Loving Life Beyond Birth

There's something that's been troubling me lately folks.

It's this idea that seems to be going around our society that people who advocate for abortion are somehow more "pro-life" than those of us who are against abortion. The idea that anyone who doesn't support a particular political agenda only supports life up to the point of being born. Truth is, for a lot of folks I know, myself included, that couldn't be further from the truth.

The people throwing out these accusations against us pro-life people, would rather refer to us as "pro-birth" because we don't necessarily see eye to eye on programs that would support people once they are out of the womb. I really don't care to dive into the details of government run programs and other political nonsense here. But what I do want to address is the fact that a life is a life is a life is a life.

It shouldn't matter if it is still in utero. It's a life.

It shouldn't matter if it is a "burden" to society. It's a life.

It shouldn't matter if it is an inconvenience in any way to anybody. It is STILL a life.

A life with value. And even if all of us mere earthlings are too blind to see it, the God who created that life certainly still does. That same God who made you and me and STILL somehow sees the value in humanity despite our depravity. DESPITE the fact that we act as if our lives somehow matter more. DESPITE the fact that we act like some lives aren't worth fighting for.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

Matthew 25:40

You see, what gets me is the fact that folks who advocate for abortion (or as some call it, a "woman's choice") seem to think that because we are on opposite sides of the political aisle that we don't also care for people in need. Just because we don't necessarily agree on programs such as welfare and Obamacare doesn't mean that we devalue human life.

I recently made the mistake (okay, I'll admit it, on more than one occasion) of engaging with a person on the internet who considers themselves a "Christian". This person was posting politically charged things and claiming that they were somehow Scripturally based. The problem was that these things they were saying weren't at all Scriptural (though they were intentionally phrased in such a way as to lead people astray) and as Christians, we are to be able to call one another out in such circumstances. I pointed this out to the person and we debated it.

This person feels strongly that it is the government's responsibility and role to fix all of society's problems. The problem with that line of thinking though is that Christ didn't call us to be under a government who took care of others. Nay, he called US to love our neighbor. He called US to care for the widow and orphan. He called US to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and teach the ignorant. He called US to do these things (as well as many others I didn't mention here). In no place do I recall Him saying, "I want you to pass on this God-given responsibility to your less than capable government to handle." (Please do point me in the direction of the Scripture passage that says this if I am mistaken.)

The point is, these things were never meant to be the government's responsibility. They were what we, as Christians, were supposed to be doing. But we sluffed off on it and the government had to step in. And so it seems the Church stepped back, in some cases out entirely.

We cannot shirk off our God-given responsibility to these people by assuming that what the government can give them will be adequate. We all know it isn't. By God's design, people need far more than what food stamps or other assistance programs can ever hope to provide. Yet, the people accusing those of being "pro-birth" want us to believe that somehow those government programs can provide the sole fulfillment these people need and that to support anything less than their political agenda would be un-Christ like.

"...faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead"

James 2:17

Indeed, we do need to care for folks far beyond their exit from their mother's wombs. It goes far beyond meeting just those physical needs though. We need to be concerned with their soul fulfillment. Anything less than that is not adequate. We need to stop selling God and His Gospel of Love short by so poorly representing it.

When we come to believe that the killing off of unborn babies is an acceptable alternative to showing love and compassion to women who find themselves in those circumstances, we need to seriously reevaluate our Christianity. When we claim Christianity, yet somehow come to the conclusion that the people who are a "burden" to society would've been better off aborted instead of brought into this world, we're pretty far off base from anything remotely resembling Biblical principles. When we see the solution to "fixing" failing government programs as preventing more lives from entering the world and potentially becoming dependent on them, we have failed to see that the government can never replace what God called us to be to His people in need.

If you think that such ludicrous thinking surely doesn't exist, especially in Christian circles, you may be surprised. This "Christian" I debated on the internet did no less than tell me that kids in foster care would have been better off aborted. She didn't realize I was a foster parent, and she could not have anticipated the can of worms that opened. Sadly, she had a whole slew of people supporting that stance.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Romans 12:2

Just because somehow an evil thing has managed to become legal doesn't mean that we should support it. What is legal needs to align with that which is moral, and thus we should scrutinize anything less. God's standards, as shown in Scripture, needs to be the standard by which we measure morality, not that of a particular political party.

It's quite sick, if you really think about it. If it's so acceptable to kill off the inconvenient before they are born, then at what point does society make the small leap that killing off inconvenient already born people is also acceptable? There are already some people advocating this very thing in our country. If it seems like a slippery slope, it's because it is. If it sounds like social cleansing, it's because it is. Babies in utero are already aborted at higher rates if they test positive for certain issues (even though a lot of those prenatal tests have been proven to have inaccuracies). In some areas of this country, babies of color are more likely to be aborted than to be born. The sanctity of life is lost when we stop seeing people as God does.

Just because abortion is legal and people have been misled to believe it is a "choice" instead of a life doesn't mean we should murder babies. Showing love to people doesn't mean we have to agree with and support choices that go against what we know God is all about. Showing love starts with coming alongside them and showing them the love of God. It means coming and helping them through hard situations and sticking it through with them, even if you don't agree with what they do. But it doesn't mean that we must set aside any beliefs that could possibly disagree with that person we are trying to show love to.

We, as the church need to step up again instead of stepping back from these hard situations. We need to love like God wants us to. We need to be willing to step aside from the comforts and conveniences that we've come so accustomed to so that we can better serve the least of these. We need to ask God to break our hearts for what breaks His, and then step out in faith to do something about those things. But we definitely don't need to shirk back anymore and assume that the government's got this. Because they clearly don't. The last however many years of government program being piled on top of government program while society as a whole seems to be in a rather rapid decline, is evidence enough.

There is a time and a place for government and its laws and programs, but we must no longer believe the lie that it somehow excuses us as the people of God from helping those who are hurting. When they accuse us of being "pro-birth", let's prove them wrong. Let's show love and support to people in need far beyond their birth.

"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives...But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? ...Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth."

1 John 3:16-18