What I am advocating is that believers in Christ ought to understand the significance of abortion, that they have an obligation to do something about it, and that they are able to do something about it. To be sure, what each believer does to contribute will look different, just as it would in stopping sex-trafficking and other terrible crimes against our neighbors(1), but it is still true that all who are in Christ have an obligation to love their neighbors (Gal. 5:14). And this means all Christians have an obligation to do something about abortion. So let us consider the discussion. Abortion is a significant issue in America. Since the ruling of Roe v. Wade, over 56 million innocent lives have been legally murdered. Fifty-six million. Innocent. Lives. Take a moment to let that number sink in... To give you a better understanding of that number, here are two representations:
As I've said elsewhere, these more than 56 million people - and they are people - were not attacking anyone; they were not declaring war on anyone; they were not willfully threatening the lives of anyone. There is no legitimate Biblical base at all for why they should be killed, yet our nation has legalized their murders. As Christians we rightly have a tremendous indignation for Hitler's Holocaust and the atrocity of his killing 6 million innocent Jewish lives. It is unbearable to think of the murders he committed and the way in which he committed them. Should we not see the horror of America's holocaust, the killing of 56 million innocent American lives, and then have nine times the indignation? We should see this atrocity and shudder in fear! Lest we be deceived into thinking America has "simply" taken the lives of these innocent children, we must also consider the multi-generational impact abortion has caused in this country. The potential families they would have had, and the families those families would have had, have been wiped out completely! Never again will the parents' DNA produce the same child that has now perished, and never again will any of those families even be possible! Reflect on that: entire generations have been lost forever! The elements to the discussion thus far have not even scratched the surface to the horrors of what our country has done in the infanticide that it has legalized; but my hope is that you will at least see there is great significance to the abortion issue. Yet we need to consider something more... Every believer has an obligation to do something to stop abortion. Again, this is not to say that every believer has an obligation to picket outside an abortion clinic. But we must at this point realize that every believer does have a part in stopping abortion. Every believer is obligated to love his neighbor (Gal. 5:14), and if you need help in understanding who your neighbor is, just read the passage concerning the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:29-37). As Christians, the very ones who are saved eternally by the willful sacrifice of the innocent lamb, we have no way to justify killing the innocent - least of all the innocent who are helpless to defend themselves! Quite to the contrary, the Bible repeatedly tells us to defend the innocent in our midst and warns against legalizing their ungrounded assault. God's word tells us to do what we can to protect those who are defenseless: Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, And that same sure Word warns governments who promote injustice: Can wicked rulers be allied with you [Lord], Be assured, my friends, that America does not get a free pass when it comes to condemning the innocent. Consider for just a moment that one main reason Jerusalem was taken captive was because of the grotesque amount of innocent blood that was "legally" shed (2 Kgs. 24:3-4, 21:16). Now consider and understand what it means when the Psalmist says "the Lord our God will wipe them out" referring to those who "condemn the innocent to death" and "frame injustice by statute." Is it too far fetched to say that a grotesque amount of innocent blood is being shed right here in America? Can we seriously continue this horror and expect God not to wipe us out? But regardless of what our outcome must be, we still must do something to stop the infanticide of abortion! In the Holocaust the Nazis would rev up motors to drown out the screaming voices of the innocent Jewish people they were murdering in the gas chambers. They would do this to try to mask what they were doing from the neighboring villagers. In the same way those who advocate for abortions will do all they can to keep mothers from knowing what it is that they're doing when they "terminate the pregnancy." They don't want them to hear a heart beat, see a picture, or have any other idea that there is a true and living person made in the image of God who they are about to kill. Yet one need only hear former abortionist Dr. Levantino's testimony about what abortion truly is and what it does to the small child during its murder. I pray you watch his testimony. And I pray you realize that none of us are in the dark about the infanticide that is legally sanctioned in this country. Trying to convince ourselves that we don't know what abortion is or how big of a deal it is will do nothing in God's eyes. His command remains the same. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; Now, for us who are in Christ, surely even abortion (whether we've had one or many, performed one or many, or sat back and did nothing as one or many were performed in our own backyard) - even abortion is something that God can and will forgive. He can and will forgive all the sins of all who have put their faith and trust in the living and perfect Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 1:8-2:2). But if we are in Christ, we are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to live according to God's righteous commands (1 Jn. 2:3-6). We are empowered to rescue those who are being taken away to death. We are empowered to hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. So now we must consider one last thing... What can we do about abortion in America? As I said earlier, this will look differently for each one of us depending on how God has created us and what spiritual gifts He has given to us. So I'm not saying we all must do all these things. However, I would hope that there is at least something on this list of possibilities that you can picture yourself doing, by God's grace and in His power: PRAY Now don't guffaw, which may be your first reaction. I mean nothing cliche about it. Certainly there is no way we could ever end abortion on our own. The Scripture is clear on this in several fronts: "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Ps. 127:1); "The horse is made ready for battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord" (Prv. 21:31). We need God to be the One to win the battle against abortion. And He often wins His battles by means of our role in constant prayer (1 Thess. 5:17). The Scriptures are clear: "The prayer of a righteous person has great power..." (Jas. 5:16); "The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous" (Prv. 15:29). And are we not righteous in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21)? Just as Daniel prayed in repentance for himself and his nation (Dan. 9:3-19), so we too can pray for God to grant us repentance for the horrific atrocity of abortion and for it to be brought to an end in this country. There's even a ministry dedicated to the prayer aspect of ending abortion, which I recommend considering. Do you think you would have trouble remembering to pray regularly for God to end abortion in America? Perhaps making this website your homepage would help. (Don't worry; it's not graphic.) MAKE OURSELVES AND OTHERS AWARE Surely the more aware you are of what abortion is and does, the more you will pray for its immediate end. Subscribing to or regularly visiting one or more of the following sites will help make you more aware. You may even consider "Liking" their Facebook page: Abolish Human Abortion abolishhumanabortion.com Live Action liveaction.org National Right to Life nrlc.org National Pro-Life Alliance prolifealliance.org Pro-Life Action League prolifeaction.org 40 Days for Life 40daysforlife.com LifeNews lifenews.com Abort73 abort73.com While I must throw in a disclaimer that I do not necessarily endorse everything about any one of these ministries, I have still found them very helpful. There are many other pro-life organizations, both nationally and locally, and I encourage you to do what you can to make yourself aware and to help make others aware. One really easy, non-vocal, and relatively inexpensive way to make others aware is to purchase drop cards and leave them pretty much wherever you go. Prayer of course is advised both in wisdom with where and when to drop them as well as that they would be received by a receptive and/or repentant heart. DONATE MONEY For those who have extra money in their discretionary spending, you could invest in any of the above mentioned ministries, some other pro-life ministry, or even your own local church if it has a ministry dedicated to stopping abortion. This, of course, is above what you would normally give to your local church. VOLUNTEER You may be surprised at the number of opportunities that await you at a local pro-life/abortion-alternative clinic. You don't necessarily have to be wired for or gifted in an area that involves direct contact with people. For example, you can volunteer by editing copy, organizing data, delivering diapers and other baby supplies to the organization, etc. Here in the Dayton area, I highly recommend the Miami Valley Women's Center. EXERT POLITICAL PRESSURE I certainly don't mean this in a violent or immoral way, but in a democratic-republic we do have a legislative voice! And as such "little rulers," we are called to rule in accordance with God's moral standards. (Ps. 2:10-12; cf. Rom. 13:1-5) One way we can do this would be to back legislation that would ban or restrict abortion, such as: S. 583 - Life at Conception Act Because of where medical science was at the time of Roe v. Wade, the ruling stated: "If . . . personhood [for the unborn] is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [Fourteenth] Amendment..." (Roe v. Wade [410 US 113 at 156-7]) Due to the advancement of medical science since then, this bill would be able to legislatively (via scientific fact) establish that personhood begins at conception. This would instantly overturn Roe v. Wade. You can electronically sign a petition in support of this bill here. H.R. 3 - No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act According to Senator Rand Paul, "This bill would prohibit any funds authorized or appropriated by federal law to pay for any abortion or health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion." You can electronically sign a petition in support of this bill here. --- There are other Biblical ways of exerting political pressure, such as keeping track of which representatives and which senators did or did not vote for pro-life legislation and then holding them accountable for their actions! Here are two sites that are useful in determining how and on what your congressmen voted: OpenCongress opencongress.org GovTrack govtrack.us And finally... USE YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS TO BUILD UP THE LOCAL CHURCH As I hinted at earlier, I completely realize we are all finite. We each are only one person, with very limited time, resources, energy, gifts, etc. Yet there are innumerable ways in which we can love our neighbors, and stopping abortion is only one of many. So if it really is the case that you are just not equipped to do any of the previously above items (whether physically, financially, temporally, spiritual-giftedly(?)), I don't want to push you into a direction in which our Sovereign Lord is not Himself leading you. But even then you can still help stop abortion. Because the more you use your God-given gifts to build up the church, the more it enables others in your church to use their God-given gifts to actively stop abortion (1 Cor. 12:14; Eph. 4:16). Concluding Remarks Legalized abortion is legalized infanticide. Since its legalization in 1973 over 56 million innocent lives have been murdered in this nation, and an unfathomable number of families are now lost forever. While it will look differently for each Christian in how they respond and in what part they play in responding, it still remains that every Christian has an obligation to be doing something to end the brutal murders of the innocent children, our neighbors, in this nation (Gal. 5:14; Lk. 10:29-37). There are plenty of ways in which Christians can participate in ending abortion in America, even just using the spiritual gifts they've been given to build up their local church. If there are ways to end abortion in a Biblical manner, and we have a Biblical mandate to do it, we as a church body must repent for any and all indifference to the matter. And in His power, we must hear; we must speak; and we must act. Let us pray to God that it is this generation that He has raised up to end the infanticide! And let us go forth in His strength (Eph. 6:10) and love our neighbors to the fullest (1 Jn. 3:16-18). Rescue those who are being taken away to death; (1) I certainly realize that nobody can be committed to all of the world's problems as they pertain to loving our neighbor. I also realize that not many can be committed to many of the world's problems as they pertain to loving our neighbor. However, I do believe, at the very least, simply being a Christian and using the spiritual gifts God has given you in building up the church will help toward subduing all the world's problems (abortion, sex-trafficking, starvation, child pornography, etc.). *Top left photo courtesy of Belinda Yoder.
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