{"id":4746,"date":"2013-11-15T10:35:35","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T16:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/?p=4746"},"modified":"2013-11-15T17:13:57","modified_gmt":"2013-11-15T23:13:57","slug":"why-are-we-against-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/why-are-we-against-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are we against abortion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 19 a very important ordinance will be brought to ballot in Albuquerque. It’s called the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance<\/a>.”\u00c2\u00a0It does not represent everything we might desire for the protection of the unborn, but it appears to be a significant and politically achievable next step in the direction of justice.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the specific occasion for this blog. But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back up a bit first and consider a Christian framework for thinking about abortion and acting in behalf of the unborn.<\/p>\n

And lest this step be thought unnecessary, let us remember that as with many things that we can take for granted, if we do not self-consciously rehearse the deepest reasons for our opposition to abortion, we will grow vulnerable to bad arguments, unimpassioned indifference, and even quieted embarrassment for our position. There is even a term coined to describe those with pro-life convictions who have grown weary of speaking and acting for the unborn: “fetus fatigue<\/a>.” Clearly, the question, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why are we against abortion?,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a question we need to answer with persevering conviction and persuasive clarity.<\/p>\n

So, why are we against abortion?<\/p>\n

First, we love babies and believe that abortion is the murder of an infinitely valuable human being.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

There are two questions that every person has to answer in determining the moral acceptability of abortion. We do well to ask them and answer them for ourselves and those we seek to persuade. These two questions make the issue of abortion surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n

The first question is this:\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>when do human beings begin?<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0The answer is straightforward from the Bible and it is clear in nature. In Psalm 139, David reflected on God’s intimate knowledge of every part of his life, even his life in the womb. With David each of us can say, God has “knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (139:13). Biology teaches us that Homo sapiens begin at the meeting of egg and sperm with the creation of an entirely new organism, unique with its own DNA. Given a proper environment and time, that organism contains within itself all that is needed to direct its own growth from that moment until death. In other words,\u00c2\u00a0embryos\u00c2\u00a0are<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0human beings<\/a>. Standard biology text books agree, and even\u00c2\u00a0many in the pro-choice community<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0are happy to grant this view of human life.<\/p>\n

But if many in the pro-choice community are happy to grant the basic humanity of unborn life, then how can they also be for abortion?<\/p>\n

It\u00c2\u00a0is for this reason that a second question is especially important:\u00c2\u00a0What makes human beings special?<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0We step on ants and we eat cows. Why not human beings? One view says that human beings are valuable for the\u00c2\u00a0kind<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0of thing we are as human beings. This is what Christians hold, and we believe it to be so because, as Genesis 1:27 reads, “God created man in his own image.” A two-year-old girl, a handicapped boy, and an accomplished violinist share the same humanity and, thus, the same human dignity. To understand the alternative view,\u00c2\u00a0the acronym, “SLED,”<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0will come in handy. This view holds that human beings are more or less valuable depending on their\u00c2\u00a0size<\/em>,\u00c2\u00a0level of development<\/em>,\u00c2\u00a0environment<\/em>, and\u00c2\u00a0degree of dependency<\/em>. When an argument for abortion is made on the basis of viability, for example, the logic of dependence is at work. An argument for partial birth abortion will assume an argument from environment. These are what separate a human being in the womb from a human being outside the womb. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a problem that must be acknowledged. It’s precisely this logic that leads Princeton Professor of Bioethics,\u00c2\u00a0Peter Singer<\/a>, to advocate for the infanticide of young children.\u00c2\u00a0Thankfully, most abortion advocates do not live according to the logic required by their position. And that is precisely why a conversation about the nature of humanity and human dignity is a good place to start in persuading our neighbors concerning the status of unborn human life.<\/p>\n

But not only is abortion the murder of an infinitely valuable human being, abortion is the\u00c2\u00a0violent\u00c2\u00a0murder of an infinitely valuable and\u00c2\u00a0defenseless<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0human being. For Christians, the utter dependence of a human being in the womb is actually a cause for a special measure of care.<\/p>\n

We are\u00c2\u00a0against<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0abortion because we are\u00c2\u00a0for<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0human life, and especially human life in its most vulnerable stage.<\/p>\n

Second, we fear God and are captivated with his life-knitting glory in the womb.<\/b><\/p>\n

Listen to what David\u00c2\u00a0believed<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and how David\u00c2\u00a0felt<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0about the scope of God’s sovereignty over his life:<\/p>\n

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;\u00c2\u00a0my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,\u00c2\u00a0when I was being made in secret,\u00c2\u00a0intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance;\u00c2\u00a0in your book were written, every one of them,\u00c2\u00a0the days that were formed for me,\u00c2\u00a0when as yet there was none of them.\u00c2\u00a0How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!\u00c2\u00a0How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u201dPsalm 138:14-18<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That human beings are made in the image of God is one of the Bible’s especially significant doctrines and one of the most practical realities in the world, as we have considered. But it also represents how God has chosen to reveal his glory in the world. Meditation on God’s pervasive knowledge and care for us is a reason for wonder and praise. And so it should be no surprise that across the story of the Bible we find the violent death of children standard fare for God’s enemy, the Devil. We can’t help but think of Pharaoh’s order for the Hebrew sons to be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). Yet, as the story goes, “the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them” (Exodus 1:17).<\/p>\n

What happens in the womb of a woman isn’t just about her. It’s not even just about her and the baby. It’s about her and the baby and the hand of God.\u00c2\u00a0When our hearts are in the right place, we revel at God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s masterpiece in humanity and revile the assault of abortion on his handiwork.<\/p>\n

We are\u00c2\u00a0against<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0abortion because we fear God, and we are\u00c2\u00a0for<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0the display of his life-knitting glory.<\/p>\n

Finally, we love our neighbors and long for sinners to come to repentance.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes, this is an important and not a peripheral reason to be against abortion.<\/p>\n

Heaven will be populated with abortionists, with those who aborted their children, and with people like you and me who looked to Christ for forgiveness and for righteousness. But no one will be there who did not first see and confess the reality their sin and guilt before God. So, telling the truth about abortion is about repentance.<\/p>\n

We do not help our unbelieving neighbors by speaking only of sins most decent people are comfortable denouncing: lying, cheating, spousal abuse, and child trafficking, for example. Just read some of\u00c2\u00a0the stories of 26 women<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0who committed abortions, published this week in New York Magazine. Some of these women have been hardened. Many of them are haunted. All of them, we know, need the grace of God, grace which is greater than all of our sin. Satan assaults the glory of God through abortion, and through abortion he tortures those whom he has enslaved. Being honest about the evil of abortion is an important first step toward knowing the love of Christ for those who would commit an abortion.<\/p>\n

Yes, preaching against abortion will mean that some\u00e2\u20ac\u201deven many\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwill harden in their opposition to our cause for the unborn, and even our Savior. But such is the case with any sin, no matter how gracious our presentation. Jesus’ own preaching blinded some while it gave sight to others. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way.<\/p>\n

We are\u00c2\u00a0against<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0abortion because we are for<\/i> babies, we are for<\/i> the glory of God, and we are for<\/i> the salvation of sinners.<\/p>\n

So, how does this look practically in our lives as Christians?<\/b><\/p>\n

It looks like many things. We pray for the unborn. We organize ourselves for strategic practical and gospel ministry through the establishment of crisis pregnancy centers. We start adoption agencies and open our arms, our hearts, and our homes to children through adoption. We befriend our neighbors and love them with truth and help when they are in a crisis pregnancy. We seek to persuade our neighbors by writing, speaking, educating, and engaging in the public square, in the academy, and in our little spheres of influence wherever we find ourselves.\u00c2\u00a0And, of course, as the Lord grants us children, we love them, protect them, sacrifice for them, and enjoy them as gifts.<\/p>\n

We also vote.<\/b><\/p>\n

Which brings us to the occasion for this article.<\/p>\n

Human government is an indispensable God-given means to human flourishing and voting is a means by which we help to bring our leaders and our laws into alignment with what is just and good and true. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way we love our neighbors, born and unborn. While politics and our part in it can never meet our ultimate needs, it does meet truly significant needs and is an expression of our worldview as Christians.<\/p>\n

Writing for the elders at Desert Springs Church, we encourage you to read up on the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance<\/a>” and\u00c2\u00a0participate in the political process by voting on November 19.<\/p>\n

Fatigue, Faithfulness, and the Faithfulness of God<\/b><\/p>\n

Thankfully, as evangelical Christians, we aren’t the only people who are for life and, therefore, against abortion. As an evidence of God’s common grace in humanity, still forty years after Roe<\/i> there is in our own nation\u00c2\u00a0a broad and persistent resistance to abortion<\/a>, of which this ordinance is a part. But as Christians who seek to defend the unborn, we should want to answer the question, “Why are we against abortion?,” in a way that reflects the mind and heart of God and in a way that promotes his gospel.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are reasons to be exhausted, but there are reasons also to be encouraged. And there are even better reasons to keep speaking and acting for the unborn: Human life is precious, God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glory is great, and God’s grace saves sinners like us to love life instead of death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 19 a very important ordinance will be brought to ballot in Albuquerque. It’s called the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pain… Continue Reading ›<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4746"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4746"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4801,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4746\/revisions\/4801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}