The following will be the second in a series of posts about how the gospel intersects with current political debates. I realize I am going where angels fear to trod here but I am compelled to do so by the fact that I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the only hope for the world. It meets us right where we are at in the daily mess we make of our lives on a personal, national, and even global scale. God does have something to say about what's happening in our world today and His Word is too often lost amidst the tumult and noise of our culture.
Last week, I posted a blog about the refugee crisis that generated a great deal of conversation. I deeply appreciated being challenged to think more deeply about where I stand and am grateful we all engaged in a gracious manner even across our differences. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Our republic rises or falls on our ability to have good, hard, robust, honest dialogue with each other so thank you to everyone who commented and shared with me how you felt. I found it to be a very fruitful week as I continue to ponder and pray over the issue.
This week, I want to talk about life. When does it begin? When does it end? What gives it value? How we answer these questions drives a lot of public policy in our nation today. Abortion. Death penalty. Physician-assisted suicide. Access to healthcare. Welfare reform. The implications are almost endless and all driven by how we answer the most basic, fundamental question of our existence...what is life? Remember, I answer this question as an evangelical Christian pastor and professor. My area of expertise is the Holy Bible. An ancient text that I - like many others in our world today - believe is inspired by God Himself. I freely admit I do not come to this issue from a legal, political, or social science perspective. Not that those perspectives are unimportant or have nothing to offer this conversation, it's just that they lie outside my area of expertise. Furthermore, I believe the insights they offer should take a subordinate position to the truth God reveals in His Word.
Primary Question: What do Christians believe about life?
- When does life begin? Every single human life begins in the heart of God. He chose us from before the foundations of the world. He predestines us in love according to His grace. Before we take shape in our mother's wombs, He has already named us and claimed us. (Eph. 1:4, 2 Thess. 2:13, 2 Timothy 1:9, Jeremiah 1:5) The origin of life is therefore not just a question of biology. It is not just sperm meeting egg. It is not just a clump of cells multiplying many times over. It is God creating life. God shaping and forming and fashioning yet another human being. (Psalm 139:13) God breathing the breath of life into yet another creature that bears His image. (Gen. 2:7, 1:26-27). From a human perspective then we must claim life begins at conception. At the very moment another divine image-bearer begins to take shape.
- When does it end? The creation account in Genesis 2 teaches us that human beings do not become living creatures until God breathes into their nostrils the breath of life. The same scene is repeated in Ezekiel 37:5 in the prophet's vision of the valley of dry bones. They only live when God breathes His life into them. The implication is clear. Human life depends on the breath of life. We start this process in a fully dependent state as our mothers breathe for us while we are in the womb. When we are born, doctors wait for that first cry. That first deep breath to enter the lungs. Breath is the key to life. More than just the wind. More than just the air. More than the oxygen and nitrogen and other molecules that make up our atmosphere. It is something God breathes into each of us. And as long as we have God's "breath", we have life. As soon as we can no longer breathe, we experience death.
- What gives life value? As mentioned above, every human being is made in the image of God. (Gen. 1:26-27) Male. Female. Black. White. Brown. Gay. Straight. Disabled. Non-disabled. Every single human being who has ever been born has carried with them - in their bodies, minds, and spirits - the image of their Creator. As such, we do not draw our primary worth from our utility. From what value we add to society. From what we can produce or achieve. Our value is not extrinsic but intrinsic because we have been endowed by our Creator with a worth we cannot begin to measure. When the Creator looked down on His broken creation. A creation that had sinned and fallen away from His original purpose and intent. Rather than discard His flawed and imperfect image-bearers, He redeemed them. We see this idea reflected in the beautiful parable found in the Gospe of Matthew 13:45-46. It tells the story of a merchant who seeks out fine pearls and on finding one of great value, sells all he has and buys it. For years, many assumed the pearl of great worth was Jesus and believers were to go and sell all they had to purchase Jesus. But that makes little sense because we have nothing of value God would accept. Recently, a better interpretation has emerged with Jesus as the merchant and human beings as the pearls. And what the story is meant to convey is the intrinsic worth we have to God. Upon finding us, Jesus offers up all He has to secure us. To purchase us. To make us His own. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." (John 3:16)
Secondary Question: How then should Christians respond to abortion?
- God loves life. He creates it. Calls it into being. Lovingly fashions it from its earliest stages onward. Life, even under the protective hand of God, is fragile. It is vulnerable to sin and death and the evils of this world. But what sin seeks to ruin, God redeems. He binds up the broken hearts. He heals our wounds. He proclaims liberty to the captives. He sets the prisoners free. He comforts those who mourn. (Isaiah 61) So committed is God to life that at the end of time, He will throw Death itself into the lake of fire, forever ending his reign of terror. (Rev. 20:14) Of course, for the Christian, the ultimate sign of God's commitment to life is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The early Christians had this saying, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55) We believe the resurrection is the ultimate victory of Life over Death and the ultimate demonstration of God's fierce love for the life He created.
- God calls us to love life. Because God loves life...those who claim to follow God must love life as well. As fierce as God's commitment is to life...ours must be the same. The heart of our faith is the victory of Life over Death so we must seek to protect life, guard life, nurture life, and bless life wherever we can. From the womb to the tomb. No matter the circumstances, we believe and claim the promise of God for every child conceived. We cannot and must not judge the value of life based on the utility a child may or may not bring. We cannot and must not judge the value of life based on our own preconceived, often very flawed, notions of what makes life worth living. Life is precious to God. Life must be precious to us. Eugene Peterson once wrote, "The Church is called to be a colony of heaven in a culture of death." I would amend it slightly by saying, "The Church is called to be a community of life in a culture of death."
- God calls us to compassion. "A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn..." (Pope John Paul II) At its beginning, life is extremely fragile. So much can go wrong. A mutation here. A failed development there. Sometimes the heart just stops beating for no apparent reason. I have walked with families through still births. Terminal diagnoses. Miscarriage. Abortion. The loss of a pregnancy, no matter what the circumstances, is one of the most heartbreaking experiences a mother or a couple can go through. There is grief. There is pain. There is suffering. There is a physical and emotional and spiritual toll. Not to mention the pain the child can suffer in utero. Our God is a God of compassion. It is part of His eternal character. (Psalm 34:18, Psalm 79:8, Isaiah 54:8, Matthew 14:14). Our hearts should break with the things that break God's heart and so we are called to show the same compassion for families who are struggling with the difficult issues surrounding pregnancy. We must surround them with the love and care and support they need. We must challenge our society to embrace a culture of life rather than death. We must fight for the day when even if abortion remains a legal option...it is one no one considers because they can depend and trust that their child will be raised in a community of love and acceptance.
- God calls us to sacrifice. Admittedly, taking on the responsibility of a child is not easy. A woman must go through a lot of physical and emotional changes as the baby grows in her womb. Her lifestyle and ability to work is often curtailed especially in the final trimester. She needs time to recover after giving birth. Furthermore, there is the emotional toll a pregnancy can take particularly if it is unplanned and the circumstances under which conception occurs are casual, negative, or even violent. Finding out one is pregnant turns life on its head even under the best of circumstances and yet once life is conceived...our lives are not just our own. The mother now carries a child within her. A human being who carries the image of God. The father now bears the responsibility to care and provide for this divine image-bearer. Even the wider family and community has a share in helping to raise this child, caring for them, instructing them, blessing the so they fulfill their God-given purpose in life. So the call to sacrifice becomes a shared one.
- God calls us to serve. The church in America has incredible resources at her disposal. She has influence. Wealth. Experience. And a history of extraordinary compassion to build on as she seeks to promote a culture of life. The church can and should make a commitment to care for every single unwed mother. Every single unwanted child. The church can and should demand accountability from every single deadbeat father. Every single abusive parent. The church can and should continue to create and partner with incredible programs like crisis pregnancy centers, single mom's support groups, adoption agencies, etc. The church can and should flood the foster care system with well-equipped and experienced parents who not only are willing to bring children into their homes but who are supported by a wider community who is equally committed to helping kids born into difficult situations thrive in life. The church can and should advocate for public policies that promote life over death and leverage social, educational, and governmental resources in support.
So how then should Christians respond to abortion? Though difficult and challenging, I believe the Bible to be clear. Abortion represents the taking of a human life. This is not something a Christian can affirm in light of what has been argued above. Even in the most difficult and challenging of pregnancies (rape, incest, disabilities, extreme poverty, etc.) life is precious and of inestimable intrinsic worth. To end life prematurely damages our souls and scapegoats the most innocent and vulnerable among us...the unborn. The only scenario under which an abortion could be considered is when there is danger to the life of the mother because now one must balance one life against another.
There is so much more to say on this subject and so many implications to what I have shared here that I simply do not have room to tease them all out. Hopefully, what this blog has done is to provide a trajectory for the conversation and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Because of the sensitivity and tenderness of the subject for many, I will ask for an extra measure of grace as we discuss. Many will be observing what we say and how we say it so please be kind to one another.
Personal Story: In February of 1998, my wife and I went in for our first ultrasound. We had been married about a year and a half and were excited to start our family. I still remember Kristi coming into my office at Boulder Community Hospital with tears in her eyes and a little pair of baby booties in her hands to announce she was pregnant. We were overjoyed. Our joy turned to gut-wrenching pain as the ultrasound tech told us something was wrong. Our doctor later gave us the terrible news. "I have never seen a baby with this many problems. He is only surviving because of his strong heart." We went to a specialist for further testing. Caleb had no lung tissue. He had significant deformities in his skull, impeding brain development. He had no arms and legs. His hands and feet were attached at his shoulders and hips. Furthermore, his strong heart was showing signs of failure. And if he died in utero there was significant danger to Kristi. I cannot tell you how many tears we shed over the course of those weeks. I cannot tell you how many prayers we prayed begging God for a miracle. We simply didn't have a category to put this experience in and it tested our faith and our marriage in ways we couldn't have ever predicted. In consultation with our doctor, we made the heartbreaking decision to have an abortion so we could save Kristi's life. There is nothing like weighing the life of your child - as disabled as Caleb was - against the life of your wife. Though it was impossible for Caleb to live outside the womb because of the lack of lungs, we considered every minute we carried him to be precious time. Sacred time. He was not a mistake. He was God's gift to us and to our family in so many ways.
I recognize not everyone who contemplates abortion has the blessing of a good marriage, strong family support, and the support of a wider community to help them walk through their grief. We are eternally grateful we did and we hold in prayer and in our hearts those who do not and we continue to work and advocate for the day when all mothers and fathers facing this decision can do so knowing they are surrounded by a community of love and grace and acceptance.