It wasn’t the first, and sadly wouldn't be the last time I would sit with a friend in her shattered brokenness, our tears blending into puddles when she finally trusted me with her deepest shame: the story of her abortion. I knew her. I knew her faith; I knew her passion for the Lord. The thing I couldn't understand until that moment was that her knowledge of the depths of His tenderness and love flowed out of a walk she had taken alone with Him through darkness.
As we untangle the current Supreme Court decision, I have read so much anger, so many statistics, so many opinions, and so many trauma responses; I wondered if we could shift our conversation? Could we stop fighting out of fear? I have settled on an unpopular opinion: The problem isn't defining when life begins; the problem is that we don't show up in people's lives until we want to have an opinion about it..
Believers, when we fight against choice, do we not remember that issue was settled in the original design? God, Himself offered us all a choice. The distinction is that as people who have chosen to follow Him, we have unique insight into what that choice cost Him. We have seen both sides, and in THAT humility and gratitude, we should be sparkling hope everywhere!
If our fight for LIFE begins three, four, or six months past a conception that leads to hopelessness, the battle was lost long before we finally showed up. I think this is where the Lord has led my heart on this hot topic. To the place where a girl looks at the tenth positive pregnancy stick and finds the only source of hope in a clinic that will alleviate her worst fears instead of the church, much less the home of a loving believer who has been discipling her for years.
Because instead of 'going and making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and TEACHING them to obey everything He commanded", we wait until political manipulation or a judicial cross-road reminds us that human life is our deepest passion. It's worth evaluating: if world systems rising and falling are the prod that ignites our big feelings about the sanctity of human life, could that be a counterfeit to the rod and staff that Jesus uses to direct our path? Could it be that we have ignored His way of bringing hope and the good news of HOW people can follow Jesus to victory, healing, restoration, forgiveness, new life, purpose, and passion so long that the prodding of the enemy is what reminds us to care about human life? Suddenly we are his pawns in shame-heaping the very people Jesus died to save so that we could disciple them towards His truth?
The only time in scripture I can recall Jesus even addressing a legal system was when it sentenced Him to death. As followers of Jesus, we fight battles in Heavenly places. We don’t win by shaming and standing in judgment; we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). I honestly don't care what happens with Roe v. Wade. My passion and energy until my last breath are to speak life, shine Jesus, and tell people they are loved, and there is a shocking path to freedom and forgiveness: follow me because I'm following Jesus. One person at a time, one group at a time, human to human--because that life matters. THAT is how we end abortion. Our system of justice is so much higher than a human with power. Our system of justice spent much of His time on earth fighting and disproving a prideful, harsh religion executed with haughty judgment in His Father's name.
The world is constantly shocked when they have to remind the church that women who have been raped are desperately hopeless when they find themselves pregnant. The world looks at the church, who they innately know (because God makes Himself known in nature) is supposed to represent LIGHT, and they are so baffled and confused when we dig in on issues that are so tender and so raw instead of offering hope and love. So much damage is done when we deem ourselves judge rather than leading them to the True Authority. Our job is to take people to Jesus, and He will convict them of sin. He will shine His pure light into the dark corners of their life in the only way that leads to repentance.
So what do we do? What if this pondering didn't make you mad but convicted? When I come face to face with my self-righteousness, I have a choice--do I dig in and justify it, or do I let it break my heart and repent? If we don’t handle our fears, shame, conviction, hopes, dreams, anger, frustrations, and indignation with Jesus, our big feelings will most often be hijacked by the enemy, and our reactions and actions will be zero Godly. Let every emotion fall at the feet of Jesus: Lord, I'm so mad about this issue. Lord, I'm so overwhelmed by the number of babies that are brutally and casually being ripped apart inside the womb that was designed to protect and nurture them until they are ready to face this world--Even as I prayerfully typed that sentence, I felt Jesus soften my heart: "I put vulnerable people in your life for the very same reason. Protect and nurture them until they are ready to face the world." Lord, Jesus, forgive us for not being your light bearers that offer safe shelter, a safe space to untangle the snares of this world, to find hope and You.
I wonder, for those of you who feel your whole self on fire when the topic of abortion comes up….could it be that this indicates your purpose? Not to post opinions on Facebook, but to become a prayer warrior for the unborn? To become a prayer warrior for the girls and boys--let's stop forgetting there is a boy every single time…who is on the edge of conceiving a life they aren't ready to raise? What if you volunteered and became a disciple-maker--not a critic, not a nag, but a loving mentor? A safe space for the vulnerable to choose to obey and follow Jesus to renewed life?
"A bruised weed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish until He leads justice to victory. In His name, the nations will put their hope." Matthew 12:20-21
Beautifully and bravely said.