Christianity Today

I agree with your comment, Pamela - what does it mean to say that God values all life, equally? How involved are we with both the woman and the child after an unplanned pregnancy? Clyde, you are right that we need to understand our sin to understand grace. In our research and experience we see that women facing unplanned pregnancy experience deep shame. When people have asked me about balancing grace and truth, I respond, "Knowing what she is experiencing, what truth would you tell her first?" In my opinion, the first truth a woman needs to hear is that God loves her, exactly where she's at. I believe it's the first truth we all need to hear when we have fallen short of God's standard.

a real christian if they think about it can not honestly say a women body belongs to her self .. they know better .. they know they were bought with the price Of Gods own Blood. they also know murder is wrong no matter how old the person is just conceived or a 100 years old .. Life Sunday Sermon “Jesus Is Pro-Family” http://www.christianliferesources.com/pdf/lifesunday/sermons /Jesus_Is_Pro-Family.pdf

Grace does not preclude the loving presentation of both the Law and the Gospel. No one recognizes sin outside the Law of God. The offer of God's grace cannot be known without the Gospel. Too often, the presentation of grace is offered without an accompanying call for repentance. Such an "easy grace" affords no, or at most little, room for the Holy Spirit to accomplish a move toward righteousness in a person's life. Pregnancy is not the sin, but the extra-marital sex that resulted in the pregnancy is. Hosting or permitting facility use for a baby shower without the preemptive proclamation of Law and Gospel compromises the presentation of the full teaching of God's Word. There are other options for assisting an unwed pregnant woman. The congregation does need to explore these options and clearly publicize a willing to aid and support the expectant mother as well as the expected baby. May the Lord guide His people to discover how that may be accomplished.

I agree with parts of this article, but really do think many/most Christians are ready to attend the baby shower. But are we ready also to support single mothers when they have a second or third child? When the children are 7, 11, 14? With 30% of mothers (who did not choose abortion) being single and rising, this raises another level of challenge for Christians who say they are "pro-life."

This is a wonderful article on a loving, helpful approach to women who need us. If all churches were like this people would flock to them. Asking, "What do you need?" is fantastic.

I appreciate these comments on the article. For me, everything comes down to God's grace. Who needs forgiveness? I do - all of us do. There is no hierarchy of sin in God's economy. That's why we as the body of Christ are the people best equipped to make a change in our culture - we have received grace and we can give it away.

Abortion will become illegal and effectively so, when and if the large majority of the public is convicted of the sin that abortion is and votes with those convictions. Although pro-life folks should not be silent, seeking a political solution is no different from expecting people to become Christ-like before they become His followers.

Also, on judging the single pregnant women: have we considered that perhaps she wanted to wait, but that the young man pushed her into sex before she was ready? Sometimes I think a young woman perhaps just wants to get to know him first, but he pressures her and she gives in, and then when she gets pregnant, she's disappointed in him for pressuring her into sex before she was ready and doesn't want anything more to do with him. Should we judge her in the that situation? Should she be barred from fully participating in any area of church life?

Jim, I have heard the same thing from women of churches. Usually the single young women are cast in the light as being a Jezebelle who seduced the poor young man who fathered the child. The church ladies then hesitate giving a shower for single pregnant women as they don't want to give the impression of "rewarding" the single women. They then choose to give hand-me-downs instead of new things for the baby, or a shower that is less than what they'd do for a married woman who is pregnant. It doesn't matter if the single woman has repented to God for having fornicated with a man, there just seems to be something in evangelical churches about making sure the single woman understands she's committed a sin. It's twisted and rather "mean middle school girl-ish" to me, which is a subtle way women/girls "dis" each other, and in Christian circles it's even worse.

Christians, especially pro-life Christians, believe all human life is God-ordained and God-blessed. Why would any Christian community then fail to support the mother and father -- or mother, if the father is not involved -- with the gifts and support that a shower is supposed to convey. Shame on us if we say life is from God, and then judge which life is worthy of our celebration.