It was 45 years ago that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the choice to murder was a constitutional right and should be protected and enforced. Roe v Wade was an unprecedented decision and it stands out as a dark stain on America’s once noble past.
Over 60 million children have been surgically aborted since 1973 and that is not counting the untold millions that have perished due to abortifacient drugs that are found in many birth control methods. Regardless if you fall to the right or the left of this issue, the fact is that countless children are dead.
And yes, I said children.
It is not enough for advocates of the pro-life movement to decry abortion as simply destroying a life because even the most ardent of pro-choicers will heartedly agree that what is in a womb is in fact living. The debate is whether or not that living thing is an actual person. To summarize the Biblical stance briefly, God’s word clearly reveals that upon conception, not only is life present but in fact a new person. We see in Genesis 25:22, and Luke 1:39-45 that these new people in their mother’s womb are aware of their surroundings, responding as a person would to various stimuli and displaying evidence of clear personhood even in utero.
Abortion doesn’t just destroy a life, but in fact, kills a person.
So, my question is, why are we so mute on this issue? Hardly a word is mentioned or uttered concerning abortion. Even in most churches. At best we may hear a token mention on the third Sunday in January but largely the pulpit in the American church is quiet. And frankly, the silence is deafening.
This is indeed a silent holocaust.
One reason for the silence is fear, dare I say cowardice. We are afraid of what people might think. We are afraid of the backlash of going against the prevailing culture of death. As churches, we are afraid of losing our 501 c3 status. We are afraid of sounding too political because we have bought into the lie that abortion is a political issue and not a gospel one. Whatever the reason may be, the one voice that can offer hope, healing and expose the heinousness of abortion, is paralyzed with fear.
Yet fear is not given to us by God, in fact, the opposite is true, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7).
Another reason why is because it is simply not on our radar. I mean honestly, when is the last time you thought that at the days close, 3500 little children were either dismembered, dissolved in solution or pulled apart limb by limb by suction? That is a daily reality for millions of children in America.
Imagine the outcry if 4000 little puppies were pulled apart daily, or 500 bald eagle eggs were tossed on the ground, destroying the chicks inside. The news media would cover it in an instant, lobbyist and activist would storm the legislature seeking to bring those who performed such a horrific crime to justice. However, Planned Parenthood butchers roughly around 900 children every day, selling their body parts to the highest bidder and no one bats an eye.
Our job as Christians is not to be silent on matters of such gravity. Historically we have seen what happens when Christians keep their mouths shut: 6 million Jews were killed. Instead, we are to bring the light of the gospel to bear on the salient national sins of the day.
Ephesians 5:11 states “Take no part in unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” When the reality of abortion is exposed, it becomes visible and we are faced with not only the horrific nature of it but also the remedy for it.
That remedy is the gospel which brings healing, restoration, forgiveness, and salvation to all those who receive it, that alone is the answer to abortion. Not through the chambers of the Supreme Court or the halls of the legislature but in the chambers of the individual’s heart is where the battle for the abolition of abortion is ultimately waged.
So, in light of this, we need to repent of our apathy, seek forgiveness from the God in heaven and “Awake, O sleeper and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph. 5:14).