Mournfully Pro-Life

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On June 24, 2022, with the Dobbs decision of the Supreme Court of the U.S., the Pro-Life movement won one of the most significant victories in decades. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, declaring that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.

Praise the Lord! This is an occasion for the Church of Jesus Christ to celebrate!

Or so you might think.

It should be noted that some claim to be in the church, yet they fight for and affirm a “woman’s right to choose.” These people are apostates, and they should be handed over to Satan.

Some Christians and churches give lip service to being Pro-Life, yet their rhetoric reveals a disturbing compromise and Leftward drift.

The Prayers of the Mushy Middle

I could multiply examples from social media of Big Eva and winsome Christians calling for the church to “not celebrate too loudly” or to “not gloat over this victory.” I could also find multiple examples of Leftists (the soy latte-drinking, hardcore Karens, and white knights) calling us to care for orphans and mothers now that we’ve taken away their “healthcare“.

Instead, I’d like to demonstrate the Leftward drift from a simple prayer given at a worship service that I observed.

The prayer went something like this.

Lord, we thank you for the commitment of our highest court to the value of life this week. And we just pray that, Lord, we would be those that support single moms and those that have pregnancies that may not be expected. That we would be your body in giving practical help.

On the surface, written in plain text, this may sound like a perfectly fine prayer. I mean, look, the prayer gives thanks for overturning Roe! Or does he?

Not really. He actually thanks the Lord for the “commitment of our highest court (i.e., the Supreme Court) to the value of life.”

The Left often uses language like, “I am Pro-Life from womb to tomb.” By this, they do not generally mean that they want to abolish abortion at all costs. What they truly mean is that they support and promote social justice issues, which inevitably leads to reinforcing a welfare state.

I cannot read this pastor’s heart and know that is what he meant. I can only recognize patterns. The softening of language about sin, death, and justice is an attempt to make the true justice of God nicer and more socially acceptable.

The Leftist Two-Step

There was no pause after this brief thanks. No praise. No celebration. No acknowledgment that this is a mighty work of the Lord, overturning a wicked and perverse ruling that has stood for decades. No acknowledgment of the more than 63 million babies murdered because of this ruling.

The pastor moved immediately to focus on giving practical help (social justice) to two groups: single moms and women with unexpected pregnancies.

This seems like a reasonable and good prayer, right? The church should absolutely support single moms and women with unexpected pregnancies.

But… isn’t the church doing that already? What have pregnancy resource centers been doing all of these years? Has the church written off these two groups of women since the mid-70s? I find that hard to believe.

Instead, this change of focus is operating within the context of the overturning of Roe. This change of direction tells the Church, “Do not celebrate this decision but have compassion for these women! Do not dare to gloat or have the appearance of triumph over those who fought against this!

My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
        God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

Psalm 59:10

And who are these women? Are they single mothers who find solace in the Church and do their best to raise their children? Are these women with unexpected pregnancies shocked yet determined to give birth, love, and nurture their children?

No! Within the context of removing the Constitutional right to abortion, these are women who would otherwise hire a ghoul to murder their children! Have compassion for the murderers, for they can no longer murder. Is that what we’re saying!?

“Victims”

Suppose at some point in a glorious future the Obergefell decision is overturned, and the Constitutional right to gay mirage is removed. Would this same pastor admonish the Church to have compassion on the sodomites who can no longer commit sodomy with the full blessing and sanction of the government?

These women, the women who are devastated that they can no longer have unfettered, leisure sex without the responsibility of caring for a baby and without the ability to murder that child, do not need to be affirmed in their misery. Is it loving to tell a murderer that you are sorry they can no longer murder?

Even if they have to resort to coat hangers… they will not give up their “right” to murder babies.

These women need the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They need the truth – abortion is murder. God says, “You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).”

It is unloving to fail to communicate the full extent of the horror of sin, especially the sin related to murdering the most helpless among us, preborn little boys and girls.

Please do not mourn with those who lament having been inconvenienced in their sin. Call them to repentance.

Context, Context, Context

It would be unfair of me to pluck a couple of lines from this pastor’s prayer out of the full service for criticism. I watched the entire service. This was the only reference to the Dobbs decision. This single, limp attempt at thanking God for such a monumental victory for life.

You might think that perhaps this Church did not want to include any diversion of political and cultural issues within the context of worshipping the Triune God. Ok, fine. They did, however, have announcements at the beginning of (or perhaps before) the service. No mention.

The entire service was Church as usual. And the single mention was almost remorseful in tone. No praise. No celebration.

Of course, you don’t need to celebrate or praise the way I would. I agree. I think that this tone and rhetoric, seen across the Evangelical landscape, is an indication of compromise and a continuing drift to the Left with social justice and wokeness leading the pack.

What I’m Not Saying

The Left is notoriously bad at logic, so I must include the following caveats and clarifications.

Am I saying that the Church should not support single mothers? Am I saying the Church should not provide practical aid to mothers with unexpected pregnancies?

Emphatically, no. I’m not saying that at all.

I fully support pregnancy resource centers, adoption agencies, and the Church being the hands and feet of Jesus to provide love and support to mothers.

My wife and I are foster and adoptive parents. We have committed our lives to the cause.

I am saying that it is hateful to make sinners comfortable in their sin.

Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow

Let Everything Praise the LORD

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
        praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; [emphasis mine]
        praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sounds;
        praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
        praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
        praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 150 (ESV)

We should rejoice and praise the works of our God, not only when they are works of grace and mercy, but works of justice and wrath. The sad thing is, you would think that overturning Roe would be universally seen by the Church as a work of grace and mercy.

The fear of man is within all of us, so we must fight to fear God above all. When we do not, our desire may be to please man, to be seen as nice and winsome. When speaking the truth in love, if Christians emphasize the “in love” aspect above the truth, they end up speaking partial truths or lies in hatred and apathy. True love can only come from the foundation of the truth. We only know what love is because God first loved us (1 John 4:19), and we only know that because of the truth of Scripture.

We are a nation under God’s judgment. That is clear. You cannot murder over 63 million babies in the womb and think that God will forever turn a blind eye.

One of the themes or slogans of the Protestant Reformation is, “Post Tenebras Lux.” It means, after dark, light. Perhaps the overturning of Roe is a glimmer, a ray of light, that marks the beginning of another great reformation in our nation.

Lord, may it be so!