One of the greatest indicators of
the church’s commitment to the pro-life cause is whether she will commit
herself to becoming dissatisfied with the status quo. Let’s face it; the
abortion debate has been around a long time. The destruction of human life far
precedes the recent videos, and yet heretofore the cost to the church has been
minimal. It is one thing to vote
for pro-life candidates and put bumper stickers on our minivans, and quite another to materially help a young woman
with an unwanted pregnancy as she struggles to get on her feet. The pro-life battle comes much
closer to home when we invite the stranger into our own living room. To adopt a
child is to invest in something far greater than creature comforts, and at the time it's much more difficult to see a return on our investment. It’s a
matter of historical record that the early Christians were pro-life, believing
that God was the giver of every life. When Roman citizens looked for ways to
dispose of unwanted children it was the Christian communities that took them in
and raised them as their own. The early church saw the risk and took it. They knew
the way of the cross was costly, particularly for their Lord, but they also
knew the servant is no greater than the Master.
As long as the church loves her
ease and eschews her discomfort it’s likely the pro-life battle will be consigned to a passive yawn. We’ll soon forget the videos and settle back
into the routine. You see…to care is to commit time and resources. To care is to
cast comfort to the wind. To care is to make hard choices. And frankly, there
is a certain risk to it all, and risk is…well, it’s risky. As long as the
church is satisfied with where she’s at there will be little light and
little salt, and we shouldn’t wonder why the world then looks at us with eyes aglaze and yawns.
- DJM
September 2, 2015
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