Is It Wrong For A Christian To Be Cremated?

I was recently asked this question.  Here is my response:

Coming to grips with this issue of cremation versus burial is hard and much harder for those of us who were raised in a more traditional upbringing.  (I wonder if Christians from other parts of the world wrestle with this issue?)  

Whereas there tends to be a leaning in the Scripture in a descriptive manner that suggests the burial of the deceased is ideal, there is no prescriptive imperative in the Bible.  The first thing we must come to grips with is that there is no command one way or another.

In consideration of the countless martyrs that suffered and died in the literal fires of persecution; and in the clear affirmation of Scripture that God is sovereign and omnipotent, we affirm with the Church of all ages that God is able to resurrect the body no matter what its cause of death, nor it current composition.

Far more important to me is that the deceased believer enjoy leaving a legacy of Gospel importance regardless of whether the body is buried or cremated.  The reality that we all must face is that in the western world we turn the body and the funeral into some aesthetically pleasing and clinically sanitized appearance.  If we did not embalm a body it would, in time, eventually become dust.  Thus the classically Christian affirmation at the graveside is:

For as much as it has pleased Almighty God to take out of this world the soul of ___________________, we therefore commit his/her body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking for that blessed hope when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.

“and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7, ESV)

Cremation does nothing but “accelerate” the process of decay.

The cost factor in burial versus cremation is important but this can be perceived as more than just a financial decision.  My personal opinion is that there can be such extravagance in funerals that it can leave an impression that is far from Gospel-centered with resurrection hope.  Christ made an important distinction between godliness and materialism : God and mammon.

Again, I think the debate between burial and cremation is essentially a mute debate.  I would prefer that as we prepare for our homecoming that issues like: a. What kind of service brings glory to God? b. What kind of service makes Christ precious and desirable? c. What kind of service displays the joy of the Gospel and the hope of our inheritance?