All-Night Wake Ceremonies

In many countries, mourners gather at the home of the deceased and stay awake all night. These wakes often include feasting and loud music. This is believed to appease the dead and to protect the surviving family from witchcraft. Flattering speeches may be given to gain the dead person’s favor. After a speech, the mourners may sing a religious song before another individual stands up to speak. This may go on until daybreak.b

A true Christian does not share in such all-night wake ceremonies because the Bible shows that the dead are unable to help or harm the living. (Genesis 3:19; Psalm 146:3, 4; John 11:11-14) The Scriptures condemn the practice of spiritism. (Revelation 9:21; 22:15) Yet, a Christian widow may find it difficult to prevent others from introducing spiritistic practices. They may insist on performing an all-night wake in her home. What can fellow believers do to help bereaved Christians who face this added tribulation?

Congregation elders have often been able to support a bereaved Christian family by reasoning with relatives and neighbors. After such reasoning, these individuals may agree to leave the home peacefully and to gather again for the funeral service on another day. But what if some become belligerent? Continued attempts to reason may result in violence. ‘A slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but must keep himself restrained under evil.’ (2 Timothy 2:24) So if uncooperative relatives aggressively take over, a Christian widow and her children may not be able to prevent this. But they do not participate in any false religious ceremony that takes place in their house, for they obey the Bible’s command: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers.”—2 Corinthians 6:14.

Avoid Imitating Unscriptural Customs

Some who have knowledge of the Bible have been afraid to stand out as different. To avoid persecution, they have tried to please their neighbors by giving the appearance of holding a traditional wake for the dead. While it is commendable to visit the bereaved so as to provide personal comfort, this does not require that a small funeral service be conducted at the home of the deceased every night prior to the actual funeral. Doing this may stumble observers, since it may give them the impression that the participants do not really believe what the Bible says about the condition of the dead.—1 Corinthians 10:32.

The Bible urges Christians to put the worship of God first in life and to make wise use of their time. (Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 5:15, 16) In some places, though, congregation activity has come to a standstill for a week or more because of a funeral. This problem is not unique to Africa. Regarding one funeral, a report from South America says: “Three Christian meetings had extremely low attendance. The field service was not supported for about ten days. Even people outside the congregation and Bible students were surprised and disappointed to see some of our brothers and sisters participating.”