In their weakness-in their most vulnerable, least independent, most dependent state-they could be turning to Christ in faith. They didn’t know Christ when they left home that day, so obviously they still don’t know the Lord.” But we don’t know what God is doing in someone’s heart and mind-bringing back to their memory aspects of the Gospel that have been shared with them, and things they’ve read and heard. Everyone might think, “They were in this accident. Take the person who has been in a coma for a period of time and is unresponsive. They may have been aware of the hours, minutes, even just seconds leading up to their death and cried out to God for deliverance. We don’t know whether the Holy Spirit of God has done a work of grace in someone’s heart and life at the last moment. What might help you personally on this-and I have reassured myself about this many times-is to realize that we do not know what happens inside a person before they die. But when someone’s loved one has died, what is the point in trying to persuade them that their loved one is in Hell? I don’t know what that would accomplish. We need to look for ways to get the gospel to them, because there are many indications they are unsaved. That’s when we need to sit down with them and say, “You think your brother, your father, your son, your daughter, your spouse is saved, but there is clear evidence they are not.” We need to pray for that person as we would pray for an unsaved person, relate to them, and reach out to them. This is very different than a person who believes their loved one who is still alive is saved, when they are clearly not.
I think what that would do is lay a responsibility on us to impose an opinion we have, and although that opinion may very well be accurate, it will just cause unnecessary distress to that person in the midst of their loss. I think the answer is that we do not have an obligation to try to convince people that their loved one was not saved. How Do I Minister to an Unsaved Friend Whose Loved One Died without a Relationship with Christ? from Randy Alcorn - EPM on Vimeo.
How would you respond and minister to unsaved friends or family (or even strangers) who have lost a loved one and assume their lost loved one is in Heaven, even though that person clearly did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ? In today’s blog, I’m answering a question asked by a reader:
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