This week I spent the day in prayer. I
prayed with others in ministry locally and around the nation on zoom. In many ways it was a rich and rewarding
experience. We prayed for our families,
our ministries, one another, the nation, and the world. We prayed for repentance and revival, for
evangelism and discipleship, and for issues of deep concern to all of us. We "cast our cares upon Him" for He
cares for us (1 Pet 5:7). We also prayed
for social justice, the unrest and division in America, and other issues.
But
as the day went on, I was troubled by a recurring thought, "What about the
plight of the unborn?" In all the
groups with which I prayed, no one mentioned the most marginalized and
vulnerable people in America. Now I am
not bringing this up as a political statement, but as a moral and ethical one. Unfortunately, it has been made political,
like almost every other ethical issue in America, but I refuse to leave it in
that category. As the day went on, I
felt more and more concerned about the issue of abortion and the gravity of the
sin it represents. Now I know there are
some, even many, who can explain it away or rationalize abortion, but I cannot. I see it as the most grievous of all the sins
in our culture (and there are many others).
I
am deeply ashamed and grieved to live in a culture that condones the killing of
babies in the womb, or outside. I can
only imagine how Almighty God feels about it. You may refer to Lev
20:2-3; 2 Chron 28:3; 2 Chron 33:6.
No
one (except my wife) even touched on the abortion issue as we prayed. At day's
end I felt like I had been in an all-day prayer meeting in Nazi Germany where
no one mentioned the concentration camps. Do we have our heads in the sand?
What
do you think?
I’m agreeing with you. I can’t mention abortion publicly without some comment from a kid I worked with or even my own family that I don’t know what I’m talking about.. the issue has become so clouded by politicians who use it for votes or taking points that the next generation sees it as fraudulent. Apparently, when voted on no follow up allowed the hurting women to be neglected once the election is over. I have become confused about how to answer this issue which has become personalized away from the truth of killing babies. I’m sad for our country but more sad for the kids. They are intellectually pro life but anti the people or man who stands for the platform.” He is not authentic!”
ReplyDeleteLeslie, good to hear from you. Sadly Christians in America seem to have lost their sense of the relative importance of things. Scripture says that the spiritual person should be able to "appraise all things". I think that means that the closer we walk with God, the better able we should be to put relative value on things. In this case, the grave sin of killing the unborn. I sometimes wonder if when we get to heaven and talk with saints throughout the ages they will ask, "Aren't you from that generation of American Christians that exterminated so many babies?"
DeleteBut a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Co 2:14–16.