You can read it yourself or just trust my summary: a Kentucky mother is facing jail time (in fact, she has indeed pled guilty) for endangering her unborn child’s life by using crack cocaine while she was pregnant. Her attorney is making the obvious (and ironic) argument that it doesn’t make sense to charge her with this crime if it’s “okay to kill” an unborn child through abortion. The Kentucky case is not the only one, either. Part of the issue regarding this case relates directly to a nearly identical case waiting to be considered by Kentucky’s Supreme Court - a case that goes back to 2006, but a brief Internet search will quickly show that this has been an issue since abortion became legal. If it is legal to kill a baby via abortion, how can it then be illegal to endanger it (and possibly kill it) via drug/alcohol use or other lifestyle choices during pregnancy?
Why this topic? Aren’t we already on the same page on this? Here’s why: I think that way too many godly women are taking the attitude that abortion, while it is a problem, is not “our” problem. It is the World’s problem, right? Christian women don’t have abortions! Think again. Would it surprise you to know that 37% of women who have abortions identify themselves as Protestants, and about 18% specifically as “Born Again/Evangelical”? And since over 90% of abortions are done for “social reasons” (as opposed to medical reasons or rape/incest - which I’m not saying is okay!), that means that a LOT of Christian women are having abortions, and that makes it our problem indeed!
Have we become hardened? Have we become so used to the sin around us that our spiritual senses have become dull? Have we begun to compromise? How did we - as Christian women - get this way?
What should our response be to those statistics - to the whole issue in general? Sure, we can expect the World to condone abortion, but does it disturb you that upwards of a quarter of a million children in the United States are murdered by their “Christian” mothers every year? Do we just shake our heads and click our tongues and thank the Lord that we don’t go to “that kind” of church?
I suppose, as blog posts go, this is probably a crazy one to start with (are you wishing I’d have stuck with Systematic Theology?), but it’s been on my heart so much lately that I just had to say something.
If you know me at all, you know that abortion is a big deal with me - and I am not ashamed to admit that I’m a single-platform voter when election time comes around (much to the chagrin of my more politically-minded friends); however, I find the statistics about “Christian” women and abortion to be quite troubling on a grander scale. I think it is indicative of a much larger problem within the Church today - the tendency to compromise so much that that line between us and the World gets blurrier and blurrier and eventually we just can’t find it at all. We compromise in the name of “love” and even in the name of “witnessing,” and it has finally gotten the best of us. We’ve stopped standing up for what is right - for what is RIGHTEOUS. We’re so afraid of being considered judgmental and fundamental and pharisaical that we have become willing instead to sacrifice righteousness on the altar of compromise, and I think Satan is pretty thrilled with that, don’t you?
We’ve gotten so used to compromising with the World that we’ve started doing it in the Church. We need to open our eyes and open our mouths and stop acting like dumb sheep following the rest of the World off a cliff in the name of compromise! We need to stop letting the World’s way of thinking infiltrate our spiritual lives and our homes and our churches.
I’m not suggesting that we go to the other extreme (even though my extremist nature is just screaming at me right now!) and all turn Amish! But I am suggesting that we start paying attention to those fundamentals that we supposedly hold to, starting with the inerrancy and authority of scripture and the importance of a literal hermeneutic!
Oh, and if you just said to yourself “literal-hermeneutic is such Christianese” then pause for a minute to smack yourself on the head! I’ll wait. Because seriously, THAT’S the kind of compromise that made 250,000 Christian women think it was okay to kill their children last year!
So the moral of the story is: don’t be afraid of being judgmental, right? :-) But “...judge with a right judgment” (John 7:24) and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). But at least speak!
♥ I’m memorizing 2 Peter 1:3-10. I would like to encourage you to memorize it with me if you don’t already know it. I’m focusing right now on that first line: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” because it ties in so nicely with my current rant! We already have what we need - EVERYTHING we need. We don’t need to compromise or settle for the World’s idea of “good” - we already have “His precious and very great promises...”!
How can YOU respond to a Christian friend when it looks like she’s making sinful choices?
Well I think you hit the nail on the head with a couple of things.
ReplyDeleteFirst, to answer your final question, it's just like you said: Speak the truth, in love (and humility). But I would also add, then *be there* for the person. I guess I add that because I have seen (and experienced) people who think it is their job in life to confront someone, and then walk away with their nose up, as if to say, "We can hang out again when you get your life perfect." Yuck. Although, I suppose there would be a limit. For example, I couldn't go out drinking with a friend who was constantly getting drunk. But on the other hand, I would still try to get together for coffee! :)
I have to say, though, that I have noticed "abortion recovery" type classes, seminars, or counseling showing up in churches more and more. That sure says a lot in support of those statistics you mentioned. I feel very sad for those women, who bought into the lie for whatever reason. It must be awful :(
I guess I'm saying: Compromise, no. Compassion, yes.
The other nail-hitting thing that stood out to me was the "literal hermeneutic" thing. It amazes me how so many Believers don't hold to this. I mean, it seems like a no-brainer, yet some pretty smart people still hold to it! I don't get it. The ramifications of NOT taking Scripture literally are HUGE! You can make it mean whatever you can make up! That just can't be right...
As for the Kentucky mom case, yeah, that kind of thing drives us nuts too ~~ the absolute hypocrisy. What also struck me, reading this, is how it shows again how man wants to play God. In a case like this, man thinks he (or she) can choose if the "blob of tissue" is going to be a person or not. Wow.
Thanks for making me think. I like it :)
That "confront and walk away" thing is so true! Remember that class I had to take at our alma mater - the one where we (students) had to plot out our lives on a chart, then see how many "sinful" moments we had - then use that to determine if we were "really saved"? That always bugged me...obviously because it was YEARS before I found my spiritual "rest" again - and I hate to think how many people from that class are still striving to keep the Law after their salvation... But more recently, it's been bugging me on another level - I keep thinking about the people who looked at their chart and said "woohoo! I have more "sinless" moments! I'm SO saved!" I'm sure some of them went on to lead healthy, normal Christian lives - but I also think that WAY too many of them became those "confront and walk away" types -- the kind who say "well, just look at your chart...and look at MY chart...why can't you just be more like me?" I think that exercise was just as damaging to the "sinless" people as it was to us "sinful" ones. Maybe in some ways MORE damaging - because it bred a whole bunch of very prideful people who thought it was their job to make everyone else like them.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...it seems to me that if Christ is "Lord of your life" then you won't have to go around pointing out to everyone else that He is "Lord of your life" - it should just show, right?
No way ~~ I can't believe they had you do an exercise like that!!! (Sorry, brain freeze.) But on the other hand, maybe I do believe it... Sat through lots of chapels with the same basic theme.
ReplyDeleteThat's terrible :( Talk about paralyzing... You are either "too good" or "not good enough." Neither is anything but ick.
And yes, I agree 100% with your last statement!!!
Lately, though, I have been pondering even more the concept of REST. As in, "Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." I am trying to pray more and more, "Lord, I have no idea what to do about this, or even how to feel about this. Would you please just take care of this for me?" It has been very cool to see how that plays out... But it is also very cool to notice that when I put my attention on just focusing on communicating with Jesus, how truly more "at rest" I "feel." (Not that feelings are everything, but you know what I mean.)
Didn't do the dishes before bed? Guess what, God's not mad about that.
Didn't respond well to someone? I am still loved, and living in that love I can easily go to the person and make things right.
Still a loooong way from being where I want to be in this, but it's good.
It's relationship, not rules.
Grrr ... I don't know what I am doing wrong. I just typed out a response, and now it's gone. Dylan's up, so I'm out of time :( KT - you need to come over and show me what I'm doing wrong!!!
ReplyDeleteBlogger doesn't like you! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'll show you how next time we're at your casa. It'll only cost a dollar! haha...
So, I’ve been marinating in 2 Peter trying to soak it in. This is definitely one we need to internalize. As I was reading, I was thinking about the whole concept of “rest” because that’s so near and dear to me right now. I’ve been going through some pretty intense spiritual growth, and I think I finally see where we’re headed. Through it all, I’ve tried to keep my eyes on Christ. I know that ultimately there is no rest or peace apart from Him. At the peak of it all, I kept clinging to past experiences, knowing that somehow the Lord’s will would become clear, even if it wasn’t at the moment. The crazy thing is that in the midst of the storm all I had was scripture and my past to cling to. I couldn’t imagine what God’s peace would feel like because things were so crazy. Thankfully, I was faithfully in God’s Word and clinging to bits of scripture helped me through it all. Now that I’m feeling like God’s letting me in a bit on His plan I see how critical it is to look back at who God is in the Bible and who He is in our life because He doesn’t change. The same God who stopped the waters of the Jordan to allow the Israelites to cross on dry land and the same God who brought the walls of Jericho down with a shout (yes I’m up to my elbows in Joshua right now) is the same God we love, worship, and serve. He is mighty to do all things, and in that I find peace. It is “His divine power [that] has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” I guess my point is that if we can truly internalize this, we see that it’s His power, not our own. The sooner we can get that concept, the sooner we can move on to adding to our faith. If we begin to add to our faith … and focus on those godly qualities, we’re protecting ourselves from forgetting that we were cleansed from our sins. Without that protection, we’re so vulnerable to Satan’s lies and deceptions.
ReplyDeleteAh, well put! :D
ReplyDelete(PS, Mrs. T., love the way you keep changing up the look of the blog, but this is one of my faves :D)
TLB - I love to hear you say you're clinging to the Word! You made Hebrews 4:12 pop into my head...and gave me a new Blog post idea! :-)
ReplyDeleteKJA - I have blog-background-ADD. :-)