Written By David Hanson
What do you do if a loved one is suffering from a terminal illness that is gradually causing them to deteriorate and lose their body function? Do you allow them to continue to suffer, or do you bring that suffering to an end? I want you to feel the weight of that decision – because what I am about to talk about next needs it. On March 9th, 2022, Churchill Park United Church of Winnipeg hosted an assisted suicide ceremony for an 86-year-old woman who had been a member of that church. Last year Betty Sanguin had been diagnosed with ALS – a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. The muscles of a person with ALS gradually become paralyzed until they cannot swallow or breathe – leading to death. Within a very short time, Betty had deteriorated, and the doctors were talking about putting a feeding tube in because she couldn’t eat or swallow anymore. Knowing the suffering she would further experience as the disease progressed, she decided to end her own life with medical assistance, surrounded by friends and family. As a pastor, I’ve been around people of all ages as they were dying. I’ve seen a young lady fight for her life before she passed away. I’ve seen cancer slowly deteriorate a seemingly healthy person until they were a shell of a person. I’ve seen seniors fade away slowly – sometimes alone and sometimes with family around them. I’ve been to the bedsides of several people. I’ve learnt how unprepared I was to deal with it. Society tries to avoid it by keeping those approaching death at a distance, putting them into homes to fade away. And some in our society try to avoid death by avoiding seeing their loved ones in the hospitals. Death is uncomfortable – but it’s a reality we need to face. You can sympathize with the situation of someone dying, but you can’t truly understand the weight that comes until you lose a loved one. Last year I saw my father pass away from a terminal condition. My father, who was a very independent and private man, suffered increasingly growing more dependent on his family to care for him until he passed away. Before his death, he was in much pain as he slowly suffocated. I don’t say this because I want sympathy, but simply for the fact that I am writing this blog as someone who has been very close to death. Death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26) and a curse (Rom. 6:23). It often involves suffering, and progressive illnesses like ALS prolongs that suffering. This is why assisted suicide seems like a viable option to some. In Canada, assisted suicide has been legal since 2016. In 2020 there were 7,595 cases of medically assisted suicide. This was an increase of 34.2% from 2019-2020. The trend continues to increase. Why is society okay with medically assisted suicide? A primary reason is that they believe it is compassionate to bring an end to suffering. People have been influenced by society to value human life on par with animals. Sometimes even below animals. We treat animals as part of the family and even refer to them as our children. So, what happens if our pet is suffering? Well, the compassionate thing is to put Fido down. Why wouldn’t we apply that same logic to humans – after all, we are just animals, right? What I have said should make you upset because you know that you are more valuable than a dog. Human life is sacred because every man and woman has been created in the image of God (Gen. 2:7) and been given dignity and honour far above the animals. We can’t treat Fido the same way we treat Betty. Human life must be cherished and protected, not brought to an end simply because a person is suffering. When we avoid suffering, we avoid growth. God appoints these days (Ecc. 7:14) for the intended purpose that we may be conformed more into his image. Suffering brings humility. My father was forced to rely on us to feed him, moisturize his lips, and help him stand up to use the bathroom. He had to rely on the nurses to rotate him and fix his cushions and air supply. And he wasn’t the only one who learned humility – I did as well. I learned not to care what others thought and care for him in ways I never had. I would never have held his hand as a full-grown man – but at the deathbed, such thoughts quickly leave. Death is an enemy and curse, yet it is also a blessing in many ways. Death focuses the mind on what is important. My Dad was someone who loved his library full of books and was concerned about where they would end up. That all came to an end during the last week of his life. The things that truly mattered became priorities – like repairing a relationship with my younger brother – or hearing about the promises of heaven and life. And things like his books “grew strangely dim” in light of eternity. My father’s perspective grew as he suffered. Still, I believe the suffering he went through was more of a sanctifying experience for those who cared for him. It was difficult emotionally to see him fade away. However, I saw what it looked like for a Christian to suffer before death graciously and with joy as he went on to be home with the Lord. To take your own life prematurely is selfish, and it robs yourself and your family of all of this. Yet, for some, they choose to take their life by medically-assisted suicide like Betty. Partly because they want to avoid suffering and partly because they believe it is a dignified way to die. For some, the thought of deteriorating and becoming someone who needs to be cared for 24/7 is not dignified. Yet, is this that the Bible says? What does it mean to die with dignity? The Bible seems to indicate a few big things.
Though people try to justify assisted suicide, let’s call it for what it is – murder. God alone is the giver of life and the one who determines when and how that life should end. When offered life and death, God always commands us to choose life (Deut. 30:19). Yet, in attempts to escape suffering, we justify the taking of life. No one objected to Betty wanting to take her life; however, one person objected to the church being used as the venue for this service. Yes, you read that right; the lethal injection was performed during the assisted suicide service, which was hosted in the church building. Dawn Rolke, the minister at the church, told The Christian Post, “For us, it was perfectly natural to hold this service for Betty in our sanctuary because death is a natural part of life and Betty had lived a good part of her adulthood in this faith community. Hers was a growing, changing spirituality; her faith was feisty, fierce and passionate, like Betty herself”. What was her justification? Well, she says that the church is often “host and home to all the raggedness of our lives and to some of our significant life rituals: baptism, marriage, ordination, funeral or memorial service”. I guess they can now add to that “Assisted-suicide ceremony”. Or as they coined it, “A simple crossing over ceremony.” Unless God performs a miracle, a terminal illness will lead to death. Betty was going to die regardless of whether she had taken the injection. But does this justify her decision? No, for the simple reason that God is sovereign over death and alone is the one who determines when we die. Death is an enemy, but it is often seen as an escape for those who are terminally ill, as well as for those who are dealing with depression. Depression and anxiety lead many to believe it’s better to go to sleep never to wake up again. Assisted suicide isn’t new; however, this is the first time it has happened in a church that I am aware of. As the ceremony was happening, family and friends kept coming in and out, saying their goodbyes. At 1 pm, the lethal injection was administered. An hour later, she passed away surrounded by family. A murder took place. This is such a drastic story. Perhaps it’s something you won’t encounter – but since medically-assisted suicides are increasing here in Canada, odds are you will know someone in the future that will be contemplating it. So how should we approach those who are choosing to end their life?
Death is uncomfortable, and rightly so, yet we need to be there for those who are struggling with suffering and hopelessness. To abandon them in their time of need and not encourage them to live is not only immoral but heartless. To not be a voice of objection is to be a voice of approval. Your words and presence matters! One lady shared with me her experience with anxiety and depression that led her to believe the lie that it would be better to go to sleep and not wake up. Life had been tremendously hard for her, and lies gripped her heart. Her sister’s words snapped her back to the truth. What did her sister say? She said, “God made you in His image. You are his daughter, a child of the King. How dare you think you are worth nothing when you are everything to God! If you are okay with dying and escaping this life, it would kind of be like an insult to God.” These words changed her perspective and gave her the purpose to continue living. We can take a reactive approach or a proactive approach as a church. As I continue to think about assisted suicide, there are things the church should be doing way before someone thinks about it. We should be continually teaching the value of life from the womb to the tomb and the importance and value of suffering. We should also create opportunities where we are around those who are dying. And we should be continually pointing others to Jesus – someone worth living for even if you cannot move.
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Are you familiar with Critical Race Theory? If you're not, I'd recommend two books on this topic. One by Voddie Baucham titled Faultlines and the other by Owen Stachan titled Christianity and Wokeness. CRT is something that we need to become familiar with as believers because it is not only prevalent in the workplace, your community and the public school you send your children to, but it's in the church!
What is CRT? In February, I interviewed Samuel Sey on this topic. He has spent considerable time researching it, and this is what he has to say about CRT. He writes, "Critical Race Theory is essentially a race-centric version of marxism and post-modernism. Critical race theory suggests the essential conflict in society is racism. It suggests white people (and Western nations) oppress non-white people, especially black people. And the only possible way to limit or end that oppression is to change our legal system and culture into an 'anti-racist' system, that would discriminate against white people in order to create 'equity' (or equality of outcome) for non-white and especially black people". There is an aggressive attempt to teach that being white is something to be ashamed of because white people are inherently and often unaware racists. Those who are white have a privileged status over those of other ethnicities. You have heard of this referred to as "white supremacy." It's taught in schools all across Canada, and it's why corporations structure their hiring practices to ensure the most diverse population – regardless if they aren't the most qualified. That same mentality has crept into the church and has even been promoted by people like Matt Chandler (here, here and here). This Easter season, there has been another visible example of CRT in the church. I use the word "church" here lightly because the church involved is the First United Church of Oak Park in Chicago. If you know anything about the united church, they have rejected the gospel and have embraced liberal doctrine and social justice. So what I'll say next shouldn't be a surprise. For lent, they decided to "Fast from Whiteness." This was demonstrated by abstaining from performing hymns composed or written by white musicians and replacing them with music and liturgy written by Black People, Indigenous People, and People of Colour. God created diversity. And diversity is a beautiful thing. In fact, in heaven we will worship with people of all ethnicities (Rev. 7:9-10). Yet, what we have here is an intentional "fasting from whiteness" informed and motivated by CRT. During this season of lent, songs and liturgy was chosen strictly based on the skin colour of those who come from oppressed ethnic groups. As I reflect on this event, I'm torn on what I want to tackle. Part of me wants to stop and make a case for whether Lent (a tradition formalized in 325 AD after the Council of Nicea) is biblical and then consider what we should fast from if it is biblical. Yet, another part wants me to take this event as an opportunity to explore how we should determine what songs we should use during corporate worship. Sometimes it's difficult for me to know what to tackle in a current event like this. The issue that is more pressing here, and one which we see in other churches, is the embracing of CRT and other false ideologies when it comes to making decisions regarding worship in the church. When it comes to choosing music or liturgy, we cannot choose based on the colour of one's skin. That is the sin of partiality that is forbidden in scripture (James 2:1-13). That goes for any decision that is made based on preferential treatment. So how should we choose what music we should use for corporate worship? There are different approaches that people take. Here are some that I've thought of.
I'm sure you can think of others. I've been guilty of employing all these methods at some point in my ministry. And as I reflect on them, they all share something in common - self. The determining factor really that drove these methods was what I wanted out of a corporate worship meeting, whether that was to elicit a feeling in myself or others, to sing songs that I loved, to keep others happy, or to try to look like I had a plan as I quickly gathered some songs together. Worship is not about us. It is about God. Everything we do, including corporate singing, is to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). But he is not only the object of worship - he is the conductor too. He is the one who directs and determines how we are to worship. That truth is revealed throughout scripture in the fact that God did not accept the worship of those who did not offer what He had prescribed. Song choice may seem significant to some and not significant to others. Yet, if God is the conductor of worship, and singing is an act of worship, it must be important to God. So how should we choose the songs we sing in corporate worship? We need the bible, not culture, to inform us. The book of Psalms was the prayer and songbook of the church. As you read through them, you notice some common characteristics of the songs sung throughout God's people's history. Things we should look for in the music that we pick today.
Of course, the book of Psalms is not the only place where the songs are contained. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there are songs that God's people sung corporately. Philippians 2 contains one of them. And when you examine the hymn, you find that it shares the same commonalities that I've mentioned above, except that there is an added focus, especially on Jesus. Of course, other things should be considered when choosing music for corporate worship, such as whether it can be sung corporately. Though we have the freedom to enjoy different styles of music, some simply cannot be done as a group. The hymn writers wrote with the church in mind; many contemporary artists write with individuals in mind. However, there has been significant growth in solid theologically rich songs for corporate worship over the past years with such groups as CityAlight, Sovereign Grace and The Gettys. So how do we choose music? The colour of a person's skin cannot determine whether a song is fit for corporate worship because this is not a scriptural practice. Nowhere do you see this as a determining factor for anything in worship. To choose based on skin colour is to not simply be led by CRT but engage in the sin of partiality. So how should we determine what songs to sing in the church gathering? Simply put, we must examine the content of the song and the response that it leads to. If in doubt, sing scripture and the psalms! What’s the greatest threat to the church today in Canada? That’s a question I asked a few weeks ago on my Instagram stories. I enjoyed reading your responses. And I am hoping to do more of these, so watch for them throughout the week.
The greatest threat to the church is not what is happening outside the gathering but what is happening within it. Yes, times are not good in our country. There are a lot of bad things that are happening in our nation. Democracy is dying. Charter rights have been suppressed. Certain people and ideologies are being censored and penalized. Protests that aren’t in line with the narrative are aggressively curbed. Communist ideologies and bills such as S-233 are trying to be pushed through. Moral legislation is voted down, and immoral ones are passed. Increasingly our government is being given more power, and currently, we have a Liberal-NDP coalition. God’s Word is called a myth, and teaching biblical sexual ethics is deemed as hatred and has been criminalized. Times are not good, but these things are not the greatest threat to the church. Are we in unprecedented times? Is the government we have and the culture we live in worse and more immoral than others throughout history? No. In the New Testament times, God’s people were literally under a dictatorship and surrounded by a slough of sinful debauchery. Yet, what is their greatest concern? The infiltration of false teachers into the church. We shouldn’t be oblivious to what is happening in our country. However, we should be more vigilant when discerning those in the gatherings throughout our country that propagate false ideologies – especially if you are an elder. As Paul is making his way to Rome, he gives this warning to the elders of Ephesus. “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:28-31) Those savage wolves are here, and some are even leading churches. For clarity’s sake, I have in mind those who teach doctrine contrary to God’s Word – especially those preaching a different gospel and a different Jesus. Jesus referred to the false teachers as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Mt. 7:15), expressing how they try to masquerade as harmless and something they aren’t. They are often a hidden danger in plain sight, mixing in with those in the church (Jude 12). This truth isn’t lost here. Paul says that these false teachers will arise even from within the church. Men who seem trustworthy and innocent would insert themselves into places of influence and begin to teach things that distort the truth and draw people away. These men are savage wolves that bring harm through what they teach. Peter refers to their teachings as “destructive” heresies for a reason. As I look around at our country and even right here in the Annapolis Valley, there are a few prevalent heresies that are being embraced and promoted.
A wolf preys on the weak. A weak Christian is someone who doesn’t know God’s word enough to stand against the deception and lies of these teachers. Sadly, churches throughout Canada have been plagued by biblical illiteracy for decades. Many do not know what God’s Word says on a given topic because they do not intentionally spend time reading and studying it. As Charles Spurgeon said of those in his own time, “There is enough dust on some of your Bibles to write ‘damnation’ with your fingers”. This makes them easy pickings for these wolves. These savage wolves are a far greater threat than authoritarian governments. Remember that when Paul gave this warning to the Ephesian elders, Nero was the ruler. Yet Paul’s focus is not on him but on the savage wolves seeking to destroy the church through deceptive doctrines. This threat was so significant to him that he never stopped tearfully warning them day and night for three years. Let me ask a question – is Justin Trudeau a more significant threat to you or a pastor such as Henry Hildebrant that teaches a different gospel? Don’t get me wrong. Justin Trudeau can definitely make things more difficult for us politically, economically, and physically. However, false teachers that distort the truth lead others towards spiritual decay and eternal destruction. On top of that, embracing these lies will lead to a further decline in our society. The church is the pillar and the butler of the truth, given the task of confronting error. We can’t do that if we have embraced the error. And this is largely why we are in the state we are in today. Yes, we should be concerned about our government’s actions; however, we should be more concerned about the false teachers influencing others to embrace damnable heresies. So what do we do? The Bible provides us with practical steps to take.
As you stand up for what is right, don’t be fooled that the government is the greatest threat to you and the church. It isn’t! These savage wolves are. So fellow brothers and sisters in Christ...dig deep into God’s Word, be on guard, contend for the truth, and commit yourselves to God. And pastors, guard the flock God has made you overseers of. Guard, teach, equip, contend, expose, warn and confront. The wolves are hungry. Don’t give them an opportunity to feed. Written By David Hanson
Listen to the audio version here On Sunday, I had the privilege to share God's Word with a country church here in the valley. I chose to preach on wayward worship and how God responds to such activity. I picked this not because this church has been disobedient. In fact, I didn't know the people until that Sunday. It wasn't a message of correction but a reminder of a problem we all share. Our hearts are an idol-making factory, prone to wander away from God and His instructions. You can find my reading of the sermon here. 1 Kings 12:25-13:10 contains the events of Jeroboam setting up a new way of worship in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and God's clear disapproval of it. There is a lot of stuff that is packed into this passage that is relevant for today. Jeroboam sets up a new religion, trying to keep God in the picture while violating his instructions regarding worship. It's the typical pagan worship masquerading as "Christian worship." Jeroboam sets up two golden calves and refers to them as the god who took them out of Egypt. It's very similar to what Aaron had done in Exodus, except double the trouble. Last week I wrote about confronting the elephant in the room. How do we do this? Part of the process is that we need to try to understand the root causes that influenced and led them to their decisions. Some of the key ones are pride, ignorance and fear. The heart of the problem is always the problem of the heart. Jeroboam's decision to set up a new way of worship stemmed from a heart controlled by fear. Difficult times will either make strong men or expose weak men. Times were challenging for Jeroboam, who was king over the northern half of a divided kingdom. As king, his role was to rule over the people, leading them in righteousness as contained in the Torah and providing security so that the nation could live and worship God faithfully. Yet, fear influences how he leads and causes him to violate God's instructions regarding worship. Much like how many pastors operate today, Jeroboam was worried about the "what if" scenarios. What if the people leave? What if I may face some opposition? What if my position comes to an end? To lessen these potential outcomes, many leaders attempt to appease the people, believing it gives a measure of control over the outcome. Jeroboam's fear of the "what if" leads him to create a convenient way of worship that would rival any seeker-sensitive movement. He changes the place of worship so that it's closer to home. He opened the priesthood up to anyone who wanted to be a priest, which would have enticed more people to get involved. He even creates a new celebration that would rival the one at the temple. He did all this after seeking counsel. That's the shocking thing. Who counselled him? Was he simply seeking counsel that he wanted to hear to ease his worries, or did someone say that this was acceptable? Whatever the case, he created a convenient way of worship that would keep the people entertained enough to stay. A whole system motivated by the fear of the "what if." Fear is a dominating factor in how many church leaders determine what to do for worship. Just think about why many churches refused to gather for chunks of time over the last two years. Fear of the virus, fear of public opinion, fear of penalties, fear of sickness and death, and fear that people would leave. Let's not pigeonhole ourselves into focusing only on a pastor's response to the mandates. There's more to a gathering than whether people are being vetted, masked, and distanced. Step back and look at how your pastor is making decisions regarding leading, preaching, teaching, choosing music, confronting sin, church discipline and a whole host of other things. Is he making decisions based on obedience to God or fear of the "what if"? For many church leaders, popularity, attendance numbers, and the offering plate influence their decision-making more than God's Word does. Of course, church leaders aren't the only ones prone to this. Just as they are afraid of losing people and finances, we fear rocking the boat, disturbing unity, and being viewed as troublemakers. We are worried about how people will perceive us, so we grin and bear it, believing that things will get better. Frankly, we are often more afraid of man than God. No one is immune to fear; that's why the command to not worry is repeated 365 times in the Bible. Fear is something that I need to guard against in my own heart. I'm prone to worry about all sorts of things – two big things being finances and how people perceive me. I've seen fear motivate me to avoid, adopt, adapt and justify certain decisions. Like Jeroboam, I have allowed the fear of the 'what if' to influence the way I worship and lead others in worship. I've written about that before, but while I was pastoring in Manitoba, I was worried about losing my position if I stood against the mandates being followed in the church. Ashamedly, fear initially led me to go along with the pragmatic approach of doing "Zoom church." What I needed during that time was what Jeroboam received in 1 Kings 13:1-10. I needed to be confronted with the truth, shown what God thinks of such worship, and be stopped in my tracks. For Jeroboam, God sent a prophet with a stern warning and rebuke. For me, it was several messages by faithful pastors who clearly taught God's word so that it was simple to understand just how wayward I was leading the church. Unlike Jeroboam, who decided to continue in his ways, I was convicted and brought back to the path of biblical worship. Without these faithful pastors, I wonder whether I would still be offering worship that was unacceptable to God. I'm not writing this to get sympathy or a pat on the back. Rather, I am sharing my story because I know I'm not the only one who has allowed fear to influence how I made decisions and led others into worship. For those who want to confront the elephant in the room, take the time to understand the root cause. Perhaps, like myself, he's a pastor who struggles with the fear of the "what if." If that's the case, he needs a faithful man of God who would come to him with patience, mercy, and truth - three things you see in 1 Kings 13:1-10. Are you that man? |
AuthorHello! I'm glad you found my blog. My name is David Hanson, and I am a concerned Christian who desires for the church of North America to become aware and begin to think biblically of what is happening around them in society. It's time for the church to awake and speak into the current events of the day. We alone have the truth to navigate life effectively. That truth is the Word of God. Archives
May 2022
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