Story from Aunty Helen......Christians are heartless

A friend I call Aunty Helen told me a story about her relative which I think will ring a bell to many of us.

Her relative lost a grandmother and they were mourning over their lost. Their hurt was magnified by the absence of 3 grandchildren. All 3 grandchildren are brought up by the grandmother since they are a baby (as their parents are working).

Now in their young adults years, they have become Christians and they cannot attend the wake which is conducted by another faith. They do not attend the funeral as well.

The family are very upset by this and wonder why Christianity taught the 3 grandchildren to do what they did.

This is also one of the reasons that I heard from many friends that is a stumbling block to them becoming Christians. Their aged parent (non-Christians) are afraid that there was be no one to send them off of their last journey.

How sad that can be. Anyone who bother to search the entire bible will never find any teaching to support such actions (of not attending wake / funerals conducted by another faith).

In fact, one of the 10 Commandments says to "Honor your father and mother" but it does not limit just to your parents but it simply means respect and honor all your elders.

So, can Christians attend the wake and funeral? Of Course they can!

The common reasons that Christians used is that they cannot hold joss sticks as they believe in 1 God and will not worship any idols etc....

They do not want to use the wisdom that God bless them with to know that holding joss sticks is not even close to worshiping anything....

On top of that, a wake and funeral is a simple act of respecting the dead person and sending them off on their last journey. It is a sign of respect and not worshiping any idols or another god.

Another point that Christians says is that it is more important to honor them when they are alive (which I whole heartedly agrees) and when one is dead, it's only the body left.

God, where did they get this idea from.....it is clear to all Christians that our body is the temple of God and must be treated with respect!

Therefore, any church that teaches this is flawed and the bible does not support that. Jesus does not support that teaching too.

So why follow?

** Need to clarify that if one is to hold joss stick and pray to another god then, it is not acceptable because we believe only in 1 God. But, we do respect all other religions although we do not participate in their worship **