Why are you making such a big deal about this? some may ask me.
It is the defining issue of our generation. What that means is that, in our culture and time, this issue will be the benchmark of those who stand for truth and the things of eternity.
At some point in the future, people will look back and wonder how we could ever have allowed such a tragic evil to take place. Just because many are deceived today that it is okay does not make it so. The country was very divided over the institution of slavery, and rightfully so. There were thousands, perhaps millions, who believed that a man was less because the color of his skin and good only for basic servitude. They were treated as animals … perhaps less so. Even the Supreme Court agreed with them. Did that make it right?
This nation was incredibly challenged by the institution of segregation and discrimination. There were many, possibly millions, who believed that it was okay to separate and segregate a whole portion of the population based on the color of their skin. They wanted to uphold racial tion over another group. The Supreme Court agreed with them at one point. Are we to adhere to that precedent and treat it as sacred?
We won’t mention the thousands that felt lynching was perfectly justifiable. It seems crazy, but people did these things less than sixty years ago, within our grandparents’ or parents’ lifetime.
Many people were convinced that the Jews were not really human and were incredibly discriminated against in Germany. won Time’s Man of the Year in the early ’30′s. Eventually, this mentality led to the horror of the Holocaust. Many, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, died fighting this system or risked their lives hiding families and children from those terrible things. Their names are written in heaven.
These were defining issues for their generations, and many Christians had to make as stand for what was right, regardless of popular opinion or the temptation to treat it as a secondary issue. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is a great example of the challenge to Christians of his day based on spiritual truth and social and civic responsiblity.
But what are we to do?
First, we must pray. We must pray for the unborn, that their voices would be heard, as silent as they are. We must pray for ourselves, that we may learn to love even those that commit such sin. We must pray for those women who feel so desperate that they would so wound themselves and their own conscience, that God would reveal His love and mercy and holiness and regard for all life. We must pray for the doctors that perform such heinous acts, that their eyes would be opened. We must pray for the people of this country, that we would be forgiven for this sin (include yourself as Nehemiah did). We must pray for ourselves again, that He may forgive us for not taking the stand as we should.
Jesus stands at the right hand of God and intercedes for His Church. Who intercedes for the world? We do. The Church must take her place in Christ as the intercessor for the sinful world for God’s mercy and revelation.
Second, make abortion a topic of conversation. Do not fear the discussion or the derision it might bring. Do not plea for laws but to challenge the conscience of a nation. This is not a plug for a specific political party. Things like should supercede such considerations.
Third, the Church must be willing to adopt the unwanted. Who better? Unfortunately, modern Christians see children much as the world does, as inconveniences to their lives and careers. The Bible says children are a blessing from the Lord. We don’t really act as if that is true.
Christian households are barren. Orphanages around the world are full. You make the connection.
You can do no better thing than raise a child in the Lord. Your personal career and achievements are secondary to this wonderful gift to the world. Marriage is not a place for you to realize the satisfaction of your own pleasures. It is an avenue to give fully of yourself to another in order to produce life and disciple it. If you’re ready to get married, you’re ready for children.
There is a scripture that is repeated in three of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, almost word for word. The disciples are arguing over who is going to be the greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus picks up a little child and says, “if you receive a child in My name, you’ve received me. If you receive Me, you’ve received My father.” He goes on to say that to enter the Kingdom, you must be like a little one, but this is a separate statement. Did you catch it? I hope you have ears to hear it. If you want to be great in the Kingdom, minister to children. Receive children in His Name.
Do we really think that is just a cool Sunday School program or children’s church or Vacation Bible School? That is receiving in His Name?
Paul calls our salvation “adoption.” Marriage is between Christ and the Church. What better witness to the world than a couple adopting a child and loving it as its own? The Church has done a decent job of saying abortion is wrong. It needs to do a much better job of saying, “We’ll take them. We’ll love the least of these. They are not unwanted. We want them.”
You have to give Catholics some credit. From the Pope on down, they still stand for life. Mother Theresa actually told people to bring her all their unwanted children and she would care for them.
Is the Church ready to say this? More importantly, are they ready to do it? The world will not believe us until we do.
I’m not saying that Christ is only discussing adoption in that passage, only that it is definitely included.
The Church needs the balls (cahones!) to step up and be the example it was meant to be. Real men raise children.
On July 7, there will be a collective day of prayer and fasting for this issue. I encourage you to participate. You don’t have to wait until then, though. Lift up the nation, and yourself, in your prayers.
Peace.