This message is from guest columnist and our dear friend Monte Harms of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
What are the biggest problems in your community or even the country as a whole? The general public often will have similar answers no matter where they live. Usually it’s crime, education, homelessness, jobs, price of groceries and gas, and sometimes roads and infrastructure. Obviously, these can be observable, but sometimes we also echo what we see or hear in the media. I can guarantee you that the mainstream media never mentions the multitudes killed by abortion daily in many communities throughout this country. They actually believe those horrific killings are acceptable, and according to them, you should too. If they really cared about the unborn, they would let you know.
On the other hand, if a born child is brutally murdered, the media will give it the appropriate response, often solemnly relaying the incident. What’s the difference? One human in the womb is smaller, less developed, in a different location, and more dependent. Think of the acronym SLED. (size, level of development, environment, and dependency). Should the unborn be considered less of a human with fewer human rights because they are different? Obviously not, because the same four factors could be said about an infant compared to an adult, but in no way would we consider it appropriate to have the infant intentionally killed.
Pro-life leaders often post that you can’t be a Christian and support abortion. Actually, you can’t be a non-believer and be in favor of abortion. When a born child is killed, everyone thinks it’s a tragedy, no matter if they’re Christian or not. This overall response has to be the same if the innocent child is in a different location of the womb.
If we were to be generous in our understanding of the mainstream press and give them an ounce of defense, we could say they are viewing and explaining the world through a secular lens, with no agenda. Even the public with diverse faiths often reaches the same conclusions as the media. But what about Christian churches? Obviously, churches in general should fill this moral void, since for centuries those in the pews have been taught every Sunday how to live a moral, Godly life. Preaching morality is supposed to be interwoven with Christian teaching, no matter the topic. A large percentage of churches – large, small, and every type in between – will rarely, if at all, have teachings or sermons on the horror of abortion. Very few have ministries that address this very moral topic. At a minimum, pastors have the congregation’s attention 52 hours a year, but the silence is deafening about the largest human rights violations in our history.
Unbelievably, some of the old mainline denominations actually support the dismemberment, torture, and ultimate killing of the youngest in our world. They conveniently forget Exodus 20:13 – “You shall not murder” or Proverbs 6:17, where it states the Lord hates hands that shed innocent blood.
Many churches do take a strong stance against abortion, including the Catholic Church, Baptists, Church of God, and Eastern Orthodox, to name a few.
Approximately 260,000 attend the five largest churches in America. Do they hear much about the killing of children in the womb? It’s doubtful. In an analysis of their websites, there is no mention of abortion or major issues in our society. When asked how the church should handle polarizing cultural issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, Pastor Chris Hodges of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama (60,000 attendees) had this response: “People need to settle things in their own hearts. When I talk about core values, I’m not just talking about us and God, but us and culture. We muddy the water of evangelism when we push hot-button issues to the forefront. Based on God’s Word, I believe marriage is defined as one man and one woman and that life begins at conception, but I also believe such truth is best engaged in the context of trust.” His response seems to be pretty muddied to me.
Unfortunately, so many mega churches follow the model set by these five. If the slaughter of a million innocent children in America or 73 million worldwide yearly can’t move the needle of outrage from these churches, then they need to examine their priorities. Along with their mission of evangelism and teaching God’s word, there is always room to include what is happening to the smallest ones that are created in God’s image. If the secular world can be outraged by the murder of any born child, the least Christians and their leaders should be doing is having equal outrage over the slaughter of innocent lives that are younger and in a different location. The scales must be removed from the eyes of these churches when it pertains to abortion.
Proverbs 24: 11-12 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
The phrase ‘Are you worth your salt?’ comes to mind. Look it up.
