JANE STORY |GUEST

The request was gentle. I was surprised that a couple who cared so deeply about this issue wasn’t more inflammatory. I had been conditioned to expect pro-life ‘radicals’ to be pushy, condescending, and unsympathetic.

My boss sent an email (from his personal address) inviting all his coworkers to join him and his wife at the March for Life. They didn’t demand our attendance or stump the position that all Christians should be on their side. They simply stated that they cared about the issue, they thought it was worth their time to go, and that they could give us a ride. If we had questions, they’d be happy to talk more.

I was a young twenty-something and felt affronted by what I considered to be a bold political move. Although I was a strong Christian, I hadn’t decided what I believed about abortion. I had never been confronted with how the Bible spoke to that issue, nor had I had any role models make their own views known.

Instead, I had subsisted on our culture’s words about protecting mothers and respecting choice. I was led into confusion about when life begins. All I could say was, it was wrong to kill people, but I wasn’t sure if abortion was killing people. I would have never personally advocated for it, but I wanted to be kind to those who chose it. Finally, I knew I was ill-equipped for complex scenarios where people must choose between the baby’s life and the mother’s life. I’d never heard a Christian give adequate answers to those questions.

While politics brought the issue to the forefront for me, the origins of my questions were theological. My theological ambivalence needed to be set aside, and my heart needed to align with Scripture.

Christian Cultural Misalignment

 My own misalignment was a symptom of a broad cultural trend. According to Pew Research, 33% of Evangelicals and 48% of Protestants believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. That is lower than most other religious groups, but still high considering historic Christian teaching. My twenty-something self might have said the same, although truly I was mostly ambivalent.

If you are already committed to the Bible’s teaching about human dignity, you may see these numbers and be discouraged. Can we algin with Scripture and with each other on this divisive issue? Of course we can! The Lord changed my heart; He can do the same for anyone.

Three Sources of Change

I was gradually exposed to historic Christian views on life and human dignity through three main change agents. These came primarily through my church. I’m grateful that my church keeps politics out of the pulpit. My pastors never spoke about individuals or political organizations. They were not trying to sway elections. However, they were committed to God’s Word, and this was my first source of change. I became convinced that life begins at conception when I considered verses about being knit in our mothers’ womb (Ps.139; Job 10; Is. 44; Jer. 1), and God’s blessings and curses falling on His unborn people (Luke 1; Is. 49; Gal. 1; Rom. 9:11-13). Once I was directed towards God’s truth about human life, a Biblical perspective on abortion became clear.

Secondly, it was important to have role models who were vocal in a way that was both steadfast and gentle. My boss and his wife were a prime example. Over time I met others who were kind towards all mothers, regardless of their choices, yet unwavering in their commitment to the unborn. These people were fostering, adopting, fundraising, and volunteering. Their love for all humans was clear in both word and action, to those who agreed and disagreed. I was disabused of the idea that there were two mutually exclusive choices:  to be compassionate, or to oppose abortion.

Finally, it was essential that I learn more specifics about the issue. For example, one of the most helpful things to consider was the meaning of the word “abortion.” Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. Deliberate.

When considered carefully, this obliterates ideas like, “exceptions for the life and health of the mother.” There is an important difference between performing a life-saving act towards the mother, which may result in the unfortunate death of the baby and performing an intentional life-ending act to the baby. Some may say this is semantics, but intention is at the heart of these rare and difficult cases.

Another important piece of information was the fact that more than 95% of abortion cases are for elective reasons, not life of the mother or rape or incest. Those difficult scenarios must be carefully examined. However, God-fearing Christian should first consider how Scripture speaks to the majority of cases before being drawn into the more nuanced arguments. At the very least, the 5% of tough cases should not dictate our stance on the 95% of cases, which have clear alternative solutions that preserve human life.

Moving Forward

Our political opinions should be shaped by our understanding of God and His Word, not the other way around. Moreover, our theological opinions are more consequential than our political stances. Many see this topic and immediately criticize others, either for “not being pro-life enough,” or else for “hating women.” The heated rhetoric distracts Christians from the all-important question: “What has God said, and how do I apply that to my life?”

Standing against abortion as an affront to the Imago Dei is important. But maturing into that belief is a process. Christians will disagree on how to best live out God’s mandates

in our secular society.  Therefore, we must return to Scripture in everything we do, and then to wise counsel, and finally to clear facts of reality, to abide in the Christian life.

Photo by Josh Bean on Unsplash