Anyone who knows me very well at
all knows that I love nothing more than a good old-fashioned intellectual
argument. I had a coworker in high
school that disagreed with me about virtually everything. Whether the topic was
evolution, welfare, or liberalism in general, we were almost guaranteed to have
polar opposite opinions. We’d
argue while making sandwiches and nugget packs, to the intense discomfort of
our conflict-shunning coworkers.
However, we were fast friends, and never let the conversation devolve
into the name-calling and vitriol that so often accompanies debates between two
strong-minded parties. I loved the
challenge to my worldview, and nothing excited me more than presenting a good
defense for my beliefs. I earnestly believed if you gave me a podium and a
microphone—or a webpage prominent enough—I could argue the opposition into submission.
Sadly,
my earnest beliefs about the values of intellectual discussion with opposing
parties have been well and truly demolished since then. A perfectly-worded rejoinder is not all
it takes to shatter the walls of the opposition. Not one person who disagrees with me about welfare, or gun
control, or abortion is going to be argued into agreeing with me. Even less likely to convince those in
disagreement is the name-calling, angry, sweeping generalization that passes as
debate in any squabble on a given social media platform.
With
this in mind, I’d like to address my fellow believers, specifically those of
you that feel strongly about abortion.
I have seen more and more posts lately saying things like, “Abortion is
MURDER!!” Or, “Abortion is killing
a baby!” Or, “It’s not tissue,
it’s a human being!” I know that
all of the people posting things like this are passionate about human
life. I know that their hearts are
broken over the devastation that abortion brings into the lives of everyone
involved. However, I also know
that these posts do absolutely NOTHING
to convince others not to have an abortion. In fact, I believe they do nothing but HURT the cause of life.
Think about this with me. At least one-third of all American women have had an abortion. That
means 3 out of every 10 women on YOUR friends list. Suppose that you are reading an article about late term abortions,
or how the number of abortions vastly surpasses the number of men killed in American wars. This makes you
angry and sad, so you post an infographic or a status about it. Now one of your friends, one of those
33%, who has had an abortion, sees that status. Or, a person on your friends list who 1)does not know Jesus
and 2)believes she is pro-choice sees that status. How do they perceive this status? Does a light bulb go off in their mind? Are they now open to the truth of how
God views human life? Do they jump
on board the save-the-babies train?
OR, does it make them angry and defensive? Does it make them absolutely
resistant to anything else you have to say on the matter? Does it make them feel like you care
more about your cause than you do for them? I think this is far more likely, and a far more natural
reaction.
Our
job as followers of Jesus isn’t to convince unbelievers that how they are
living is wrong. They already know
it!
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth. For
what can be known about God is
plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible
attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since
the creation of the world,[g] in
the things that have been made. So they
are without excuse. For although they
knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became
futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming
to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and
animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in
the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies
among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about
God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 8:18-25 ESV, emphasis
added)
Scripture states that even unbelievers know God’s attributes
and nature. To know God’s nature is to know what is right. No matter how well an unbeliever
suppresses this truth, it is buried deep within themselves.
I have sat in a counseling room with many women who were
considering abortion. They all had
different reasons to be there; they all had rationalizations about how
abortions might/would work best for them.
Some of them ended up choosing life, and many walked out of that room
firmly set on having an abortion.
But, I looked into every single one of those women’s eyes, and I promise
you this: EVERY SINGLE ONE knew that
abortion was wrong. Even the
women acting like it was a valid, reasonable choice. They came up with their defenses and their rationalizations,
and made up their minds, but every single one knew down deep in her soul that
it was wrong. They didn’t need me
to tell them that. They needed me
to love them. They needed me to
offer encouragement, and hope, and a listening ear. They needed me to look at them and see them the way Jesus
saw them. And when I (or more
often, one of the other AMAZING clinic workers) was able to do that, the
defenses and rationalizations came crumbling down more often than not.
We cannot, with our intellectual prowess, convince a mind
that has turned away from truth. But we can, by the grace of God, love a broken
soul as ours have been loved. And
that will advance the pro-life cause more than an infographic ever could.
