It’s been a hot minute since the Supreme Court overturned their earlier Roe v Wade ruling. As you can imagine, Americans have reacted to the news with quiet introspection, meditation, and civil discourse built on facts and a desire for common ground…
Let me start over.
Roe v Wade is gone. If abortion is ever made the national policy of the United States again it will not be called “Roe v Wade.” It will go by some other name. It will take on some other form. It will demand new concessions. It will insist upon new so-called freedoms. Roe v Wade is gone.
The desire by some to have abortion on demand is alive and well.
There is much to say about the end to Roe v Wade, but I want to focus on the Christian response to this ruling. We cannot control how other people react, what other people say, or the things other people think. All we can do is strive to let our words and deeds match those of the Master.
With that in mind…
TO THE FIERY PROTESTERS THAT ARE SURE TO SPRING UP ON AND OFF FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE OVER THIS: Please do not expect to see God’s people, either standing among you or in fiery opposition to you. Our calling is for us to use “well doing” as the tool to rebuff those with whom we disagree (1 Peter 2:15). It is not the goal of God’s people to stir up trouble, to protest, or to rouse rabble. We are not megaphone-wielding grievance-shouters; we are called to be peace bringers. The church is not a political faction and should not be (nor allow itself to be used as) a political tool. We are not a constituency. We are not of this world. The kingdom of Jesus is too busy trying to save souls to be on one side of a political issue or another.
But I hear you say, “then why do God’s people not shut up about abortion!”
My answer to that is simple: Though abortion has become a political issue, it boils down to a matter of life and death. There is a chasm between the pro-abortionist and the anti-abortionist because the one side does not accept the proposition that the unborn child is a life, while the other side does. If you think the unborn is not a life, then what you do with it should be as personal and private a matter as every pro-abortionist wants it to be. If you think the unborn is a life, then the matter is as fundamental to our society as every other law against murder, whether that be the law of God or the laws of men.
Until it is agreed upon that the unborn is a life worth protecting, I don’t think there can ever be agreement between the two sides. That means protests and vitriol will only continue for the foreseeable future. I just hope it’s not God’s people getting pulled into the ugliness that always follows such protests.
I know there is a lot of anger out there, and there may be riots, and there may be violence over this ruling. We do not condone it. That is not the Christian way. It seems to be the default way of the American nation these days, but it is not the Christian way. My prayer is that Christians not only don’t forget that, but that they show the opposite: I pray that, through all of this, we as God’s people show the world the better nation.
I belong to a great nation:
It is the church of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:9).
Her ruler is Jesus the King (John 18:37).
Her race is Abraham’s (Galatians 3:27-29).
Her constitution to live by is God’s perfect Word (Romans 10:17).
Her greatest law is love (John 13:34).
My prayer is, somehow, through all of this, that people find Jesus, and in Him, the far greater nation to which His people belong.
Next Thursday, there will be words for the pro-abortion crowd…