The world is coming to terms with the sudden death of Anthony Bourdain. He committed suicide. Most Christians are sad over his untimely demise, but some Christians are celebrating his death. They tweeted he is burning in hell. Folks, please stop it. Hell is a terrible place. Please don’t wish it even for your worst enemy. Before his crucifixion, Jesus wept over unrepentant Jerusalem and its inhabitants. When an unsaved person dies, weep over his or her soul because they entered into an eternity without God.
Anthony Bourdain, his mother was Jewish and his father was a Catholic. He had no religious upbringing at all in his home. We should feel sorry for all these children growing up in homes without godly parents.
If you look at Bourdain’s tweets, it is evident he lived his life either as an atheist or agnostic. In the last 2 decades, atheism rose by 10 percent and suicide rates rose by 30 percent. Numerous studies have shown that regular church attendees and believers have very low suicide rates compared to irreligious, non-religious and atheist groups.
If this universe is an accident, you are an accident in this universe, yes, you can do lot of things with your life even as an atheist. You can go to library and read lot of books. You can go to Hawaii and lie down in the beach and watch beautiful blue ocean while sipping from Coconut fruits, you can play music, watch football etc etc. You can also decide to end your life. Without God, your life is only in your hands. You can fill it with lot of fun stuff or just end it on any given day. No atheist can rationally say that person committing suicide made a bad decision. It is not coincidence that Western Europe which is most secular region of the world has high suicide rates and promoting Dr.Kevorkian style Euthanasia to end life prematurely.
Famous atheist Albert Camus once said, ‘There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide’. God says, all those who hate me love death (Proverbs 8:36).
For the Christian, suicide is not an option. The last words of Jesus on the cross were, ‘It is finished’. Even in the most painful state ever devised by man, on the cross, Jesus accomplished the will of God for his life. Victor Frankel wrote the book, Man’s Search for Meaning after spending time in Auschwitz. Many people committed suicide before even reaching the gates of Auschwitz. But Frankel believed that God could accomplish his purposes even when we go through horrendous evil.
When we are in fellowship with God, that is the best antidote to suicidal thinking. Five individuals committed suicide in the Bible and every one of them was not in fellowship with God. Anthony Bourdain went all over the world tasting different foods of different cultures, but the tragic thing is he died without tasting the Bread of Life, which is Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Come to Jesus today and He will fill your life with meaning, purpose and fulfillment!
Have a nice weekend!