Pro-life activism has been a part of Christian witness throughout church history, but has received particularly focused attention by evangelicals and Catholics since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Now, though, we find ourselves in a unique cultural moment. The third in a series of undercover sting videos was just released this week, bringing to light the hideous reality of Planned Parenthood’s macabre abortion enterprise. To hear medical professionals casually discuss the deliberate termination, dismembering, and sale of babies has stirred the American conscience. Congress is opening investigations and voting on legislation to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding. Corporations are distancing themselves from the abortion provider and even progressives not known for anti-abortion advocacy have spoken out against Planned Parenthood.
Millions of people are seeing the brutal reality of what has always been labeled by abortion providers as a safe and clinical practice.
Millions of people are seeing the brutal reality of what has always been labeled by abortion providers as a safe and clinical practice. New technologies, such as ultrasound machines, smart phones that capture video, and social media have converged to cause us to see what we didn’t previously: the humanity of the unborn and the gruesome nature of abortion. As Columnist Ross Douthat puts it, we’re just starting to realize that “an institution at the heart of respectable liberal society is dedicated to a practice that deserves to be called barbarism.”
But how do pastors and church leaders lead their people through the outrage to champion the sacred value of human life? How do we bring the hope of the gospel into the brokenness of our world?
Rightful rage
There are many opportunities for outrage these days, but our people are right to be deeply angry at what they are seeing in these videos. President of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Russell Moore points out that “for a Christian, such language ought to trigger in us thoughts of Jesus of Nazareth, who identified himself with human nature, taking on flesh and dwelling among us (Jn. 1:14).”
Our moral indignation reflects the righteous anger of a God of justice. Cain, the murderer, was told by God that the blood of his brother Abel cried to him from the ground. Jesus, upon viewing the lifeless corpse of his friend Lazarus, wept and groaned angrily at the curse of sin and death. When we protest the killing fields of Planned Parenthood, we’re rightfully raging against the Serpent himself, whom Jesus called a murderer (John 8:44).
Expressing sadness, anger, and grief on social media is not a wasted effort. It can mobilize the Christian community and strike at the consciences of those outside the faith. It can nudge public officials and community leaders to act in response.
Pastors should not shy away from stewarding their influence and addressing this issue. They should model for their people how to think and act in this cultural moment. For some pastors this might mean thoughtful engagement on blogs and social media, not only helping their people process what they are seeing in these videos but to saturate the conscience of those outside the faith and point them to redemption in Christ. For others it might mean pursuing conversations with church members and community leaders, helping to localize a national story.
But seeing, grieving, and speaking is only the beginning of our call to defend and work toward human dignity.
The gospel is for brokenness
As the global church stands up for the human dignity of every unborn child, it’s crucial that individual congregations become champions for life in their communities.
I recently visited a Southern Baptist church plant in urban Columbus, Ohio and met with the founders of a medical clinic that offers holistic health services to the poor and underserved population. I was amazed at the way these Christians championed human dignity, not merely by encouraging young mothers to choose life, but by offering health care to the poor and by serving young mothers. They saw the image of God not just in the unborn, but also in the disabled and the impoverished. This same church began a nonprofit ministry that rescues young woman trafficked into the sex industry.
I see churches like this everywhere I go, both preaching and acting out the gospel in the midst of the brokenness of their communities. Still, we need more. For every pregnancy resource center, there are dozens of Planned Parenthood locations. What if, in the next 10 years, holistic health centers, funded by Christian mission, moved in as a means to provide gospel healing and hope?
It’s hard to imagine a better opportunity for gospel ministry than to love and care for young, pregnant, unwed mothers and to walk alongside young fathers, offering a different view of manhood than what he sees around him. To be pro-life is not simply about checking off qualifications for political candidates or speaking out on Facebook. It’s about rolling up our sleeves, getting in the trenches, and moving with compassion toward the brokenness in our midst.
What’s more, the church must not only welcome the unborn, but repentant abortionists, guilt-laden mothers, and scarred young fathers. It’s possible that in your congregation on Sunday, there will be a young woman who hears the gospel message and wonders if it is for her because of the decision she made a few days ago. Perhaps there is a doctor with bloody hands who wonders whether the blood of Christ is enough to cleanse his sins. There may be a man who has buried the shame from his involvement in a secret abortion from his college years.
We preach a gospel of both justice and grace. God delights in bringing to himself the worst kind of sinners. The Planned Parenthood spokesman, the enabling politician, or the flippant barterer of fetal tissue one day may be our brother or sister in Christ. How you will address this on Sunday? Will you see the faces of the unborn and the mother, the father, and the abortionist, and speak grace to them?
Pro-life, whole life
God’s people shouldn’t merely stand against the abortionists, but for the human dignity of the marginalized and the impoverished, the minority and the immigrant. Pastors should consistently challenge the Christian conscience to see the image of God in all, not simply in the unborn.
What’s more, we must be willing to open our homes to children through adoption and foster care. And we must work to make our churches places where children in all kinds of life situations are welcomed. Trevin Wax writes:
You can tell how pro-life, pro-family, and pro-child our churches really are by the way we support the youngest in our congregations. Some Christians would give months of their time to campaign for a pro-life candidate, but would not give a few hours a year to sit with children in the nursery or teach a child in Sunday School. A truly pro-life, pro-child church will never have a shortage of nursery workers. The sounds of babies crying are the sounds of life, God-given life that we cannot take for granted.
To be pro-life is more than a political position. It’s more than being mad on Facebook. It’s more than hashtags. To be robustly, biblically pro-life is an ethos, a gospel-formed way of seeing worth in every human being, regardless of utility.
Pastors must shepherd their people this way, through faithful preaching, steadfast leadership, and personal example. Let’s seize this cultural moment to build a culture of life, one church, one community at a time.
Daniel Darling is vice-president of communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Activist Faith.
Copyright © 2015 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
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