My pastor said......?

Question

I know I shouldn't be questioning what my pastor said but he said "The reason SOME christians are afraid to die is because they aren't good christians" and I try my best but I'm still VERY afraid to die. Your Opinions?

Answer 1

Your Christian walk is a long process of maturation. Don't feel bad about that fear. God understands and He will bring you through it. He always supplies the grace we need to make it through if we continue to trust in Him. As you continue to grow in the Lord, you will become less and less afraid and more and more secure.

Grace and Peace to you.

Answer 2

I have to congratulate shkthi k on his/her answer, which is absolutely right. We are saved by God's grace and not by our so-called "goodness". And it is also true that as we grow in Christ, we begin to understand that for us there is no death - just a walk into another room.

Having said that, there are many reasons why we sometimes fear death, even though we know as Christians that we shouldn't. Fear of the unknown - that is, exactly how, when, where...? Will it be painful? What will it be like? Etc. These are natural questions. Death is not a pleasant thing, or else we would not be afraid of it. Even Christ Himself cried at the death of his beloved friend Lazarus. Death is the unnatural separation of body and soul, which must be an unpleasant experience to some extent.

We may also fear death because we fear that we are not yet prepared for it - that we have not yet truly repented. If that is the case, we should embrace that fear and use it as a motivation to repent (in which case it can be a good thing). The ancient fathers of the church talked often about "remembrance of death" as a means by which one could repent.

But we should never let the fear of death become an obstacle for us, because Christ died and rose again in order to destroy death. He has already won the victory over death and we are the inheritors of that victory. So if you believe in Him and what He accomplished for our sake, then deep down you must try to let go of your fear of death. Otherwise, what is the point of this victory.

As many others have said, it takes time and effort and much patience to mature in the Faith. Don't let your pastor's perhaps careless words discourage you. I'm sure he didn't mean to judge you personally. Maybe one of these days you should have a word with him privately and tell him that what he said upset you, because you are trying to be a good Christian but still have some weaknesses that you need help with - not harsh words. Hopefully he will understand and think better about how he expresses himself next time.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Everything a person says about God and the Bible should be questioned, or to be put better, tested with scripture. Even your pastor can be wrong about things in the Bible. If he is telling you something and you don't think it is lining up with scriptures and you find in the Bible it's not true then you can disregard it or even try to show the pastor. As for your question, I don't think it is as black and white as "one should not be afraid to die if they are Christian" I believe that many Christians are "afraid" because of statements like the one from your pastor. The truth of the matter is that none of us are good enough to get to Heaven. It is because of Jesus Christ that we will gain entrance into Heaven. There is so much more than this simple short answer. One last thing though, I think the most important part of this question is where you said "I try my best" All God wants from us is our best. God sees the intentions motives of our hearts. The quest for perfection in Christ is not one of performance but one of pursuit. Just follow after Christ with all your heart and you will become more like Him. May God bless you and keep you.

P.S I wonder if it's that not the fact that you are afraid of death but actually that you don't want to die?

Answer 4

maybe what he was trying to get across was that Christians should be willing to go at any time , since they are saved they shouldn't fear. I wasn't there so I am only guessing.

personally, I'm not afraid to die, not that I want to, but if God calls me home.. I trust that he knows better than I do. I'm his either way. if I stay, or if I go, I belong to him.
I suppose some Christians who are afraid to die aren't ready because they don't know where they are going, or are unsure of where they stand in Christ.
if it bothers you, talk to your Pastor and tell him you have a problem with what he said and want him to make it a bit more clearer for you.

God Bless you

Answer 5

I think everyone is afraid to die. God instilled in us a will to live forever. That was his plan, until Adam and Eve messed it up. So he thought of another route to take and that was giving us his glorious son to die for us. Even Jesus was scared. In the garden of Gethsemane he prayed that the cup to be removed, but not his will be done but his Father's will. He was even sweating blood. Maybe you could point that out to your Pastor or at least ask questions about it, if you don't understand. Jesus is the best Christian I know. The only people that I know who aren't really afraid of dying, are the old people who are suffering so much with health problems. And even then I don't know if it is so much that they aren't afraid of dying or they are just tierd of living in pain.

Answer 6

Let me ask this question... are you AFRAID to die... or just not ready to stop living... there is a difference...

Incidentally... the concept of death is a scary one since we don't know exactly what happens to us during the process.

It is normal to be afraid of something you don't understand... and I don't think you have to be anxious for or even welcome death to consider yourself a good Christian... I like to think I'm a pretty good Christian... I want to go to heaven too... I'm just not in a hurry to get there.

Jesus said "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). So I think perhaps you should put focus on living life. If you have already accepted Jesus as your savior, you don't have to worry about death... so DON'T worry about it until it's time.

Incidentally... the Bible never said don't question your pastor. In fact, according to Paul, we should study to show ourselves approved... you can't study effectively if you don't ask questions.

Answer 7

Bianca,
you have every right to question your pastor,
especially when he is using ignorance to cause
fear. I, too, am afraid to die. It´s is only normal
to be afraid of the unknown.
Your pastor should be looking for ways to place
his followers at peace, and he is accomplishing
quite the opposite - middle ages tactics!
Change to another service.
Good luck and God Bless!

Answer 8

Bianca, you should be questioning what your pastor said. He is not perfect, he is not God, and he should not be able to brainwash you with anything he wants to tell you. You are a free thinking individual who needs to make her own decisions about what she believes. If you believe in a heaven and hell, try your best to be a good christian. You might be afraid to die for a few reasons:

1) You think you might go to hell.
2) You think there might not exist a heaven and a hell and you might just cease to exist.
3) You feel like you would miss your loved ones.

It's a natural thing to fear death. You need to eventually decide exactly what it is that you believe. If you believe that God would send some of us to hell for an eternity just to be fair to the good christians, then be a good christian because you don't want to fear the possibility of going to hell. If you feel like you'll miss your loved ones then you either believe that you'll go to hell (where you might miss them) or that heaven isn't perfect enough to rid you of that pain.

Answer 9

No, no, you absolutely should be questioning what your pastor says. You should question everything you hear.

That's one of the keys to learning about life - having an inquiring mind. Just because a person is a figure of authority does not mean that they cannot be wrong. They are just as fallible as the rest of us.

As to your conundrum: you don't need to worry that you're a bad christian. It's a perfectly natural, human instinct to fear death. Most people do, christian or not.

Answer 10

Bianca, Why are you afraid to die? See, if you have God in your heart, you shouldn't be afraid to die. Now, can I recommend a good book for you to read? well, it's called HEAVEN IS SO REAL by Choo Thomas. Also the Bible is the best one. Do not be afraid. I was afraid but I know Jesus beat up death and now it's got no power over me. Nesither over you if you know HIM.

Answer 11

GET OUT OF THAT CHURCH IMMEDIATELY & FIND A PLACE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO QUESTION THE PASTOR. And maybe u r afraid to die because you haven't gotten proper teaching.

No one has the right to judge who is right and who is wrong. If a person can call that, maybe they don't need to be on the planet. "Cause they're WAAAAAAY too holy for this life.

See, this is exactly why I don't attend Christian church...

As-salaamu-alaikum