Reflections on Robin Williams’ Death

By Taisa Efseaff Maffey

Robin Williams died one year ago today.  Even though I didn't know him personally, I grieved when I learned of his death.  All I could think was, “I hope he was saved.  I hope he was saved.”  Shortly after, I was moved to write the following article.  Today, on the anniversary of his death, I’m posting it again with the hope that his death will inspire eternal life in others.

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By now, everyone has been hearing the same kinds of things in the news and reading the same kinds of things online that I have about Robin Williams’ death.  There’s the unanimous sorrow over losing such a talented, beloved actor and entertainer.  There’s certainly the shock over losing someone who seemed to have such a happy and buoyant spirit, and who brought so much joy and laughter with his larger than life performances.

I’ve read the comments that grieve the effects of mental illness and depression; I’ve read the posts that cry out against suicide and the selfishness that it entails.  I’m usually hesitant to write about things that have already been so widely written about, especially in such a concentrated amount of time, but as I have not yet heard or read something similar to my reaction to this recent news, I feel a need to put it out there.

First off, yes: I was shocked and heavily burdened by the news of Robin Williams’ death.  I feel a little silly being affected by the death of a celebrity, but Robin Williams just did so much good with a lot of his movies.  Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, Aladdin, Jumanji, Patch Adams... These were all movies from my childhood.  Each one had heart and significance.  My parents also had a VHS tape of Mork & Mindy episodes when I was growing up.  I loved watching Robin Williams pretend to be Julia Child in the kitchen.

I particularly remember the episode, “Mork Meets Robin Williams.”  Robin Williams comes to town to do a comedy show, and people start noticing that Mork looks a lot like him.  In the end, Mork and Mindy meet him, and Robin Williams reveals to them the lonely reality of being a celebrity.  He confesses that he feels an insatiable need to please everyone by constantly delivering what they want from him.  I’ve always wondered whether that episode was randomly scripted by TV writers or whether it was in fact somehow suggested or inspired by Robin Williams himself.

But even more than the shock and sadness I felt over losing someone who still had so much more life to live and talents to share, I felt deep concern.  Along with all the emotions and opinions people have been sharing about Robin Williams’ death, they’ve also been spreading mindless fabrications of Robin Williams’ current, after-life state.  Comments suggesting that he’s now “free,” or “in a better place,” or even the wish that he “rest in peace.”  But let’s be real: Just because someone we like dies does not mean that they’re moving on to a better place.

Truly, it’s a nice – even natural – thought.  Someone dies who we love or think is a good person, so we naturally like to think that he or she must be going on to enjoy a pleasant afterlife.  And I understand the desire to pull something positive out of something tragic and sad.  Or to want someone you love to still somehow be a part of this world even after death, maybe by “looking down on us” or having some kind of invisible presence with us or influence over us.  But just because we want something to be true doesn’t make it so.

Now, I don’t mean to suggest at all that I have any sort of informed opinion as to where Robin Williams’ soul is now.  I do know that he’s in one of two places, but I won’t pretend to know Robin Williams’ spiritual state while he was on this earth.  What I do know is this:  Where Robin Williams is spending eternity entirely depends on his spiritual state while he was on this earth.

So what would it have taken for Robin Williams to now be spending eternity in “a better place,” namely heaven?

Would it have been enough if he claimed to be “a spiritual person” while he was alive?

Would it have been enough if he believed in God?

Would it have been enough if he had been raised going to church, if he had been baptized as an infant, if he affiliated with a church as an adult, if he regularly attended church services?

Would it have been enough if he was considered “A Good Person,” treated people with love and kindness, and gave money to charities?

According to the Bible, the answer to all of these questions can only be no.  The Bible says there is no one who does good, not one (Psalm 14:3, 53:3, Romans 3:10).  Romans 3:23 acknowledges that

“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Isaiah 64:6 puts it this way:

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.”

Take a second and look at that last Scripture again.  It’s saying that even the BEST that we have to offer – all the good things that we do, all the nice qualities that we have, all the positive thoughts in our heads and love in our hearts – is nothing more than filthy rags to the Lord when we offer ourselves to Him on our own merits.  God is so perfect and holy, we can NEVER be good enough for Him on our own; we can NEVER be good enough to spend eternity in His presence in heaven when we are so marred by our sinful humanity.

Thankfully, God did not leave us destitute or forsaken.  Everyone knows John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

But few people know the verses that come right after:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”  (John 3:17-20)

What do these verses say?  By nature, we have a tendency to do whatever it takes so that the bad things we do and think and feel are not exposed.  We try to hide our sin or ignore it or justify it so it won’t seem so bad.  And some people love their sin – including their pride – more than they desire eternal life.  They don’t want to be told that they’re wrong or bad or that they are accountable to someone else for their actions.  But even without exposing or confessing our sins, we’re not getting away with anything; we’re not fooling God.  He knows what our sins are and He knows that they’re exactly the thing that’s keeping us away from Him – that’s keeping us “condemned.”

Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus Christ did not come into our world to yell at us, “You’re all going to hell!”  He came “that the world through Him might be saved.”  In John 10:10, Jesus explains,

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

1 Timothy 2:4-6 declares that Jesus is

“God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.”

Logically, if God desires all men to be saved and to go to heaven, and if He provided Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we could be saved and go to heaven, then we are not doomed to hell unless we CHOOSE to ignore or reject the knowledge of the truth.  In John 14:6, Jesus proclaims,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Apostle Peter confirms in Acts 4:12:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Furthermore, Romans 10:9 gives this assurance:

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

God has provided the way for everyone to go to heaven, and that is through belief in and acceptance of salvation through Jesus Christ’s sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection.  Note that Jesus didn’t say He is “a way” to get to heaven; He says He is the way, the only way.  People are deceiving themselves if they think they can find or create their own path to salvation.

Eternal salvation doesn’t come by sending out good karma or having positive energy.  You can’t find salvation through music, literature, or art.  You can’t be saved through romantic love or the love of a child.  You can’t reach salvation through meditation or by ridding yourself of earthly desires.  You can’t accomplish salvation by completing the 12 steps.  And you won’t receive salvation for self-sacrificially dedicating your life to noble causes.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Apostle Paul exhorts us in Philippians 2:12 to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  What does this mean?  Take death and eternal life seriously.  Know where you’re going when you die.  Heaven is real, which most people seem willing to accept on some level, but hell is real too.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”  (Galatians 6:7-8)

In other words, don’t kid yourself.  What you choose to believe in this life and how you choose to live in this life matters when you die.  Can you say with absolute certainty that you know where you’re going when you die?  It’s a serious question, and none of us can afford to avoid it.  You also can’t afford to simply hold onto the hope that you’ll “go on to a better place”... UNLESS you have confessed your need for God’s forgiveness, repented of your sins, and accepted the salvation that only He can provide.  Nothing else will do.

So even though I’m sad that we have lost Robin Williams and the joy that he gave us as a talented comedian and entertainer, I’m less concerned with our loss or how we lost him.  But I pray with all my heart that he had a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ when he died.  It absolutely devastates me to think otherwise.