A Ramble About Robin Williams

As probably the whole world knows now and mourns, Robin Williams, the extraordinary comedian and actor passed away not that long ago, and, while I've been actively commenting about it on Facebook, out of respect I've been putting off writing anything about it on my blog which has a potentially wider readership outside of my own family and friends until now. As I've debated on what to write here, I realized that I've already written it in bits and pieces, all that remained was for me to assemble them.

Losing Robin Williams is like finding out the crazy uncle you loved as a child who lived in your attic and always made you laugh killed himself. My heart goes out to Zelda Williams and their family. In a way, it was like losing an extended member of our family. I grew up on Mork and Mindy. My first PG movie was Popeye. We even shared an affinity for the Legend of Zelda series (for which his daughter was named). Robin Williams wove his way in and out of my life as far back as I can remember with his comedic and dramatic roles. In many ways he could be a comforting figure always there to make you laugh. It may be out of place to mourn like this for a man I've never met, but I feel a loss nevertheless. He will be missed.

Robin Williams, according to his wife, was an Episcopalian. This means that, whatever else he may have been, he was a baptized professing Christian. There is no shortage of stories about his generosity and charity towards others, so let's count this as the actions of faith to back up this assertion (we won't go into his more bawdy standup routines).

Being influenced by clinical depression he committed suicide. Everyone and his brother knows how the Church has called suicides historically. The reasoning behind the Church's stance has been that, unlike with any other sinful act, a suicide has no earthly chance of confession and repentance. So then the question becomes does the person have the chance to confess and repent after death... and then it becomes really complicated. The ante-Nicene Fathers don't actually comment on it except that you didn't find Christians committing suicide. Suicide, in their minds, was the ultimate demonstration of disbelief. If one could commit suicide, then one simply did not believe in Jesus Christ regardless of any previous profession. One's actions betray one's genuine beliefs. If the sin of disbelief is the only unforgivable sin, then suicide is the ultimate expression of it.

I think the biggest mistake Christians have been making for centuries is making judgments on who is saved and who is not. I think it is equally damaging to make a judgment on someone's eternal outcome to say either they are definitely "saved" or they are definitely "damned." This is not for us to call in either event, either for people currently living or deceased. We simply don't know for certain, and until the living become the deceased that outcome is still up for grabs. It is the mercy and uncreated energies of God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ which makes the difference and ultimately, in that final moment, this is known only between God and that person. In the final consideration, maybe this question, like most theological questions, is best left to remain mystery and for us to be concerned, not with who else is cooperating with His Grace, but whether or not we are.

I have been argued with by good fellow Christians who insist that all professed Christians, suicides or no, will be saved. They come to this conclusion based on the belief of “once-saved-always-saved”. These are points upon which we disagree. I do not believe these disagreements are enough to prevent us from being family in Christ. We both have the same hope in the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We do have a different understanding of Grace and personal responsibility where that Grace is concerned. Theirs is born of the Reformation. Mine is born of the Church Fathers. Both took their understanding from the Holy Scriptures, interpreting those Scriptures in different ways. One thing the Scriptures do not say about judgment is that we will be given a theological quiz at the judgment seat. Therefore, I'm pretty sure neither theological position will impress Him. I believe that we will both hear exactly what we've done, said, and thought in this life recounted to us. I don't know about them, but it will not be a pleasant experience for me. The only way I will come out of it is because of His mercy, and not anything I've done to deserve it; and to be sure, I will be begging for it by the time He's done to add to the mercy I have begged from Him while I am still breathing in this life. I have faith that He is able and willing to deliver even me, but I am under no illusions about what my judgment will be like or what I deserve. They are right, no one may earn Grace, but it must be cooperated with even just in the act of acceptance. One cannot make use of a gift until he accepts it, therefore he must cooperate at least that much with the giver. It is a misunderstanding of the ancient teaching of the Church to assume that one must "earn" their salvation. This is simply not true, and a good reading of the Church Fathers as well as Holy Scripture will reveal this. But that ancient teaching does place a personal responsibility on the Christian to remain in Christ, just as He did, and the larger portion of their writings were devoted to the "how" this was accomplished because it was the practical "how" which was the most important subject to them. The how involves obedience to what He taught as a primary component and the natural outcome of genuine faith, and not just a verbal confession. I will not say that I am "saved." I will say that I am in the process of being saved, and that by His Grace and mercy I will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. This I believe is true to the Faith which He and His Apostles preached, and is true to the Faith which the Church Fathers practiced, wrote about, and many died for.

So how do we, as Christians, call it on Robin Williams? Do we as his assumed brothers and sisters take his clinical depression into account and say it doesn't count as a suicide because he wasn't in his right mind when it happened? I honestly don't know how to call this one. But in all honesty, that's the point. It's not my call on whether he receives a pass on it, it's the Lord's. Personally I hope he does, but I can't say for certain what's going to happen once he stands before the throne. I only know, at this moment, what my own response will be when I get there. I do know this, that God is merciful and Robin Williams seemed a humble man. Humility goes a long ways with God. So let's leave it in God's hands where it belongs and remember the man for the good legacy he left behind.