This past weekend I attended my grandmother’s funeral, but I have a question. My family is very unscriptural in most of their\u00a0ways, but while I was there they had a woman preach or eulogize the funeral I am wondering if I am in sin by attending it and staying for the services?<\/p>\n
I was trying to pay respect, but at the same time, since I feel as if I was supporting what was going on when I really don’t support it, I got angry at times my family supported it!<\/p>\n\t
“Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You are correct to note that attendance at a funeral is to show respect for the one who had died and to give support to the family left behind. Since you didn’t plan the funeral, there is nothing you can do about the activities. All you can choose is what you will or will not participate in doing.<\/p>\n
I’ve been to weddings conducted at Roman Catholic churches. I go to be a witness for the couple and to share their joy. But I don’t participate in the mass or service that is held. I simply sit politely and quietly through it.<\/p>\n
I’ve been to funerals held by denominational preachers. Again, I’m there to show support to the family members I know. But I don’t participate in the religious service — especially the parts which conflict with God’s teachings. Instead, I sit politely and quietly through it.<\/p>\n
Often, when I know that the funeral service is going to be too objectionable, I make a special effort to go to the wake and skip the service.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thanks very much for your quick reply. I just hope and pray I might live my life in a way that will allow my family to see that Jesus (according to the Word) is the only way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: This past weekend I attended my grandmother’s funeral, but I have a question. My family is very unscriptural in most of their\u00a0ways, but while I was there they had a woman preach or eulogize the funeral I am wondering if I am in sin by attending it and staying for the services? I was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1505],"class_list":["post-22078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-funerals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86112,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-house-of-mourning\/","url_meta":{"origin":22078,"position":0},"title":"The House of Mourning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leon Mauldin I attended a funeral today in Cullman County, Alabama, for the brother of one of our members of the local church. As I looked around the cemetery among the tombstones, I saw several markers for some for whom I have conducted services. Such occasions furnish opportunities for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43316,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-it-be-wrong-for-me-to-skip-my-mothers-funeral\/","url_meta":{"origin":22078,"position":1},"title":"Would it be wrong for me to skip my mother’s funeral?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am having difficulties getting along with my sister, especially regarding our mom and her care. We just recently lost our father. My sister has been difficult in the past and is more controlling now. 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Rather, the distressing aspect was due simply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Grief.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41926,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-the-sudden-death-of-my-grandmother\/","url_meta":{"origin":22078,"position":4},"title":"How do I deal with the sudden death of my grandmother?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering how you deal with death. My grandma died last night and the wake is tomorrow and the funeral is the day after. I've never been to one before and I'm scared. I don't even know what I'm feeling, I kind of feel numb. We were really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-is-better-to-go-to-the-house-of-mourning\/","url_meta":{"origin":22078,"position":5},"title":"It Is Better to Go to the House of Mourning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}