Euthanasia – A Christian Response

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink

Monday 24th August, 2020

The Biblical Response

1. Sanctity of Life. This is a fundamental belief for Christians. Sanctity means the quality of being holy, sacred, or set apart. Believing in the sanctity of life means believing that human life is somehow holy, set apart, or different from other life forms. The question is "Why do Christians believe that human life is set apart?" Christians believe human life is sacred because humankind is the only life form to have been created in God's image, after His likeness, and God is holy (Genesis 1:27). We are also told that God literally breathed life into man, something He did not do with other life forms (Genesis 2:7). Something in the way God created humans reflects His attributes. In other words, we bear God's image. So, anything that harms or mars a human life also therefore mars that reflection of God Himself. Therefore, Christians approach human life with a sense of reverence for the Creator who is reflected in that life.
2. We have been wonderfully made. Psalm 139:16 shows that the days of each person's life were written in God's book before any of them came to be. Christians believe that human lives belong to God and only He is in charge of the giving and taking of that life. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 goes so far as to say, of believers, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body”.
3. Do not Kill (Exodus 20:13). Because God has given us life at the very beginning (conception), and because he sustains life throughout our earthly existence, only He should decide when life should end. That is not our prerogative. It is our Creator’s; it is God’s and God alone. So to kill a human being or assist in the killing of another human being is breaking this commandment irrespective of how distressing the end-of-life stage may be of a loved one.
4. Heaven is our Home. For Christians we have really good news. This life is temporary, very temporary in fact and Heaven is eternal. Furthermore, in Heaven there is no more sickness, disease or pain. Because that is true when we come to the end of our lives and we are terminally ill then hope arises in our hearts and we start to look forward to Heaven. Then when the time is right it is absolutely appropriate to say no to all medical treatments and allow the natural process of dying to hasten. At that point, we might say what my friend and mentor said to me on the very day he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, “I place my dying days in the hands of a living God”. There comes a time I believe that we should pray boldly and with faith that God would take our terminally ill loved one home.

A Pastoral Response

1. Ageism is wrong. According to the World Health Organisation – “Ageism is the stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people on the basis of their age. Ageism is widespread and an insidious practice which has harmful effects on the health of older adults. For older people, ageism is an everyday challenge. Overlooked for employment, restricted from social services and stereotyped in the media, ageism marginalises and excludes older people in their communities. Ageism is everywhere, yet it is the most socially “normalized” of any prejudice, and is not widely countered – like racism or sexism. These attitudes lead to the marginalisation of older people within our communities and have negative impacts on their health and well-being”.
   As Pastors in particular and for all Christians we must speak out about this. In our speaking, in our decision making and in our personal interactions we must clearly communicate that all life is sacred, no life is worthless or a burden that we cannot carry. The Christian response is simply yet profoundly, ‘I love you; I respect you and how can I serve you?’.
2. The Bible is filled with practical ways we're to value human life by loving others: tending to the sick, visiting the imprisoned, feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, seeking justice for the oppressed, and caring for orphans, widows, and strangers (Matthew 25:35–36; James 1:27; 1 John 3:16–18; Ezekiel 45:9; Deuteronomy 10:18–19). We should be agents of love and compassion in the world, alleviating suffering wherever we can and remembering that each human life bears the image of our God.
3. Palliative Care. We should be grateful for this branch of specialised medicine and those who work in it. With modern advances in science and technology it is truly incredible what the medical profession can now provide for people who are very sick and at the end of their lives. How an individual ‘interacts’ with the options within ‘palliative care’ is a very personal thing and deserves prayer, family support (both biological and spiritual) and always undergirded with a deep belief about the sanctity of life.
4. Ultimately, we should be sharing the gospel "not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" because that's how much God values human life and He desires that we do too (2 Peter 3:9).

Finally, there are four Resources I would recommend for further reading:-

1. Caralise Trayes Book, The Final Choice. A suburb summary of both sides of the debate.
2. Family First’s Election 2020 booklet that includes ’20 Reasons To Vote No To Euthanasia’.
3. Euthanasia-Free Organisation.
4. Pop Quiz on the proposed bill

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Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.