Why do pagans and lost people fall apart, scream, and wail at funerals?
They fall apart, scream, weep, and wail because they have no hope and no concept of what lies beyond this life. Paul writes that believers need not sorrow as others who have no hope, but the pagan or lost person, lacking that revelation, grieves without comfort.
Les explains that Paul, in I Thessalonians 4:13, does not want believers ignorant concerning those who are asleep, or who have died physical death. Paul says believers should not sorrow as others who have no hope. Les identifies those others as pagans or lost people who have no concept of what is out there. When they lose a loved one, they fall apart and scream; at funerals they weep and wail.