"I think, as Christians, we are called to just be loving to everyone, and let God fight the battle." The sweet, godly woman declared, and everyone around nodded their heads.
The issue at hand was how Christians were called to react now that Roe vs. Wade was overturned. It was a pretty shocking change last Friday to see this 49-year-old supreme court decision overturned. Now, the issue of abortion is up to individual states. Many states have already declared that they will outlaw it. Understandably, this is a hot topic.
As a Christian, and as someone in full-time ministry, I want to be careful to make Jesus and the Gospel my focus. It is easy to get sidetracked by political issues. Abortion is definitely a political issue, but it is more than that. It's something we can't afford to hide from.
With many political issues, I would honestly be able to say there are good people on both sides. However, this issue is different. This is a matter of human life. There is no good reason to terminate unborn people. The moment the sperm and the egg come together, that is a person, created by God. Psalm 139:13 says, For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. This gives the biblical basis for personhood at conception. We are also told that John the Baptist rejoiced in Jesus prior to either of their births when Elisabeth and Mary got together (Luke 1:41-44). I have heard abortion likened to the child sacrifices to Molech in the Old Testament. The Bible is very clear about what God thinks about child sacrifices. Leviticus 18:21 says, You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. If you want to study further what the Bible says about this, here are some references: Leviticus 20:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:10; Second Kings 21:2-6; Psalm 106: 37-38; Jeremiah 32:35; Ezekiel 20:31. I will also add that Hezekiah was considered by God to be an honorable king (Second Chronicles 29ff), and he fought hard against child sacrifice. He didn't just ignore it and "live and let live" while babies died. He fought it. He restored true worship of God, and aggressively removed all idolatry from Judah.
I find it interesting that people are claiming aborting is a woman's health issue, when, a few months ago, these same people didn't know what a woman was. They can't have it both ways, but they're trying. A lot of bleeding heart types are claiming that this whole decision by the supreme court is anti-woman. One friend of mine shared a post of Facebook that said, "I'm not pro-abortion. I'm pro-Susan..." (and went on to name all these other hypothetical women) and explained all the reason they need to have abortion as an option. Some of the answers were as simple as, "She's still a teenager and not ready to be a parent." As someone who struggles with infertility, I am sickened that abortion is even an option in this case. Give me your baby! Also, why can't we be teaching young people to practice abstinence! Instead of teaching them to play around with condoms, we should be teaching them to have enough self-respect to abstain until marriage. What a wild idea! But it just might work, and would certainly help teens avoid unwanted pregnancies. Other reasons given in this post defending abortion were things such as the mother's life was in jeopardy. That is admittedly a very hard place to be, but I truly believe the mother should be willing to lay down her life for her baby. Greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13). I hope to God I am never in that position. I am certain the choice is so much harder when you're actually forced to make it, rather than just talking about it. But I just think these bleeding heart posts are inaccurate. Really, two could play at that, and could say, "I'm pro-Billy, whose mother wants to abort him, but will one day cure cancer. I'm pro-Amy, whose parents want to terminate her, but who is being called by God to translate the Bible into a yet-unknown language. I'm pro-David, who will be a lifeguard at the beach and rescue 100 people from drowning." It is true that, for some women, unplanned pregnancies can be frightening, and there can be very scary complications. We don't want to simplify it. As Christians, we need to come alongside theses women lovingly, and make it as simple as possible for them to choose life. I have been very disappointed by some of my fellow Christians, acting like this new development is a problem. One pastor I greatly respected made a very public statement that he grieved the overturning of Roe v. Wade, because he felt women needed to have that choice, and that Christians should be the ones to help them choose life. To me, that makes no sense, and it disappointed me a lot.
The woman I mentioned at the beginning, who made this comment about loving people and letting God fight the battle, is a very loving, encouraging Christian, and God has used her to minister to a lot of people. It didn't surprise me that God had led her to a place of being that loving presence for people in the midst of a controversy. Other believers expressed concern about the civil unrest and disunity this new change would bring, since abortion is a controversial issue.
While we think everyone who spoke was sharing pure motives from the heart of what they felt called to do, my husband and I disagreed with this idea that Christians are only called to love and be kind, and God was supposed to fight. Maybe some Christians are called to show mercy and gentleness. That may be the part some are called to play. It is an important part. Vital, in fact. We do not deny that God could call people to that place. We are all called to be kind and loving in all things. But this whole conversation completely ignored a few facts.
1) The overturning of Roe vs. Wade is a victory for the unborn! In that particular conversation, only my husband and I were rejoicing, and everyone else was acting like it was a problem. That alarms me. Added to that, I have a very good Christian friend in Australia, and her church was rejoicing in this victory, even though it doesn't immediately affect them (though it could influence decisions there). Why aren't my fellow American Christians rejoicing?
2) This victory was 49 years in the making.
3) This victory would never have been possible if, for the past 49 years, godly people had not fought as God led them. Simply being pleasant to pro-choice people, without taking action, would never have resulted in this victory.
I confess to being very confused as to why everyone, rather than celebrating the lives that will be saved, were fretting about how to not offend proponents of the pro-choice position. If people had been focused on that all these years, this victory would never have come. This very mindset is why Christians' rights are often under threat. It should be a given that we are kind to people. But why is being kind to pro-choicers suddenly the focus? Of course we should be kind, but our focus should be praying for every baby God is knitting together to have a chance at life! We should be mobilizing families to take in children, and counselors to help pregnant girls who need help and encouragement. We have a job to do!
My husband and I are in the process of adoption through the Cherokee Nation. It is a waiting game right now. Maybe a baby who would have been aborted will now be given the chance to be part of our family!
Aside from my concern that people we respect were more concerned with being nice to the opposition than about babies, I was also personally very hurt. We felt attacked. We have made a bold stand on this issue, and apparently, we are viewed as the bad guys, because we didn't just sit with a pleasant smile on our faces. We are not demonizing those who are not called to speak up as much as we have. But we don't want to be demonized either. All Christians have a part in the battle between good and evil--God and Satan. We are all called to use our gifts as God has led us. My husband and I are called to speak out. This doesn't mean we hate anyone, or are unkind. It just means we fight for the unborn. I'll add that both of us have had precious friends who have been through abortion, and we have comforted and helped them heal. What we do, we do out of love for women, and the unborn. If someone else's part to play is to sit back, listen, and show mercy, that is great! But that isn't the only part of the battle.
The Bible is very clear we are in a war, whether you want to be or not. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that our enemies are not people. Pro-choice advocates are not our enemies. But we would humbly submit that they are deceived by the enemy, and some have willingly and intentionally submitted to him. First Peter 1:13 says to gird up the loins of your mind... This is a call to be ready for battle. Likewise, First Peter 5:8 warns us to Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil , as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Second Corinthians 10:3-4 says, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God... We are in a war. In First Samuel 17:47, David, coming against Goliath, acknowledged, for the battle is the Lord’s. But he still threw the stone. We are given all we need to fight. For some, that is using that gift of mercy and being kind and gentle, loving people to Christ. For others, it is speaking the truth in love. There are other aspects of the battle as well. As Christians, we can't afford to throw each other under the bus just because we are doing different jobs in this battle. We are all on the same side.
When it comes to abortion, I think the Bible leaves only one position available to those who claim to believe in God's word. How we carry that out is dependent on God's specific calling to us, but we need to recognize other believers who fight different parts of the battle, rather than demonizing them. Your part is important, but it isn't the only part. Thank you. That's all.
No comments:
Post a Comment