About 3 years ago I had a FB conversation with a young lady I knew and some of her friends. They’d been upset with a pro-life meme I had on my FB page, and they decided to gang-up on me and show me the error of my ways.
Some of their tactics were - they’d say that if I cared about the unborn I’d have taken in a foster child. Well, they didn’t know me very well, because my wife and I HAD taken in a foster child (a nice young man named Chad). Then they declared that if I cared about the unborn I’d have adopted a child. But they didn’t know me very well. I explained to them that I had indeed adopted a baby boy we named Jonathan about 29 years ago and he became my “first born” son. When those two arguments didn’t work, these girls resorted to making snide & insulting comments about me and my beliefs (I wasn’t really offended, just not quite sure what they felt they could accomplish by doing that).
But the one girl in the group who DID know me – wrote this: “I am not so sure you are aware of how women were treated by society and church that led to legalizing abortion. You also, apparently, are not a woman. We don’t live in a perfect world. If we did, every pregnancy would be joyful.”
My reply: “I was wondering when you’d resort to the ‘you are not a woman’ argument... but you’re right. I’m not. And you are also right that society and the church have not always been as protective of women as they should have been. It’s not right for those - who have the power to do so – to not protect those who are vulnerable. But let’s turn your rationale around. In a pregnancy, it’s the unborn child that’s vulnerable, and it’s the abortionist who does vile things to such a child. Rarely is this about protecting the woman... it’s more about removing an obstacle for a ‘joyful’ life for the woman. And yes, we don’t live in a perfect world but taking the life of the most vulnerable is NOT the way to accomplish that.”
Shortly after that conversation, she and her friends blocked me
Now, the question tonight is this: why are we here? Some might say that we’re here because of Roe v. Wade that was passed in 1973. And that’s true… up to a point. If it weren’t for Roe V. Wade, our nation would never have reached the point where we have pro-life groups. Roe v. Wade mobilized the pro-life movement as nothing else could have done.
But that’s only part of the reason we’re here. A lot of people don’t realize how anti-child the world has been over the centuries.
ILLUS: In the Bible we read about folks who worshipped Molech, and who would sacrifice their children to this pagan god. They’d build a fire under the hands of their god, and as they placed the child in those hands, I’m told the heat would eventually contort the child’s face into a grotesque smile that would tell the worshipper that Molech was pleased with their sacrifice.
Another horrible practice was what they called ‘foundation sacrifices.’ When a house was to be built, a child would be sacrificed, and its body built into the wall to bring good luck to the rest of the family.
But God told Israel “DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT… Leviticus 20:2-3 "Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him. I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.”
Years ago, I had a subscription to a magazine called Biblical Archeological Review.” The year was 1984, and I read an article in that magazine entitled “Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control? (Biblical Archaeology Review 10:1, January/February 1984 “Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control?”) and they were discussing the city of Carthage in northern Africa.
Carthage was where Hannibal came from, and it was a major military power that challenged the might of Rome. Archeologists had been doing some digging around the city Carthage and they were surprised at what they’d found there.
You see, many archeologists view religion as something that has evolved. The thinking is that early religion was crude and barbaric, and human sacrifices were the norm. And (they thought) as religion evolved people became more “humane” and substituted animals for the children they once sacrificed.
But that’s not what they found at Carthage. It seems that the early sacrifices were animals, and as time went on human sacrifice became more common (replaced animal with children).
Now, that puzzled the “experts” and led them to speculate - why that happened. The explanation from the authors of this article was that when Carthage was founded, animals were plentiful, and children – not so much. If the city was to grow, they had to keep the children alive, and so, animals were less important – and easily sacrificed. But as the city grew, animals grew scarce. and children weren’t (scarce). So human sacrifice replaced animal sacrifice.
In other words - as the city grew - children became expendable and less valuable than animals.
Now, across the Mediterranean Sea was Rome… and Rome wasn’t much better. Slavery (in Rome) was a major part of their culture, and slaves, could be exploited in whatever way their owners wished. Both male and female slaves were often sexual playthings for masters, and there were occasional babies born this way.
In addition to that, there was a vibrant “sex industry” all across Rome empire and, as you might imagine - children became an inconvenient by-product of that industry. Any society that had such loose attitudes toward sex would not shrink from killing unwanted babies. As a result, abortion & infanticide were widespread. (See eg. William V. Harris, “Child Exposure in the Roman Empire,” The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 84 (1994))
Now, in that culture, baby girls in particularly… were unwanted. A letter from a husband to his wife in the first century BC, advised her to kill their newborn child, if it turned out to be a girl: “I am still in Alexandria. ... I beg and plead with you to take care of our little child. As soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you. In the meantime… if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it.” (Lewis Naphtali, ed. “Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 744,” Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule (Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 54)
My point is this: this callous view about the unborn is not an American problem. And it’s not even a 20th century problem. It is a human problem… it’s a sin problem.
These facts ALSO teach us … that this is going to be a long battle. This evil has existed for centuries and it might NOT BE something we can stop in our lifetime. But here’s the deal – whether you can stop abortion in your lifetime or not - every child you help to save is worth the fight.
But now… how can we do that? How do can we help to save the unborn? One way (of course) is to change the laws. Because of people like you, as well as various politicians, legal experts and others with a moral backbone, Roe v. Wade has finally been overturned. (PRAISE GOD)
But, the legal and political fight will continue for a long time. There’s an entire political party dedicated to keeping abortion legal. There are large sections of the media that champion killing the unborn. There’s a huge industry (most notably Planned Parenthood) who will fight tooth and nail to keep the money coming in. That can be really frustrating, and we might be tempted to throw up our hands in defeat. But it helps to understand that this type of struggle has happened before.
In 1785, there was a politician in England named William Wilberforce who underwent a religious conversion that prompted him to fight for the complete abolition of slavery. It finally happened in 1833… shortly after he’d died. It took he and his allies 46 years to outlaw slavery in the British empire. So it shouldn’t surprise us that dealing with abortion will take time.
I want you to notice something else - Wilberforce experienced a change of heart (pause). Before he turned his life over to Christ… he didn’t care about slavery. He wouldn’t put his reputation on the line for something so deeply engrained in society. But something changed his heart.
And that same transformation changed many of his allies, allies that included a man named John Newton (he was a preacher who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”). Before his conversion, Newton was a slave trader who spent much of his time in the “red light” districts and bars. He was an evil man, that even those who sailed on his ship with him didn’t like him. But when God got hold of him, John Newton ultimately became the force behind Wilberforce and assisted Wilberforce in much of the groundwork necessary. In short - these men did what they did because something changed them. Something that led them to Christ.
And here’s my point – the ability to change laws is vital. But ultimately – what’s going to make the difference – is our ability, and God’s ability. to change hearts. And we have a reason to believe hearts can be changed.
ILLUS: I have a liberal friend who asked me why so many Christians were dedicated to defending the lives of the unborn (now, that’s not quite the way she phrased it… but you get the idea). I explained that we do it because we’re convinced that abortion is wrong. She didn’t like that explanation… but it’s true.
We read passages like Psalm 139:13-14 where David wrote “you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
And we read that Isaiah and Jeremiah and the Apostle Paul all shared a similar statement: “The Lord called me from the womb… and formed me from the womb to be his servant.” Isaiah 49:1, 5
When Jesus came into this world … He came as an unborn child. Matthew 1:20 “an angel of the Lord appeared to (Joseph) in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is CONCEIVED IN HER is from the Holy Spirit.”
And of course – someone once noted that the 1st person to recognize Jesus - was an unborn child. In Luke 1:44 Elizabeth told Mary “when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb (John the Baptist) LEAPED FOR JOY.”
So yes, we take this pro-life thing pretty serious. The unborn are God’s creation and we who love God do what we can do to defend unborn. And our best tool to change hearts – is to point folks to Jesus. Our objective is to change hearts and minds. Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men that may see…” In other words: we change lives by what we say… and by what we do.
One way to change people’s hearts is by defending the unwed mother and her child. Someone once noted that there are twice as many Crisis Pregnancy Centers as there are Abortion Clinics. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do things abortion clinics will NOT.
Abortion Clinics (like Planned Parenthood) will not house an unwed mother who decides to keep her child; or buy her groceries; or help her find a job; or help her pay for her medical expenses. There’s no money in it. But Crisis pregnancy centers care for the unwed mother and her child - and this proves that they care about something more than just stopping abortion. It proves they care for people… they care for the unwed and the unborn.
Another way to change hearts and minds – is to not try to win an argument… but to try to win people’s hearts. How we say what we say has power. And our objective is to win people to the truth of what we’re saying.
For example: we should REFUSE to call the child is a FETUS. When the pro-abortion person uses the word fetus, they use it thinking of the child as a clump cells, a mass of flesh. As not being a human being. We mustn’t allow their terminology to set the terms of the discussion. With the girls on FB I talked with, I constantly talked of the “unborn child.” I repeated that term over and over again… and they never challenged me. But in using that phrase I was declaring the unborn was a human CHILD.
It also goes without saying that we should be careful how we BEHAVE when we talk to people. There’s an old Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I would have made a great evangelist.” Charlie Brown answers, “Is that so?” and she says, “Yes. I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion was better than his religion.” Charlie Brown asked, “Well, how did you do that?” And Lucy replied: “I hit him over the head with my lunch box.”
Proverbs 25:15 “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.” A soft answer is a powerful tool.
Lastly, we need to LET GOD worry about the long-game. I used to think I had to convict people of their sins, but then I learned that my job was to witness and God’s was to convict. Early in my ministry I convinced a young couple to be baptized into Christ. But once they were baptized… I never saw them again. I was frustrated and a bit angry – I had worked hard to bring them to a point of decision for Jesus and it was all for naught. But then I read something in John 16:8 - Jesus said that when the Spirt came, he would “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
CLOSE: I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the name Norma McCorvey, but she was the “Jane ROE” in the Supreme Court case ROE v. Wade. She once said that she fondly referred to ROE v. WADE as “my law.” But Norma had difficulty relating to children. She had given birth to 3, all of whom had been placed for adoption (one of them against her will). And because she worked in an abortion clinic,
Norma was fearful of bonding with any child. “It was part of my denial,” she said. “When you know what is happening to the children behind closed doors, it’s difficult to become attached to them outside.”
Oddly enough, Norma developed a relationship with a 7-year-old girl named Emily. Emily was the daughter of (an Operation Rescue) volunteer Ronda Mackey, and Emily would often greet Norma with hugs and affection. But the little girl made it clear that she accepted Norma, but not her lifestyle. Early on, Norma explained to Emily, “I like kids and wouldn’t let anyone hurt little kids,” and Emily responded, “Then why do you let them kill the babies at the clinic?”
Emily’s mother (Ronda) confessed to Norma that Emily had almost been aborted. Ronda was engaged when Emily was conceived, and nobody was happy about it. Ronda’s future in-laws, her mother, and her fiancé, all pressured her to get an abortion during the first trimester. And Ronda admitted that she gave abortion serious consideration, until memories of a high school friend’s emotional devastation following an abortion strengthened her resolve to let Emily live.
Shortly after Ronda told Norma that story, the 2 went shopping with Ronda’s girls. Norma was stunned when she saw Ronda’s bumper sticker, “Abortion Stops A Beating Heart,” which had a vivid red heart on the side. Suddenly Norma realized that “her law” had made it legal to snuff out young Emily’s life. And Norma asked to be taken home immediately.
Not long after that Norma left the clinic, started going to church, and was baptized into Christ because of the witness of a little girl named Emily and her mother… and Operation Rescue.
