Lead:

How should we talk about Bethel church praying for a girl’s resurrection?

Intro:

Recently Bethel church was in the news as they prayed for a little girl’s resurrection. The argument: Jesus did it, so we have precedent. (NOTE: I’m not a frequenter of CBN, but their story quotes the pastor so you can see for yourself).

Today in our All Our Minds segment, I’m going to ask the question that I’ve not seen asked: What is the difference between resurrection and resuscitation? And how does this help us talk about this story with our peers?

Sponsor:

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Bible:

Passage: Proverbs 30
Translation: NLT (New Living Translation)
Verses: 33
Words: ~541

All Our Minds:

Did Jesus resurrect people during His earthly ministry? The pastor at Bethel says we have precedent as he and his church are calling for prayer for a two year old girl who died. After all, we have stories like Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter. And not just Jesus, but Elijah and Elisha in the Old Covenant (Testament).

Here’s the simple answer you can share:

No. Jesus didn’t resurrect them, He resuscitated them. Resurrection is to a new, transformed, immortal body; resuscitation is the revival of the existing, temporal body, and it will die a physical death again.

Every one of those people were “raised from the dead” so to speak, but remember what Jesus said in the incident with Jairus’ daughter in Luke:

And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. Lk 8:52–53, ESV

Sadly, sometimes Christians are laughed at for no good reason. Even more sadly, sometimes Christians say things that are worth laughing at. Well, not really, we shouldn’t be laughing, we should be mourning…

…mourning the death of a two year old girl. This should grieve us no matter what the circumstances.
…mourning the misleading language used by Bethel’s pastor. Resurrection of the bodies of those who have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior will be part of our experience, enabled and demonstrated by Jesus’ bodily resurrection. But you do not have to look far to find a consensus make the distinction between resurrection and resuscitation — a distinction curiously overlooked.
…mourning the injury to the message of the Gospel. The Gospel is itself a confrontational affront to every sinner, we should try to avoid making it more-so.

Most of you know that I almost always address ideas and avoid names. As I said a few days ago, every person is made in the image of God and deserving of respect. Here I will exhort you to avoid Bethel Church — this is not the only troublesome theological issue there. In and of itself, using the word “resurrection” instead of “resuscitation” might be overlooked as a mistake, but this is just a symptom of deeply troubling revelations that have been emerging there. There are so many great churches to learn from who are faithful to Christ and the Bible.

Wisdom:

Passage: Psalm 148
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Verses: 14
Words: ~230

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

#991: Proverbs 30 | Bethel church and resurrection vs resuscitation | Psalm 148