By Pastor Greg
Human life has always been
considered sacred, at least from God's perspective, but not from a human viewpoint.
From the world's perspective, human life has been, and probably always
will be, viewed as expendable. For
example, in ancient cultures, one community would attack and kill another for
land, money, or animals (compare Genesis 14:12). King and tribal leaders, when ascending to
the throne, would kill all remaining family members of the former king (see 1
Kings 15:29 and 1 Kings 16:11), making sure no one was left to threaten their
rule. In some cultures, Child Sacrifice
was part of a bizarre worship ritual.
The worship of Molech, the pagan god of the Ammonites, involved passing
a child through fire (see Leviticus 18:21).
I know. It sounds barbaric, but
this is what the world was like back then.
This barbaric behavior is the main reason God called the people of
Israel to be separate from the world. He
instructed Israel to act in ways contrary to the rest of the world. They were to be His holy people - set apart
from all the rest. Several of God's commands
concerned the taking of life, be it on purpose (murder) or accidental
(killing). God explicitly commanded His people to look at others through His eyes.
"Look, every life belongs to Me,” said the Lord in Ezekiel 18:4). “The life of the father is like the life of the son—both
belong to Me."
As Christ walked the earth, He also demonstrated this teaching as He
treated people with dignity, showing concern toward those the world would not -
even those the world would cast aside. This
is why it seems appropriate that we, Christ’s followers, would share that same
view; that everyone’s life has value and worth.
As a follower of Christ, a
Christian's actions and attitudes toward another human being should stand apart
from the views of the world. The people of the world should be shocked at
just how much different our actions are
when compared to their own. Like David's
grace, love, and concern extended to Mephibosheth, our grace, love, and concern for all people should become the talk
of the town. It should cause people to
stand up and take notice.
Roughly 3,000 babies are aborted
each day in the United States. Twenty-two
percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[1] This becomes one more testimony of how indifferent the world still is toward human
life. Now, not all abortions are
performed out of hate for the child or because the pregnancy was unwanted or
inconvenient. There are health related
issues that come into play. And we can’t
pass judgment on a family that is forced to make a difficult choice. But what about these “Unwanted pregnancies” (I
know, today they are called “unplanned”)?
But regardless of what they are called, the truth remains; a baby's life
is terminated, and our society doesn’t seem to mind.
Indeed, nothing has changed in this
world. Here we have the execution of a
living child, and our society, in general, feels it is acceptable – a person’s
Constitutional Right. 44 years after Roe
v Wade (which is called a Landmark
Decision), our nation continues to debate this subject. Years ago, we argued
over when “Life” actually begins. That argument
was simply full of holes. It’s not 8
weeks, 10 weeks, or even two weeks. The
baby was always alive. Conception
happened because the seed from mommy and daddy were alive. Well, today the argument surrounds
“viability”; when is the baby able to survive outside the womb. That’s the debate today. But still, nothing has changed. Doesn’t it seem a bit barbaric that we are even
discussing this issue – whether it is
acceptable to end the life of an innocent baby?
So, how is the Church to respond
to this? As followers of Christ, what
should we say or do that sets us apart from the world? Do we pass laws? Do we protest? Do we condemn those who have an
abortion? Does the Bible teach us how to
respond? Listen as Dr. Joseph Stowell explains how the early church responded to unwanted
babies in Ephesus.
The real problem is not whether we
are pro-choice or pro-life. The problem
facing the church today is how to respond to the abortion epidemic. Unlike the church at Ephesus, babies today
are killed before they are thrown away. It’s difficult to adopt what is not alive. And we have not been able to convince people
to keep the baby full term because abortion has become so easy. Truthfully,
I see a need not to create a new law or repeal an old one, but a need to preach Christ.
What can the Church do to stop
abortions? The answer is found not in
protesting abortion clinics, but in being a witness for Christ. See, this is the greatest need facing the
world today. The world needs Jesus. And perhaps just as important, the world
needs to see Jesus in you and me. Rather than making someone feel guilty about
their choice, maybe we need to help them make the most important decision of their life, and that is to choose
Jesus. He is the hope they need. He is
the hope these innocent babies need. He
alone can change the heart of someone, and transform them into a person who
makes a choice for life.
The idea behind Sanctity of Human
Life Sunday is not to judge the world for its blatant
disregard for human life, but to realize the great need to preach Christ to
those still living in darkness. The Church needs stirred to action - not aroused
to protest or complaining, but to evangelism. I pray that this particular Sunday might teach us that our work
in this world is not done. There are far more important things we need to be
doing in this world than balancing a budget or printing bulletins or
identifying who is a sinner and who is not.
For the sake of the baby not yet conceived,
we need to share Jesus with the people of this world who don't know Jesus.
Then, when Christ transforms their heart they will not need some law to tell
them what to choose, for guided by the Lord Himself, they will choose life.
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