Perhaps you've familiarized yourself with the story of Brittany Maynard. She's a 29 year-old Portland, Oregon woman who has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Even more tragically, she's only been married to her husband for about 2 years and was attempting to have children. We always cringe and grieve when we hear of these tragedies affecting the youngest among us.
Brittany is now a volunteer advocate for Compassion and Choices - one of the nation's leading end-of-life choice organizations, or as it has now been called "death with dignity." Isn't it interesting how our culture renames things over time? What we used to call assisted suicide (remember Dr. Kevorkian - "Dr. Death") we now call death with dignity. This renaming has become common in our post-Christian culture. What was once "gay marriage" has now been re-branded "marriage equality." What was called "the taking of an innocent human life" has now been renamed "a woman's right to choose." The new terminology makes our sins sound so much better.
There are two major problems with assisted suicide, among many others. First, assisted suicide rejects the sovereignty of God. Only God has the right to end our lives. He alone is the Giver of life and He alone is to be the Taker. Bible-believing Christians affirm life from conception all the way to natural death. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with artificial life-saving methods (ventilators, etc.). But we should ask ourselves why a Christian would want to go to great lengths to extend his/her life when the Apostle Paul has said "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phi. 1:21).
Further, assisted suicide doubts God's power to heal, or at least it denies Him the opportunity to do so. Remember, there have been a number of people that doctors and nurses have given up on, only for God to step in and heal. The Bible is filled with examples. How about the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34)? She "had a flow of blood for twelve years and had suffered many things from the physicians." Yet with one touch of the hem of Jesus' garment, she was totally set free. Or how about the man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9)? For thirty-eight years he had suffered with an infirmity, but after Jesus told him to "rise, take up your bed and walk," his life was never the same. Or how about the man at the Gate Beautiful (Acts 3:1-10)? He was lame from birth and was carried to the gate by his friends every day to come and beg. The apostles didn't have any silver and gold, but what they have they gave - healing in Jesus' name! He went "walking, and leaping, and praising God" (v. 8). And these biblical examples don't even include the countless other stories that could be told by many of you. Assisted suicide doubts that God is able to do even the miraculous.
Some may say I don't know what I'm talking about because I've never experienced Mrs. Maynard's kind of suffering. If I had, then I would have a much different perspective. What those people may not know is that I watched my dad suffer with prostate and bone cancer for several years prior to his death. I watched him throw up as a result of chemotherapy. I watched him burn up as a result of radiation. I watched him moan & groan and plead for relief. On one occasion, I even caught him as he fainted at the bathroom door.
Yet never once did my dad curse the Lord. Never did he get mad at God and ask "Why me?". In fact, he became an even greater soul-winner after his sickness. And he certainly never considered or mentioned the taking of his own life. Why? Because he trusted that the God who gave him his life was more than capable or taking it in His time. My mom, brother, and myself were standing right there with dad in the Hospice care facility when God did exactly that.
I truly sympathize with the Brittany Maynards of the world because I have witnessed their suffering up close & personal. But no amount of suffering gives us the right to make decisions that are reserved for God alone. We should all pray that God will relieve Brittany's suffering and that He will give her the courage to leave her life in God's hands rather than taking it into her own.
Well said, Amen
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