Abortion, Compassion, Division, Hope

You’d think the world had stopped turning on its axis. Why? Because the Supreme Court stopped pretending that abortion is a Constitutional right and overturned Roe v. Wade.

Well—that is a pretty big deal. How do I feel about it? Ecstatic.

What are my thoughts on it? I’m full-speed-ahead. Like Josiah turned Judah around when he saw an opportunity to restore true worship, I think obedience to God should be passionate, swift, and uncompromising. I think America’s laws would be best if they reflected God’s laws.

As our culture deals with the immense shock of the Supreme Court’s decision, there’s new territory to navigate. I hope, as the thing progresses, that Christians remain passionate, uncompromising, unapologetic for their identity in Christ, undivided, and hopeful.

Compassion

I’m not big on social media combat, and I don’t like to get into dogfights on Twitter. As I saw evangelical Twitter go nuclear over Roe v. Wade’s pullback, I noticed many evangelicals* calling for compassion as the pro-life movement moves ahead.

Good.

Question: doesn’t that go without saying? Lack of compassion, especially to vulnerable women facing unexpected pregnancy and an absent father, is 100% biblical. It should be reflexive. I don’t understand the idea of debate here: there isn’t one in Christian circles. Maybe among apostates, heretics, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, but not in Christianity.

Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Mark 6:34 - And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Firmness

By the same token, I don’t lack compassion just because I disagree with pro-choice ideas. They’re ideas. A common argument: because I believe the Bible says something is bad, that I now lack empathy and compassion with those who disagree and participate in those things. Therefore (and this is a step based on defensiveness and/or hate, not on logic or empathy), I’m evil.

Violence, for instance. Some claim that ideas in the Bible hurt them. Therefore, the Bible—and by extension, me—commit violence. No logic follows, only incitement to riot; they shout ‘Violence!’ and block out everything else. So by echo-chambering their keywords, I guess they hope to change everyone’s perception of Christianity and to codify my belief as something with violent intent.

That’s not reality. God’s commands are intended for our benefit. They’re good. For everyone. Yes, God’s laws are good. They are not repressive, destructive, cruel, inequitable, or unfair. God’s laws are God’s plan for the best possible outcome in our lives and eternity.

Psalm 19

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

I’m not going to apologize for that. It’s true.

Division

So much of what’s dividing our country is the amplification of left-or-right-wing extreme morons (no doubt many of them are robots funded by enemies foreign or domestic) and the deletion of nuance, kindness, or spirited debate. I get the sense that most Americans are no longer willing to tolerate that particular brand of easy-to-see misinformation. It needs to stop. It’s not Christ-like—though I’m hard-pressed to find a Christian who’d disagree and wonder if this malarkey doesn’t come from some other, demonic source.

Part of it is fools seeking power—trying to boil faith, Biblicism, true compassion, and love into . . . votes.

Hope is not found in political power. It’s found in Christ.

Hope

I’m not a massive John MacArthur fan (in particular, I am not a Calvinist), but check out this long quote from one of his sermons. You can read the whole sermon here. I find it encouraging and appropriate.

. . . the more biblically true Christians are and the more they speak and live, the more they are going to be labeled as extremists, homophobic, intolerant and guilty of hate crimes. We’re now aliens.

And I think we can all foresee a day when being a faithful Christian could cost our lives. I think we are closer than ever to living in the conditions like the people did in the book of Acts. So is there any good news? Actually, I believe the current situation is good news. For years I’ve been concerned by the church’s pursuit of cultural change through political and social activities, large swaths of Christians who’ve placed enormous time, energy, money and hope in the wrong places. Hand in glove with that, superficial cultural Christianity has blurred the clear lines between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world and softened the hard demands of the gospel, making professing Christ easy and without cost.

As a result, churches have been filled with highly religious, superficially moral, self-righteous people who don’t understand the gospel and are self-deceived about their true spiritual state. But now with the façade of cultural Christianity crumbling, true Christianity is starting to stand out in a way it hasn’t in our lifetime. Scripture teaches and church history confirms that the body of Christ is most potent and most effective when it simply speaks and lives the gospel without equivocation or apology.

The point: live the Gospel.

*I don’t consider myself a part of that crowd per se; I’m an independent Baptist, and that’s different enough to make everyone mad at you)

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