Funeral For A Non-Christian
I'd like to ask those of you who are ministers - what would you do if someone asked you to conduct the funeral of a non-Christian? Would you do it and, if so, how differently would you word the service from the way you would for a Christian's funeral?
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---m.p.a. on 12/2/06
Helpful Blog Vote (15)
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First of all youu need knowledge and spiritual understanding. Ministers are not the only ones who can conduct funerals. Common sense can take us a very long ways in life. It is not our job to condemn anyone. Everyone you think is saved,does not have to be. It is not our place to put anyone down about their relationship with the Lord. This is between them and their God. God will do the judging,not us.
Music is appropriate for the unsaved. Sing a few songs. Prayer is always in order. Everyone has a few friends. Allow them to give expressions. There are many sermons that can be preached that can be appreciated by the saved and unsaved. I would take this route then bless and comfort the family. Common sense. |
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---Robyn on 8/26/09 |
Yr's gone by I've heard trin-ministers trying to preach down to earth filthy sinners on into heaven.(is what some family members & friends want to hear)
An Apostolic Pentecostal Minister doing a funeral for a sinner,he will say to relation & friends there in the funeral service,I canNot put this person in heaven,this person is in The Hands of a Living & Just God. This being said has made family & friends mad,while they say this person done this & or that for people,even helped & gave to others. Scripture says that your own self righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. |
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---Lawrence on 8/18/09 |
my minister told me of a rich man who died and went to hell begging that someone would tell his brothers of christ so that they would not have the same fate. |
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---jerry on 8/17/09 |
Lord we pray for PJ and that your healing touch will bring comfort in this time of mourning.
I totally agree on the message of salvation before non-believers. In a total act of soveriegnty the Lord will step in and more or remove a life so others will be bought unto him. |
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---larry on 8/17/09 |
My son just died from a drug overdose, and my pastor took the opportunity to bring a salvation message to the congregation. It was not a 'popular' thing that my son's friends wanted to hear, and one person even stood up and disrupted the service by saying "this is not what we want to hear" and then he proceeded to leave the building. I commended my pastor later for standing his ground firmly. He is called of God. His "job" is not to make everybody comfortable at funerals--his job is to try to bring those in darkness to the Light. |
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---PJ on 8/17/09 |
I gave my father a Catholic funeral and I am not Catholic (I am pentecostal, non-demonination, born again, spirit filled, etc.,)
To me, it was just a ritual I followed for him and I carried out his wishes, not mine.
I would try to work some scripture into it and do it in love and humility would be the advice I would offer you.
God looks at the heart, not the outward actions and He judges by the thoughts and intentions of the heart. If your heart wants to do more, then God will know that. He will honor you with whatever is in your heart even if you don't carry it out. |
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---anon on 7/27/09 |
I guess you have to be senstive when dealing with the unsaved you can really make a mess of things and lose the point if you try to put too much of yourself in the way of the unsaved.
If you read the bible concerning salvation and death you can with precision use choice words that hits the idea of not departing this world without God when you come to the end of your journey. I usually use the expression that we are not responsible for the way we come into the world we are responsible for the way we leave , and more often than not we are much better dying with Christ as lord than departing without his saving grace. |
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---Carla3939 on 7/27/09 |
That situation is similar in our place. When unbeliver dies, their relatives wants christian service funeral. Like in Roman Catholic, when one dies someone prays for him. They need mass,or preist help.
With regards to scripture...that is no effect to the one died. His life was ended and no more hope for him if he is unsave. |
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---rosalie on 7/26/09 |
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Recently a good friend/neighbour asked me to conduct the funeral of her young son who had died accidentally.
She isn't Christian so I wondered why she would ask me to conduct it, knowing full-well that I am Christian. We spoke and I explained the gospel and how I would be unfaithful to God if I conducted the funeral in secular terms. She begged me to do it saying I was genuine, knew her, and would inject meaning into the service.
I am happy to report the funeral went very well. Phew! My wife,my honest critic, said I took the Christian content to the limit, but not over it.
Afterwards numerous people, including my friend, thanked me for what I had said.
I found it very stressful but thank God for the opportunity. |
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---Warwick on 7/24/09 |
"good question
unfortunately i don't know what i'll do
i am irritated when non-believers' funerals are conducted by churches in a pretentious manner"
pat on 7/21/09
Another said, 'I do not waste my time or God's time on them'. Yet another, 'Because of this and that he is not my brother, and since you call him a brother, you are not my brother either'. A man killed his brother, for he had written him off as 'He is not my brother', Yet he was his brother nonetheless, for the Lord came to inquire of that man, "Where is thy brother?". I think not a good thing of being easily irritated. |
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---Nana on 7/23/09 |
good question
unfortunately i don't know what i'll do
i am irritated when non-believers' funerals are conducted by churches in a pretentious manner
expecially when the need for salvation is not mentioned and everyone pretends everything is alright
that is how i felt about jacko's funeral...didn't watch the whole thing... but the spiritual caption the headlines gave was enough to give me nausea
maybe if i conduct it, i will definately call the unsaved to repentance and make an altar call as well.... otherwise i have no business officiating |
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---pat on 7/21/09 |
Replace the lords name with the guy's name, who just died. Yes conduct the funeral, because all children are children of God. Even the ones who denied it in life. |
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---Katherine on 6/10/09 |
I never realized until I became Pastor of Care how much a funeral service could be an out reach.
When I do a service for a non-christian, I let the family say everything about the one who died. I don't make any statments about them. I try to find some way to connect with them in my remarks, then I talk about the three resources we have to walk through the loss: Family, Friends, and Faith. If I don't know anything about their faith, I share my faith. I have seen several people show up at Church following non-christian funerals. Many of them are searching |
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---Joe on 6/4/09 |
I most certainly would do it. Funeral services are for the living not the dead.
I would start by paying respect to the departed and remind people that there was love in his heart for his family and friends.
Then I would share from the Bible what this departed one would tell them if he could come back.
Two things he would say;
1. Get the Peace of God,
2. You cannot get the Peace of God if you don't get Peace with God.
(PS. Been there, done that.) |
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---Elder on 6/9/07 |
You should take that opportunity to offer salvation to the lost using the fact we all will go in death and stand before the Lord and those who believe on Christ and obey him will be saved. |
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---exzucuh on 1/7/07 |
I will be doing a funeral in a few hours for a non-believer. Sadly, I will not be able to say much about the Lord. Hopefully, I will be the presence of Christ among a throng of lost souls. The rest is up to God. |
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---Nick on 1/6/07 |
Yes, I would say something like: as being a born-again Christian preacher, I will tell you that the earthen life of mankind is not all that there is to be. But that there is a whole other eternal life after this life. And we can know this life by putting our faith in the living Lord Jesus Christ, etc. etc. |
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---Eloy on 12/4/06 |
Aren't non-christians the main people that need ministering? |
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---jacques on 12/4/06 |
Preach the word, just as it would be if the person was saved. There is nothing one can do to save the dead, but give an alter call for those that are spiritualy dead (sinners). |
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---Rebecca_D on 12/4/06 |
Great answers all of you. Very helpful indeed. |
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---m.p.a. on 12/3/06 |
I have been asked to do so and did. A eulogy is offered about the persons life and influence. Nice things are said to comfort the family. The general verses about resurrection and heaven are read. But the person is not "preached into Heaven." At a funeral of a nonChristian, this is simply not mentioned. The lack of mention is not offering false hope. Neither is it bringing further grief to the loved ones. |
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---ed on 12/2/06 |
My husband has had this happen to him. He participated in his ex-wife's funeral. There is a good chance that she wasn't saved. But, she was in a coma for a few weeks before she passed away. We prayed that she would be able to get right with the Lord before she died. Hopefully, she did. He gave a salvation message at the last and asked those who wanted to accept the Lord to repeat a simple prayer with him. Everyone repeated it. |
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---Susie on 12/2/06 |
May I suggest that here is a great opportunity. Your wording should include that death is a great mystery. You can say that you do not about this man's eternal home, but that each and every person at this funeral today can make certain before they leave. You could then offer to lead them and a sinner's prayer unto salvation. This could be at the end of your message after having said other things. |
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---mima on 12/2/06 |
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