Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:13-21
The number of abortions performed
in our nation can be radically reduced in one of two ways. First,
if parents are not tempted to destroy the child in the mother's womb
because of fear or shame, they won't abort it. Second, even when
they do desire to destroy the child in her womb, if just laws prevent
it. Some say you can't legislate morality. However, that is
exactly what legislation does. It is immoral to get mad at your
neighbor, pull out a gun and shoot him. The laws in our nation intend
to stop that from happening. And for those who go ahead and commit
that immorality, it punishes that immorality. As necessary as this
role of law is to provide justice to those whose rights are being
trampled, it would be much better if people didn't want to get a gun
and shoot their neighbor. We all understand that.
On the abortion front there is much
work being done in the pro-life camp in hopes that just laws are
passed to protect the powerless unborn child. This
is necessary action to stem the tide of such a vast social injustice.
That said, the goal that we must pursue long after any laws are
made to protect these children is that parents have no desire to
destroy their child. How can that goal be reached?
Something Dietrich Bonhoeffer
wrote from prison may actually be quite pertinent to this issue.
It is in a section addressing the subject of suicide, but it is no
less pertinent to the subject of abortion.
It is not
the right to life that can overcome this temptation to suicide, but
only the grace that allows a man to continue to live in the knowledge
of God's forgiveness. (Ethics,
pg. 172)
Since
the very next subject he takes on is reproduction and abortion,
adapting this statement to abortion is not out of line. Adapted it
would read: It is not the right to life that can
overcome this temptation to abort, but only the grace that allows a
woman to continue to live in the knowledge of God's forgiveness.
Two great motivators toward abortion are fear and shame. The
knowledge of God's forgiveness is essential to overcoming either.
Why
did Cain kill Abel? Because he was attempting in some way to cover
up his sin. Abel was living right; Cain was doing wrong. Somehow
it seemed logical that if he could just do away with Abel, everything
would be okay. (Genesis
4:3-10) Often, an unwed pregnant woman is ashamed of the situation
she finds herself in. What she is really ashamed of is the
immorality that got her pregnant. And it often seems that if she can
just do away with the pregnancy (which involves doing away with the
baby), everything goes back to normal. Most women who have an
abortion learn that they now have to cope with a new normal—a whole
new kind of hidden shame. She too will need the cure that only the Gospel can bring. It is the shame of sin that often tempts these new parents to destroy their child
in hopes that the shame will go away.
Sometimes
the pregnant mother or the father who pressures the mother into the
abortion is motivated by fear—fear of how they are going to make
it; fear of the radical changes this will bring about; fear of how
others will respond. The list of fears can go on. It
is this fear that creates the environment in which the temptation to
abort the baby thrives.
Whether
it is fear or shame that is feeding the temptation, it is the
glorious news of the Gospel that takes the power away from the
temptation. How so? The
Gospel announces God's forgiveness
for sinners. The shame is forgiven.
All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting people's sins against them.
And he has committed
to us the message of reconciliation.
20We
are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his
appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled
to God. (2
Corinthians 5:18-20)
The
message of God's forgiveness—that God is not holding people's sins
against them because of the work of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) is
the means by which God calls people back to himself and reconciles
them to Himself. To be reconciled means that those who were enemies
are now friends. The unwed mother in her shame is now made right
with God again. God accepts her fully in Jesus Christ. Jesus says
to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
(John 8:11) This message
has been committed to the church! We must proclaim it.
It
is this same message that frees us from fear for there is no fear in
love, for perfect love drives out fear (1
John 4:18). When the prospective parents realize that God's love is
available to them in Christ, they can run to Him free from fear,
knowing that He will care for them. They can cast their anxiety on
God for God cares for them (1 Peter 5:7). What a promise.
Whether
there are ever just laws that protect that unborn or not, the work of
the Gospel will not cease. We must do that work now as it is our
most powerful weapon. This work will be just as necessary if the
laws were perfect. For
while you can legislate morality—indeed you must—you can't
transform a heart by legislation, but only by the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus. One vital way we
can support the unborn child and the pro-life cause is sharing the
message of Jesus Christ with the world.
Love the Gospel, Live the Gospel,
Advance the Gospel,
Jerry
