John Piper: Should Christians Cremate Their Loved Ones?

“There has been a skyrocketing preference for cremation over the past decades in the United States …. There are various causes, but the greatest, by far, is the combination of secularization and economics. Fewer people test the practice with biblical criteria, and more people want the cheapest solution. So my aim here is to touch on both of those causes.” - Piper

Discussion

Bert,

I just looked at the price list for my local funeral home. A traditional funeral service costs approx $6000. This does not include the price of the casket, vault, or burial plot, so the total cost could well be double that figure or more. The cost of direct cremation is approx $3500 plus the cost of an urn.

The costs of cremation are lower now, but they will rise as the demand for them rises as well. The most recent funeral for a lady from our church was over $10K, without going high-end on the casket. In our region of the country, many cemeteries are increasing rates for burial plots and the opening and closing graves. Government regulations have impacted how much time and effort it takes to prepare a body for viewing and burial. Even Covid has added time and costs which are passed along to the family.

You can save a whole bunch of money if you forego embalming (local and state regulations may determine whether embalming is required or not), and pre-order your casket. You can forego a burial vault, if state or cemetery regulations do not require vaulting. This is possible in PA, but the body has to be in the ground within 24 hours, and many people have a hard time doing that without a final view and emotional goodbye. Urban areas tend to be more expensive than rural as a general rule.

Traditional burial can be way less expensive if you pre-plan and also prepare the family for the emotional and spiritual challenges that will come. Other cultures in hotter climates move much more quickly than here in the U.S., and then have longer period of time for grieving after the burial itself.

I also believe burial should be a christian’s first choice. I think I’ve posted it here before but Rod Decker taught on this and convinced me that burial, while not the only choice, is probably best.

https://dbts.edu/rice/#06

were putting together a pine box, digging a hole, and there you go, burial is just preference and belief. In 2020, burial is an industry. You have embalming, casket, processing fees, plot, plot maintenance, headstone, environmental fees… Funeral homes tie the embalming to having a service that they manage with minimum fees. Then I found certain cemeteries favor certain funeral homes…

That is reality.

Yeah Mark it’s unfortunate that burial is such an expensive endeavor. That being said, I hope to be a good enough steward of my finances that, by the time I die, a few thousand dollars extra will not create a burden. This is one reason that I have life insurance and believe it is wise until a person can “self-insure.”

When my Dad died a couple years ago, we saved quite a bit of money on the coffin by ordering on online, rather than through the funeral home. I was really worried that it wouldn’t come on time, but it shipped overnight, looked great, and we had no problems. FWIW

If you’re a “good” Christian, you’ll plan for your burial… Yep, I knew it was coming.

[Mark_Smith]

If you’re a “good” Christian, you’ll plan for your burial… Yep, I knew it was coming.

Want to make my position clear:

  • At the end of the day, I consider it a preference issue
  • My preference (for me) is burial
  • I think planning ahead is wise
  • I don’t care what others do
  • But I’m not contributing to a fund for others who fail to plan (Piper: “I’m not thinking mainly of a line-item in the budget, but of a segregated compassion-fund that church members may give to regularly or as the need arises. Grieving families could quietly approach the overseer of that fund and make it known that they have a need, and all could be handled quietly and carefully between the family and the funeral home.”)

[Mark_Smith]

If you’re a “good” Christian, you’ll plan for your burial… Yep, I knew it was coming.

Mark, are you kidding? That’s what you got out of my post? You seem bent on reading every post on SI as uncharitably as possible. Why don’t you try being honest about what I said?

It strikes me that, preplanned or not, a lot of families wouldn’t have a lot saved for a funeral, especially one that was “premature” or unexpected. I can imagine a wonderful ministry if someone wanted to do some comparison shopping and find the best deals, and (if necessary) maybe even have a couple of caskets ready in the basement.

Yeah, keep them locked up and away from the kids, but it’s not a terrible idea.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

[josh p]
Mark_Smith wrote:

If you’re a “good” Christian, you’ll plan for your burial… Yep, I knew it was coming.

Mark, are you kidding? That’s what you got out of my post? You seem bent on reading every post on SI as uncharitably as possible. Why don’t you try being honest about what I said?

Josh,

If you are going to attack me by name at least note I did not mention your name… You assumed I was attacking you. I did not. For the record, I note that you mentioned what you were doing in your own life, and not generalizing.

A lot of Christians specialize in “stewardship” being the greatest Christian virtue. They think the Christian ideal is to be a great steward of everything, and if you are not when you have failed.

I admit I have made a lot of financial mistakes in my life (student loans), and it seems like the only thing Christians do not forgive is financial mistakes. On the grand scale of things my mistakes are not that bad, but they are there and I will likely pay the consequences for them the rest of my life. I don’t need a brother pointing that out all the time.

Please be very sensitive about dealing with believers and personal finances .