of looking at things, then what purpose do you have to fear death? If there is truly no afterlife, no God, no Judge, then why are you so worried about the effect that you have here on earth?
Let's take it a step further, if you don't know that there's a God, and have never received evidence to have concrete proof in believing a God, or have an idea about God but fall away from Christianity due to complex religion and rules of man, and authority. What point is there to stop searching? If you haven't found proof of heaven, or hell for that matter, what stops you from researching? Sure you can google "is heaven real" but if we're dealing with the issue of death you're either going to have to speak with a dead person, or rely on someone who has come back from the dead, and to do that you're first going to have to admit that death is a place, or else you'll fall under the first category. Of course, you still won't be able to prove anything if you so happened to go the extra mile and off yourself in some comedic fashion trying to prove the existence of an afterlife, but at least you tried. Maybe there is a fear of lack of results though, and honestly that's a different topic, but I still think you fear death.
Alright, so what if there is an afterlife. Who's to say that you don't simply have a pre-existence or some sort of long lost ancestor line that you've been following for the past Seven Thousand years that you've inhabited as a sentient being for 3 separate generations? While that belief is much more spiritual and less existential, you would seem to have no reason to fear death. You'll just come back as another human being, so what's the big deal?
Let's call it here though. Because this is a Christian blog, and even though I enjoy the regular existential crisis, I am almost certain that most people don't. What reason does a Christian have for fearing death? I mean as far as topics go, this is one of the most interesting topics biblically, because we wouldn't have death if it weren't for God. We also wouldn't have life. We wouldn't know that there was a man who came in the flesh specifically to defeat death, and to do that he died himself, and then was risen back to life, just as we all will be. Without Jesus, we wouldn't know that there is absolutely a heaven, and that we have access to it freely. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that fearing death is not something we are meant to do as new creations. We don't need to, for what reason would we? We have an almighty God who has defeated death and taken its namesake, earned it for himself, and given us the keys to eternal life. Not only do we have a philosophical argument against death, if we really believe what we say we believe, we should absolutely not fear death at all ever. Any of the other categories have a great excuse, they simply don't know. We as Christians though, we do know. We absolutely know.
Or at least, we're supposed to say we do. I know that this is my most innate fear. I know that it is one thing that hardens my heart toward some controls, and softens it toward others. I know that this is why if it were just me ruling my life, I would choose a life of comfort and pleasure. I would choose a life of enjoyable habits. But then again, that's why I'm a believer in the first place, is because I got tired of choosing the stuff that didn't matter.
So we're left with this choice. This idea that death is defeated, and the only thing dying would accomplish is us going back to be with our Lord. What then? Do we all wait patiently for death? That would be selfish. Do we kill ourselves? Even more selfish. Do we share with others what the good news is? That they too don't have to fear death? That would be good.
But maybe we should start with not fearing death ourselves.