Knitted together – antidote to suicide

“We are never “individuals” but always and inextricably bound together in profound ways. Our connectedness is so central to the gospel that Paul uses a compelling metaphor—the body—to capture it (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12; Eph. 4). In this body, all the parts are needed and work as a whole. If one part of the body cuts itself off forever, then surely the entire body will suffer. And just as the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” (1 Cor. 12:21), neither can it say, “You don’t need me!”

Every person is spiritually stitched to innumerable other persons. Here we find not only the strongest argument against suicide, but also a powerful antidote to it. Along with hotlines and health clinic referrals, we the church also need to foster communities where the darkest of impulses can be named without fear of rejection. Satan would love nothing more than to keep suicidal Christians isolated. But God has given us the answer in each other. As we are knitted together as the church, the gates of hell—and of suicide—will not prevail against us”

Katelyn Beaty is Christianity Today’s managing editor.

Auteur: Margreet

Ik vind het heerlijk om te peinzen over de dingen van alledag, de grote en de kleine. Mijn interesses? Lezen, gesprekken met vrienden en kinderen, koken, tweedehands spulletjes zoeken, films kijken, tuinieren, tegenwoordig vooral inheems en biologisch. Verder mijn kleinkinderen, die niet meer zo klein zijn, mijn Nederlandse, Amerikaanse en Franse familie, kortom te veel om op te noemen. Het volle, rijke, soms moeilijke leven met zijn ups en downs, daarover schrijf ik, met plezier. Toon alle berichten van Margreet