By Bo Linam
This is a deep and very wide topic that we cannot begin to cover in a single article, and will have a hard time fully covering it over the three articles that are planned in the weeks ahead. This topic is very emotional. It hurts, and for some it is so personal that you are probably tempted to stop reading. This article is not meant to shame anyone who has had (or a spouse who has supported) an abortion. If this article does hit that close to home, The Journey Church would beg you to keep reading. A person’s confessed and repented sin in this area is already in the past and it is no different from any other sin. The fact is that Christ’s atonement on Calvary covered an abortion just like it covered all the other sins of His people. Please notice the words “confessed” and “repented” that are tied to the forgiveness in the prior sentences. It is of vital importance before we move forward that you understand that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As Jesus hung on the cross for our sins, He paid the penalty for all those whom He purchased for a high price. Now we must move to asking the question this article will try to answer, “Why should we as believers’ care about abortion?”
To answer why Christians should care about abortion, we must first start with asking, “Where do we come from?” We will answer this question the same way we should answer any question, by turning to the Word of God. We must recognize that the Bible is infallible, it is completely inspired by The Holy Spirit, and is the absolute authority on how we are to live and think as Christians. Scripture tells us:
Psalm 139:13, “For you created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Mankind clearly comes from God. The Bible tells us He is the one who formed us. He is the reason we are here, both in this exact time and in this exact place under His sovereign will. The Bible says He is the giver of life, not man.
The next question is, “Why are we here?” Scripture tells us:
Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
1st Corinthians 15:49, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.”
We are here to be image bearers of God. We are to show the world what He looks like, not physically, but in the character of Him who made us. We are to show the world how to love, worship, protect, and bring glory to the name of God. Man simply does not have the right to unjustly destroy human life, the image bearers of God.
Exodus 20:13, “Thou shall not kill.”
Matthew 8:14, “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
Now that we have established where we come from and the fact that we have a very specific purpose, let’s investigate why we as Christians should care about abortion. The primary reason we should care is because God clearly forbids murder. Abortion is the unjustified taking of a human life, the life of a preborn child. Notice that I didn’t use the word “fetus,” which is Latin for offspring / little one / unborn. While this original translation accurately describes the human life in the womb, abortion advocates would attempt to use this term to soften the reality and brutality of the killing of a helpless child.
Another reason to care about abortion is that scripture tells us that children are a blessing from The Lord. And since we have established life starts in the womb, they would be that blessing and image bearer from the time of conception. Biblically, life starts in the womb, and murder is evil. Knowing these Biblical truths, how can we as witnesses of Christ not care about abortion?
Psalm 127:3, “Behold, children are a heritage from The Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
We are called to love His Word (Psalm 119 is filled with callings for us to love His Word). If we love His Word, we cannot actively ignore what it commands. His Word commands justice because God is Justice. His word commands boldness because He is boldness. His word commands to honor life because He is the giver of life. We must learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates. If we are to be image bearers, we must bear the image that punishes wickedness, hates acts of evil, and loves those who do His work. To be clear, this is not a charge to go and do harm to those performing abortions, women who choose to have one or men who support them. Rather, it’s a call to hate their actions and call evil for what it is. We show the love of Christ when we act as He would. In scripture we repeatedly see Him call sin for what it is, boldly engaging others both privately and publicly If we truly follow His example, not only should we care about the evil that is abortion, we should boldly stand against it.
In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, we are told how the priests of Moloch would request child sacrifices from the people. They would tell the people that the sacrifice would bring an easier life for them. So, they promised a less stressful life with more money for more things if they would give up their child as a sacrifice to Moloch. Please take a second to think about the arguments we regularly hear from the pro-abortion crowd today. It’s pretty much the same thing we hear now, isn’t it? Many women today are being told, “You don’t have the money to raise a child,” “You need to finish school first so you can get a good job,” “Do you really want to waste your carefree years on a baby?” “Think about what this child will do to your body.” Many men echo these questions out of a desire to preserve their independence or the fear they have of financial burden. Both lie to themselves, making a sacrifice to their own idols of convenience and independence. The Bible directly contradicts this mindset when Christ says to the twelve, “Deny yourselves and pick up your cross daily.” If Christ so clearly demonstrated anything to us, it is that self-sacrifice is Godly love and it is powerful.
There are many messages in the world today about abortion. Both the media and political parties, left and right, use it as a means of building audiences and support. Why would the media put spin on the topic of abortion? Perhaps it’s the political influence or the overwhelming desire to seek the approval of man? The media has always been heavily influenced by political parties and it can be slanted in either direction. Historically, liberal media sources have been pro-abortion and conservative sources have been pro-life. The problem with this is twofold; one, it doesn’t leave media in a neutral position (which there is no such thing as absolute neutrality) and two, there are far more liberal influenced media outlets reinforcing the pro-abortion view. Most importantly, as witnesses and followers of Christ, His Word gives a Biblical mandate to care about the practice of abortion. We are first citizens of The Kingdom – not black, white, republicans, democrats, Americans, or any other identifier other than Christians. Therefore, the way we think must first come from a lens that is Christ-centered.
In conclusion we as Christians have a Biblical mandate to care about abortion. It is our duty to stand for the innocent and proclaim the truth of scripture. We do this by being the salt and light that God’s Word commands us to be.