Only Fear God
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
When I consider the true nature of abortion, or when I read the news about abortion and how it’s being promulgated in this country and in the rest of the world, sometimes my heart sinks. When I think about how abortion is being believed – because there is great faith in the “right” to not be pregnant – when I think about abortion in this way, I can easily give in to discouragement. The ubiquity of abortion and the insidious ideas that underlie it can overwhelm me, and I wonder, how is it even possible to win against such a wicked practice? What can one person do that would even make a dent in the freight train of the “Reproductive Rights” agenda?
One cause of my exasperation happened to be an article I read in the Guardian. The article was about OB-GYN doctors in the U.S. who were secretly moonlighting as abortion doctors, and who were wanting to “come out of the closet” to their friends and families. One OB-GYN, Katie McHugh from Indianapolis, expressed frustration at hiding the fact that she performs abortions as if she were “ashamed of this work.” “I’m not [ashamed] – I’m actually so deeply proud of it,” says McHugh. Later in the article (and this is what made my heart sink) the journalist reports that just like in the late 1960’s before Roe v. Wade was decided there was a secret network of women who provided illegal abortions called the Jane Collective, there is currently in the U.S. another underground network of women providing home abortions in order to get around restrictive abortion legislation in particular states. It’s not enough that we already legally abort over 350,000 babies each year. This underground murder market will be one more way unborn children will die, but it will be harder to locate, track and prosecute. I wanted to throw up my hands in defeat.
The disquieting article served as a reminder that in the fight against abortion the goal is not to stop all abortions from happening — that’s not possible in this life. Rather, the primary goal is to change hearts and minds, and the way we do that is by telling the truth. If we are more outspoken against the lies the abortion industry is promoting, less and less men and women will consider abortion as an option. The problem is, we Christians are not nearly as outspoken as we should be when it comes to truth telling.
I have been vocally opposed to abortion for many, many years. Probably since I became a Christian, which was about 28 years ago. In all my years of opposing this horrible practice it has grieved me how unwilling some Christians are to do the same. I’m not criticizing that I don’t see believers shouting from their soap box on a street corner. What’s grievous to me is some Christians seem unwilling to even admit that abortion is wrong. I think part of the reason for our deafening silence is that we have been consumed by the fear of man. We have drunk the proverbial cultural Kool-Aid and believed the lie that says we shouldn’t judge others. So, when an opportunity to discuss abortion arises, we either say nothing or we give the excuse that “I personally wouldn’t have one, but I can’t tell someone else not to.” That response needs to be retired. Let’s just stop saying it. Either abortion is wrong or it’s not; it’s cannot be wrong for some but right for others. The time has come to stop being scared of being accused of judging and start fearing the Lord more.
Clearly, we have to make judgements as Christians (John 7:24). Not only do we need to make judgements at times, but the Bible explicitly tells us to expose evil (Eph 5:11). If we don’t have the stomach to say something about a practice that is clearly evil, we will not have the wherewithal to plant even the smallest seed of Gospel truth to those around us, and we will therefore be of no use to the Lord. We will have lost our saltiness.
If I could wish something with all my might, I would wish that the story of David and Goliath would never have been turned into a cartoon-y, children’s story or a flannel graph. Because it has been made into a Veggie Tale, it makes it hard to see the deep Biblical truths within it and it’s hard to see David or Goliath as real persons. When the men of Israel heard the Philistine of Gath speak, they were “dismayed and greatly afraid” and even “dreadfully afraid.” David’s initial question reveals how he viewed the situation: “What shall be done for the man who takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And when he approached Goliath, he didn’t initially approach him with a weapon. David approached Goliath with a Name – “the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17)
Christians, is God not the God of all Creation, LORD of the universe? Did He not make all things and by Him do not all things consist? Is He or is He not the God that:
spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”Job 26:7-14
If this is the same God you believe in and you serve, why are you afraid of a man that God made? And everything listed above is but the outer fringe of His works!
Yes, abortion is a mighty foe; and news stories about how much abortion is spreading do discourage me sometimes, but it’s only because I’m focusing too much on the story and not enough on the God Who holds the nations in his hand. I have a two-fold purpose with this blog: to expose abortion and tell the truth about life, and to encourage others to do the same. If you’re a Christian, stop living in the fear of man and live, move, and have your being in the Fear of the Lord. When something is wrong, pray for opportunities to say that it’s wrong. Ask the Lord to give you words that are bold, gentle and true. What’s the worst that can happen? You get called a name? You get cancelled? Remember Paul’s words: “I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39)
Even if they kill you, the Christ Who died for you is worth you laying down your life for Him.