I have sat in many rooms,
amidst many people of God, and heard many of the same messages preached over
and over and over again, in so many different ways. I have felt the blows of Truth pummel me with
guilt and shame, in the name of righteousness’ sake. And I have felt the waters of Truth wash over
me, for the sake of love.
Because of my story, I
have been asked: how does a Christian, particularly one with a platform, address
abortion? For don’t we all yearn to see
the end of abortion in our country?
Shouldn’t we? 
Roe v. Wade
After 40 years of this
unrelenting Supreme Court decision, I have to ask – where have our angry
slogans gotten us? What about all those
ugly words spewed from pulpits and the mouths of those who claim to have lives
marked by Love? And of those horrifying
photos circulating social media and e-mail in-boxes; where have they gotten us? Honestly, Christian, are we any closer to
ending abortion? Have our legislators
budged on the policies our nation has so vocally requested? Has the highest court in our land seen the
reason or logic in our arguments? Have
congregations been moved, through our proclamations of fire and brimstone to
storm the polls and vote for truth? Has
any of our name-calling, picket lines, or chanting saved any of the 1,600
babies aborted every day?
Have we saved the 54,000,000 lives lost to abortion?
The answer, beloved, is
simply: NO.
Of course, the question that follows, is – why?
For that answer, I turn to
Scripture and I look at life of the Incarnate
Christ. So that I can model my behavior after His, I ask: when, and with whom, was
Jesus ever angry? In the gospels do we
see that He was furious with Zachaeus for stealing from the Jewish people while
collecting their taxes? Or was Christ livid
with the money changers in the temple, the people who were a part of the religious
order in that day? Did Jesus rail against
all adultery when a woman was brought directly from her tryst to his feet? Or did he rebuke her accusers, the religious leaders? Did Christ proclaim the thieves on the
crosses next to him as deserving of their fates, or did he invite the one who
believed into his kingdom that very day?
The prevailing theme of
Jesus’ life is so precisely summed up in Romans 5:8 ~ God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus didn’t loudly and
crudely demand that the laws of taxation, or prostitution, or even Pater familias for that matter, be
changed. Rather, Jesus spoke truth: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me”
(John 14:16).
1.
We have to teach truth.
Not
the just the truth that abortion kills infants; or that life begins at
conception. Not only the truth that less
than 1% of abortions occur as a result of rape or incest combined. {I’ll say that again, because it’s a favorite
of the proponents abortion – LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of abortions are a result of
rape or incest COMBINED.} But the truth
that the mothers are left so psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually
damaged that were it any other medical ‘procedure,’
it would be banned by governing medical organizations. The truth that abortions are so horrific for
the mother, they experience post-traumatic stress remarkably similar to that of
our veterans returning from war. The
truth that we’ve been wrong for 40 years – abortion is the opposite of caring
for women. It is a means of destroying
them.
2.
We have to know to whom we are speaking: The Women.
1 in 4 women between
the ages of 15 and 60 has experienced one abortion. 50% of these have
experienced multiple abortions. Of this
quarter of the female population, 70% are in our churches. Right
now. They are your mothers, sisters,
wives, friends. We are pastor’s wives
and daughters, youth leaders, women’s ministry leaders, children’s ministers,
worship team members, pastors, and congregants.
3.
We have to know to whom we speak: The Men.
It takes two. We must never
assume that the women who choose abortion have done so all by themselves. Nor can we presume that each was pressured to
have one. Let’s just be honest about the
numbers for a moment. If 1 in 4 women
have experienced abortion, it stands that there at least as many men who have
experienced it as well. Statistically
speaking, however, the number of fathers is likely higher; for of the women who
have had an abortion, 50% have had multiple abortions. These multiple abortions are rarely with the
same father. We can be certain that for
every baby missing, there is a father carrying around a gaping wound in his
soul, as well as a mother.
4. We are called to be
ministers of reconciliation.
I
say this because every time you open your mouth to speak about abortion to a
group of at least four people,
statistically, you are addressing at least one person who has an abortion in
their past. And what you say can drive
them further from the love and grace and forgiveness of Christ. Ugly, hate-filled speech reinforces the lie
that abortion is unforgivable; that post-abortive people are unlovable. Or it can be full of truth, while driving
them into the arms of Jesus. We can be
Pharisees, or we can be fishers of lost and broken people. I have seen how Christ dealt with both – and I
find as a redeemed sinner, it’s best if I recognize that I have no
righteousness outside of Christ, and I extend his grace to those who are
sinners, just like me.
5. To end abortion, we
have to step up – not merely speak out.
We
have to make it ok to show up at church pregnant and unwed. We have to befriend and love and support
single women who are pregnant. And we
have to continue to be their friend and support them after the baby arrives –
whether they choose adoption or raising the child. We have to teach our children, and their
friends, and our friends the truth about embryonic development: that life
begins at conception, and by the fifth week of pregnancy, a fetus can feel
pain. We have to financially support
Crisis Pregnancy Centers. We have to
volunteer there as well. We have to
hound our nation’s leaders to change this horrific law; and not give a single
vote to any legislator who supports – or won’t oppose – abortion. We have to
fight the lie that is embedded in our culture that abortion is a right, and refute the falsehood that says abortion is a tool for women’s health care. Every single day. We have to pray that abortion will end.
And we have to love those in our midst who carry within them this deep
and abiding hurt, so that they can receive the love and forgiveness and healing
available to them only through Jesus Christ.
6. We have to be
prayerful, winsome, truthful – but mostly loving.
I return
to Romans 5:5[b]-11 ~
God’s
love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been
given to us. You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person,
though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates
his own love for us in this:
While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
Since
we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from
God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were
reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. {emphasis mine}
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