WE COULD END ABORTION OVERNIGHT – IF WE WANTED TO
One of the
issues that seems to arise whenever we find ourselves in the political season
is the Pro Life issue. I ran across an
excellent article written by a guy named Rolley Haggard that I thought was so
well done that I couldn’t say it any better myself. It’s thought provoking and underscores the
power of the silent majority. Take a few
minutes and read it.
“I believe we could end abortion virtually
overnight—if we really wanted to.
But much as I
hate to say it, it appears we don’t really want to. At least, not badly enough.
Permit me to explain.
Going Viral
We live in
“the viral generation.” When an idea with universal appeal hits YouTube,
practically the whole world knows about it overnight. It’s like a trumpet
blast, rallying everyone together all at once.
“Yeah,” you
say, “I think I see where you’re headed with this. Problem is, there isn’t
‘universal appeal’ for this issue yet.”
Exactly. But
we can fix that.
“Who’s ‘we’?”
you ask.
The
evangelical church, that’s who.
“Yeah? And
just how?”
I was afraid
you’d never ask. It’s so simple it makes a body ache to think it hasn’t been
done yet. Stay with me while I set this up just a little bit more.
A Matter of
Priorities
In great
measure, we march to the loudest drumbeat. We fall in step with the worldview
that commands the most deference and respectability amongst our 70-80 million
American evangelical friends and leaders. We give ourselves to what we perceive
as God’s highest priorities. So the question becomes, “Do we perceive the
battle for the unborn among God’s highest priorities?”
In my opinion,
we do not. Because if we did we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
The zeitgeist,
the shared consensus, the thread of common consciousness and call to mission
that unites and excites and incites most evangelicals to heroic prayer and
jackhammer preaching and the kind of sacrificial action from which legends are
spawned, is not pro-life activism. It is missions and evangelism and
church-planting and other respectable work that, to be sure, is exceedingly
high among the great list of kingdom priorities. But it is not the highest.
The Great
Commission and the Greater Commission
The
aforementioned ministries, important as they are, are not supreme. They conform
to the Great Commission, but there is, if you will, a Greater
Commission. It is what Christ called “the great and foremost commandment”
(Matthew 22:38). It’s called love.
Echoing the
words of Christ, the apostle Paul said, “Love is the fulfillment of the law”
(Romans 13:10), and “he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (v. 8),
and “the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘you shall love
your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14)
Important as
the Great Commission is, it is not to be performed to the dilution, neglect, or
negation of the Greater Commission. If a neighbor’s house is burning
down around him, God’s will, God’s priority, is clear: You risk all to save the
precious life.
Who among us
can’t see the holocaust engulfing the unborn? The house is burning down around
our little neighbor and we consider it merely “important.”
But the
pro-life cause is not “important.” It is crucial. You’ve heard of
“damning with faint praise.” Well, what we’ve been doing is “damning with
half-hearted action.”
You don’t tell
a patient, “It is ‘important’ for you to keep breathing.” If you don’t breathe,
you die. It is crucial that we do every lawful (and I stress the
word lawful) thing possible to end abortion. If we don’t, they die.
And you know what? For all practical purposes, so do we (see Revelation 3:1).
Over 50
million children have been aborted in America under sanction of federal law
since Roe v. Wade. Fifty million.
If we honored
each of those 50 million human beings with a single minute of silence, we would
remain speechless for over 95 years. How about instead of remaining speechless
as, to our everlasting shame we have done now for 43 years, we open our mouths
and blow the trumpet?
If I Have All
Faith, but Have Not Love . . .
Too many of us
are preoccupied with “ministry.” The entire law, the whole duty of Christians,
is summarized in one word: love. “Ministry,” if it is not the incarnation of
love for people, is unlikely to be able to look straight into the eyes of Love
Incarnate on the Coming Day and survive the realization that to do everything
else in life well but fail in this one, all-important point, is to fail in all.
Read Matthew 25:31 again—“for the first time.”
Let’s quit
“straddling both sides of the fence” on this. Where do we stand? The
all-revealing test is easy to perform. Just ask yourself, “If it were MY child
they were going to put to death, what would I do?”
A point
well made. Now, here’s an opportunity
worth considering from David Ripley, President of Idaho Chooses Life -
Life Chain
- This Sunday - October 2nd
Please help spread the word! The Treasure Valley
Life Chain will be held this Sunday, October 2nd. 2-4 pm.
We'll meet at the Red Robin on Milwaukee.
This event is being held in nearly 1000 American cities
and represents one of the most powerful strategies of the pro-Life
movement. Every year, we see the Lord using our witness to touch the
hearts of our neighbors and save lives.
Please help us make this year's event even bigger.
Ask your Bible Study or Men's Group to join you for just these two hours.
Signs and refreshments will be provided
An outstanding
Sunday awaits you this weekend at Deer Flat.
It’s a great time to include a friend.
I’m excited about seeing you! I
LOVE MY CHURCH!
Loving You and
Loving Him,
Pastor D
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