Popular author Rachel Held Evans passed away on May 4th, 2019. Announced in an update on Rachel's blog by her husband, Dan.
The news is incredibly sad no doubt, and my heart is broken to hear the news. I had been praying for her recovery and now I will be continuing to pray for her family and those around her.
One thing that comes to my mind, however, in the midst of this tragedy is how one should respond to her passing. A major reason for this post is due to things I've seen on social media. People seem to be vitriolic in their continued "apologetic" or "polemic" mission. Another issue I've noticed is that people seem to compromise a stance on the Gospel in offering condolensces. It's possible to kind and offer sincere condolensces but there are several specific things to keep in mind:
- She had radically unChristian views during her life. This makes it very difficult in terms of celebrating her "ministry." The situation is tragic but certainly we cannot ignore the fact that she promoted an agenda that was not in line with orthodox Christianity.
- She has passed, there isn't any further need to engage in polemics against her. The Bible says that after death comes judgment, there's nothing more that needs to be said about her and her worldview.
- Pray for comfort for her family and friends. Pray the true Gospel to shine in this situation in order for those who do not know Christ to come to Him.