Have you ever thought about what kind of death you’d like to die? I realize that you may have little choice when it finally comes to the end of your life. Yet, surprisingly, your opinion of what makes for a good death and what doesn’t has a tremendous impact on how you live!
In my limited experience I’ve found that many people would prefer a nice quiet death at a good old age.
That’s understandable but… is it really useful?
For your consideration I bring you the quote below from Screwtape, a senior demon in C.S. Lewis’ classic “The Screwtape Letters.” I find myself rereading this little gem every few years.
For context sake you need to know that Screwtape is writing to Wormwood, a demon who is under his tutelage. In this chapter he is warning him not to get to excited about WWII which was gaining momentum at the time.
“Consider too what undesirable deaths occur in wartime. Men are killed in places where they knew they might be killed and to which they go, if they are at all of the Enemy’s party, prepared. How much better for us if all humans died in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie, as we have trained them, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even, if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition! And how disastrous for us is the continual remembrance of death which war enforces. One of our best weapons, contented worldliness, is rendered useless. In wartime not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever.”
I think I’ll have to agree with Screwtape, the most useful deaths for Satan’s purposes are those in which truth is hidden and man is not encouraged or warned to prepare his soul. This kind of death is useless to the gospel and yet even Christians often desire this kind of soft death.
On the other hand those gruesome and sudden wartime deaths seem to be what everyone wants to avoid. Some people even use the possibility of this kind of death as an excuse not to go on the mission field.
Ironically, the kind of death that most avoid turns out to be the most useful not only for the soul of the one about to die but also to others. I can’t help but think about my brother-in-law Gabriel DeRoo who was KIA in Iraq in 2006.
His death rocked my sister’s life. The pain was and is deep. The hurt continues to this day. Yet God chose to use his death for gospel purposes in a significant way.
After his death our church established a fund to help churches and provide pastoral training in Iraq and over the past 10 year we have significantly invested in gospel projects in Iraq. This may never have happened if it had not been for Gabe’s tragic war-time death.
