A Winning Issue … or Unthinkable?
The National Recognition of Sanctity of Life Sunday began on January 22, 1984—under President Ronald Reagan—11 years after the Roe v. Wade decision. This issue has been of great moral concern for Christians—not just in the modern era—but all through church history. While many view this as a “political issue,” I would argue that should not be our focus—it is a moral and spiritual issue. It is something all Christians should care about deeply.
The Sanctity of Human Life is particularly appropriate to address in a series on revival because, when God revives our hearts—the impacts are felt throughout society. The Welsh Revival of 1904 is a powerful example. Owen Roberts, a young coal miner, had a compassionate love for people. He listened to God and made his faith public. God used his burden and love for those outside the faith to inspire others toward evangelistic and missional fervor. The newspapers reported that within six months of this revival outbreak … 100,000 people were converted. But listen to the societal impact:
Judges were presented with white gloves signifying no cases to be tried. Alcoholism was halved. At times hundreds would stand to declare their surrender to Christ as Lord. Restitution was made; gamblers and others normally untouched by the ministry of the church came to Christ.[1]
Revival can transform our world—it can make societal evils unthinkable! The Sanctity of Human Life is one such issue. As I will argue in this post—God cares about life—even and especially about unborn life.
Living In A Post-Roe World
It is worth taking stock of the current cultural landscape as we begin this discussion. Over 50 years ago, in 1973, the landmark case of Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in the United States. This became a lightning rod issue. For 50 years, the Pro-Life movement pushed back against this decision, seeking to reverse its immoral reasoning.
The cultural conversation changed in June 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned this ruling in the DOBBS case. This was a welcome shock to many in the Pro-Life movement. Many never thought they would see this day. 50 years! 62 Million unborn lives lost. Finally … a major victory was achieved for this cause.
And yet, it has been fascinating to experience the response to Dobbs. Among some Evangelicals … some who advocated the cause of life … the response has been tepid. Why is that? Writing in the Journal, First Things, theologian and historian Carl Trueman observes:
The Dobbs decision has revealed fault lines in American Christianity. These fault lines lay just below the surface for a long while, but are now clearly exposed. As long as abortion was legal by Supreme Court decree, it was possible to identify as pro-life but keep that commitment at the level of theory; one could hold pro-life views but not be perceived as a threat. All that has now changed. To identify as pro-life post-Dobbs is not simply to hold an opinion many regard as wrong; it is to be part of an act of political and social “oppression.” And predictably, many Christians are feeling the need to “nuance” their relationship to the overturning of Roe.[2]
That is a very important assessment. I think it is an accurate assessment of what has happened.
The problem is twofold: (1) First, many people assume the issue is over and done. Roe v. Wade is no more … the felt need is diminished. What more is there to do? Except in a state like New Jersey, absolutely nothing has changed because the state has enshrined abortion up until birth into law. Case in point is First Choice Women’s Resource Center—an organization we proudly support. They do amazing work. Yet, currently, they are being pursued by the NJ Attorney General for their pro-life stances.
(2) Second, many people, even in the pro-life movement, did not think this day would ever come … and they didn’t adequately prepare for the next step. How do we advocate for the unborn … now that Roe v. Wade is no more?
Engage The Cultural Narrative
The cultural narratives about abortion and the pro-life movement are everywhere. If we are to bring revival … we must engage those narratives at the worldview level. To accomplish this we need to ask and answer some questions.
To clarify the issue, and have a productive conversation, you must ask and answer the question: “What is the unborn?” While we must deeply care for and walk with the mother … you need clarity on unborn life. What is the unborn? That is the issue.
Most current textbooks agree—human life begins at fertilization. For example, a leading textbook, “The Developing Human,” states:
“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to form a single cell, the zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell (capable of giving rise to any cell type) marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”[3]
Fertilization marks the beginning of an individual. We, of course, go through a growth process--but there is a beginning. What is the unborn? They are human life.
The pro-life movement, from it’s inception, has been laser focused on protecting the life of the unborn. If you say you are pro-life … it means you want to save babies. However, in recent years some have attempted to smuggle in other issues and reframe the conversation to “whole life” issues. Some will say we need to give equal weight to racism, sex trafficking, immigration, poverty, and care for refugees all under the “pro-life” label.
However, there is a disturbing reality to this agenda. A number of supposedly evangelical leaders who advocate the “whole life” agenda spend their energy advocating for every issue on that list … except abortion. For example, one speaker at a 2017 Evangelicals for Life event, Eugene Cho, encapsulates this problem when he wrote:
“Like most Christians I know, I am against abortion. However, I just do not believe we can legislate it … Can we maintain choice but do all that we can to preserve and ensure the life of the unborn?”[4]
The irony is that is functionally a pro-choice position.
Let me just say, those other issues are important. In fact, next week we’ll be interviewing one of our world partners on the issue of human sex trafficking. She’ll be doing a whole breakout on that topic at our Contend Conference. All these topics are important. But when we talk about the “pro-life” movement … that is not what we are talking about. We are talking about abortion.
Protecting children has been an issue all the way back in the Old Testament. The nation of Israel constantly battled the enticement of idols from the surrounding nations. Those idols, in many cases, were tied to child sacrifice. When the people of God entered the Promised Land, YHWH God warned them not to worship idols or intermarry with the gentiles. One of the main reasons was worship. If they married a gentile, they might worship their god—like Molech.
Molech was a pagan, Canaanite deity. One of the requirements to worship Molech was infanticide. In the book of Leviticus, the law makes it clear the people of God must not do this:
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 18:21, ESV)
You shall not give your children to Molech as a sacrifice. This is why I say that the pro-life issue is not just a moral issue—it is a spiritual warfare issue. The cultural conversation around the issue of life—is a battle for our children … literally.
Internalize Our Creedal Imperative
Is the Bible “Pro-Life?” Or is it just … politics? Protecting the unborn is not a political issue … it is a spiritual warfare issue. This is an important piece of this topic, because I think many people assume, but don’t fully know, the Biblical reasoning for the Pro-Life cause.
Someone might say, “Abortion is not mentioned in the Bible!” To which you might reply: “Of course it is!” They will challenge you, "Where?" Many respond, "I don't know—somewhere!" Now, it is true that the word, abortion, is not in the Bible. However, the worldview for life is woven throughout the Scriptures. In begins in Genesis 1:27,
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ESV)
Genesis 1 establishes the fact that human beings are created in the image of God. We are special among creation. After sin enters the world in Genesis 3, the possibility of death comes. In Genesis 4 we see the first murder as Cain kills his brother. This greatly displeases God and he warns against the shedding of innocent blood in Genesis 9:6,
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9:6, ESV)
In other words, murder is a big deal. Why? Because we are made in the image of God. Again, if the unborn baby is a human life, we need to take this matter very seriously from a Biblical perspective. God cares about life. However, you cannot establish the unborn life, Biblically, from those passages, you have to look at others. We already reference Psalm 139, but it bears repeating:
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:13-16, ESV)
Anyone who has been a parent knows this to be true. As a mother, you can feel your baby move inside. You establish a bond as you carry him or her and birth them to life. What an incredible experience. Let me ask you, is the baby any less alive between the time they are inside your womb until you hold them for the first time?
Still, we might ask, “Why is the Bible Silent on Abortion?” To that question, we might respond:
First, while the Bible speaks to issues impacting all of life, it is not a comprehensive code of ethics. Rather, the Bible is written primarily as a story of God’s redemption of his people. That being said, as we have seen from the Scriptures I referenced, the Biblical writers were not inclined to abort their unborn babies.
Second, the Old Testament in particular displays an overarching Hebraic Worldview. This included the following assumptions: (1) Humans have intrinsic value. (2) Children are desirable. (3) Immortality was expressed through one’s descendants. This is most prominently seen in God’s promise to Abraham to make him a “great nation” in Genesis 12. (4) Finally, as a result, sterility and barrenness were a curse. Therefore, it is inconceivable that any woman would want to abort their child.
Third, when you get to the New Testament, is assumes the Jewish morality of the OT. After all, nearly all the early Christians were all Jewish! Early Judaism was quite opposed to abortion. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “the law orders all the offspring be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus.” So, the New Testament doesn’t explicitly use the word, abortion, but Josephus does!
If I could summarize—yes, the Bible does not explicitly mention abortion. However, no one in the Bible intentionally has an abortion, the Hebraic worldview values life, and Jewish historians testified to this fact. As a result, the Christians applied this worldview to the first century Roman world of the NT.
The Christians stood against the Roman Worldview of their day. Let me describe the 1st century Roman world and see if this reminds you of anything. Roman society devalued the material world and human life—especially the weak, like babies. Among the Roman elites, the wealthy, they had an anti-natal outlook. The Romans also lived in an oversexed society. If you think it is bad now, you have no idea. However, their sexual practices were deliberately non-reproductive. If their attempts failed, they would use surgical abortion as a means of birth control. If that failed, infanticide was an option.
The point, my friends, in that in First Century Rome, when the church was birthed—children were discarded. Historian Glenn Sunshine writes,
Although some people may have discarded their children because they simply could not afford them, the wealthy did not have that problem and yet they practiced contraception, abortion, and infanticide at least as often as the poor. The only explanation is that it was a cultural trend, not one that was dictated by economics.[5]
I want you to read that again: “It was a cultural trend.” And in that society … the Gospel came. In that society … the church was born. In that society the Christians said … NO MORE! Do you know why? Because the Christians believed that everyone was made in the image of God, even the unborn. The Christians said, “We don’t care how convenient this this … we don’t care how trendy this is … we care about LIFE! Because our God cares about life.”
It was our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “Let the Little Children … come to me!”[6]
Christians stood against this and as the Roman world became more Christian abortion receded in prominence. Why? Because it was unthinkable.
Lovingly Counsel Those Impacted
As we advocate for the cause of life, we must never forget that this issue impacts many at a deeply personal level. Many need healing and freedom. I know for most of this post I have spent time laying out the case for life. And yet I know, many don’t choose that. If that is you today, God doesn’t want you to feel shame … he wants you to experience the freedom of forgiveness.
Revival for Life … it begins when we experience freedom from our past! There are many reasons someone might choose an abortion. There are internal and external influences including: financial stressors, lack of education, pressure from others, shame and FEAR! It can be scary to bring a new life into the world. It is a deeply emotional experience.
And yet, God can bring healing and restoration to any situation. I mentioned First Choice Women’s Resource Center earlier in this post. They are an excellent resource. Not only do they provide care for men and women choosing life—they have group to help post-abortion. If that is you today, I encourage you to visit their website, get in touch, and receive the healing and care from our great God.
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[1] Malcom McDow and Alvin Reid, Firefall: How God Has Shaped History Through Revivals (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1997), 278.
[2] https://firstthings.com/christians-should-rejoice-over-dobbs/
[3] Keith L. Moore, T.V.N. Persaud, and Mark G. Torchia, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 11th ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2020), 11.
[4] Eugene Cho, “The Abortion Conversation,” October 30, 2008, EugeneCho.com.
[5] Glenn Sunshine, Why You Think The Way You Do, 33.
[6] Matthew 19:14
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