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That is a Human Being: Speaking Truth to Power

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"-Psalm 139:13-17

"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."-Proverbs 24:11

 

Recent abortion legislation in New York and Virginia are painfully stunning. In the past, as Christians sought to reason with those who are pro-abortion, the politicians who are pro-abortion (pro-abortion is synonymous with pro-choice and I will defend that position in a moment), were quick to say things such as: 'we certainly do not see abortion as preferable or desirable. We simply want it available to women who might need to exercise that difficult option for their own welfare.'

The talking points were fairly consistent for the past few decades. The verbage sounded less harsh and certainly more sympathetic. It was an effective attempt to sanitze the act of abortion.

Now, as we are seeing with recent legislation in New York and in Virginia, those 'talking points' have been replaced by a very direct and clear message: 'We (pro-abortionists) want the right to abort/murder babies not only up to term, but even within a few days of delivery. '

Since Roe v. Wade, over 60 million babies have been murdered in the womb. Those numbers are staggering . Over 60 million human beings have been murdered since Roe v. Wade, and they are the most vulnerable among us. Babies.

Last year in New York state, nearly 30% of all pregnancies end in abortion. Let that sink in.

For those of us in Texas, we might think, because the state tends to be (for now) more socially conservative on some issues, that abortion is not an actual 'issue' here. Last year over 54,000 abortions were performed in Texas.

While there may be hope that more conservative legislation will come 'soon enough' to help save more lives and slow the tide of this movement of death, we are still faced with the fact that daily, babies are killed in the womb.  As of this writing, if we want to continue using Texas as our example, over 140 children are murdered in Texas...daily.  

Before proceeding to a few application points, we need to address something that is sadly found in churches and among professing Christians, and that one can logically hold a position that goes something like this: 'I am personally against abortion because of my convictions, but it's not my right to impose my views on others. People are free to have their own belief.'

If we were talking about one's preference for food or a restaurant and making such a statement, such a statement can be logical. Example: 'I like Italian food and I think Carlito's Restaurant is the best. You may disagree and that is fine.'

However, we are not talking about morally neutral things like food or restaurants. We are talking about a human life.

The matter at hand is not 'choice,' but rather 'truth.' Is the child in the womb a human being? If so, that child cannot be a human being to one person and not a human being to another. One's 'choice' does not make anyone more or less a human.

The biblical worldview is that God creates each person in the womb of his or her mother as an artist creates a work of art. He is intricately involved in creating each person just as he or she is. The person is not an accident and the person is a person called into existence and being by God at the point of conception.

If a person does not know Christ and does not, therefore know the Scriptures or have a biblical worldview, it is easy to see how there could be confusion over the matter. The alternative view is that we are all great cosmic accidents as it is. Our planet is nothing special. We all came about by an incredible amount of 'happy little accidents,' and the child in the womb is simply fetal tissue and not an actual human being unless that child is wanted by the parents.

This is madness.

Recently, the 'sentient' argument has been in play. This is another attempt to try to sanitize and rationalize the issues of not only abortion, but also euthanizia.  There are varying explanations for who is or is not a sentient being. The sentient arguments often are a never ending rabbit hole of conflicting, illogical assertions concerning who is and is not a viable human.

What should Christians do in times like these? Let me suggest a few things we must do immediately:

1) We must allow Scripture to shape our mind and not the culture. Abortion either is or is not murder. It cannot be both murder and non-murder depending on one's private and personal preference or interpretation. Scripture clearly paints a picture of life that is sacred. The sanctity of life is something Christians hold on to as a belief because we believe all people are image bearers created in the image of God and therefore have value. Life is sacred.

2) We must be gracious and loving to those who have had abortions. Abortion, while horrible, is not the unforgiveable sin. It is a sin that the Lord will forgive. We must speak the Truth in love and we must engage our culture and tell the better story. We must speak of Truth as well as grace and love and mercy. We cannot simply sit back and condemn the act. We must offer hope.

3) We must become more engaged in working with adoption agencies and, if we are able, to personally adopt.  It is time that we move from merely posting our disagreement about abortion on social media and attending marches to actually doing something tangible to support ministries and groups promoting adoption over abortion, and, if the Lord leads, to personally adopt.

4) We must train our children to engage the culture, to reason, to understand the value they have as God's creation and to encourage them to stand firm in the grace He provides against the tide of darkness that swells against them in this culture.

5) We must write legislators and politicians and we must speak up.

6) We cannot and must not resort to violence. Those who do violent things in the name of 'anti-abortion' end up harming the cause for those who are pro-life. We must love and speak Truth to power and not back down, but we cannot resort to violence.

7) This is an issue where boycotting is a moral obligation for the Christian. Corporations and businesses that fund abortion providers should not be supported by Christians.

8) We must pray for an Awakening in our culture. God is our only Hope. He would be perfectly just if He were to judge America for our sins. We have offered, as a culture, so many lives on the altar of Molech, the lives of the unborn. We must pray that God would show mercy on us once more.

9) We can be open to being trained to become counselors in pregnancy crisis centers to help women make life-saving choices. We can serve in these centers.

These are troubling times. We cannot remain silent. We must stand up. We must speak up. We must love well. We must be Truth Tellers. We must be among those who rescue those being led away to the slaughter.

Praying for our nation, our state, and for each of us.

Pastor Kevin