Evangelism or Saving Babies? Which will it be?

Recently in a discussion about abortion with some fellow brothers, a statement was reapeated over and over and it went like this: "Evangelism must always come first. That is the way it has always been. Then everything else comes after that." Of course in the context of this discussion, "everything else" is referring to pro-life activism. That is, the activity of defending pre-born babies. This statement has several problems.

1. It assumes that doing one means you can't do the other. Why is it that defending babies from being tortured to death is somehow prohbitive of sharing the good news of forgiveness and freedom from sin through Jesus Christ? I reject that at its face and you should too. Or at least, someone is going to have to prove that statement to me. It is a false dilemma. The two are not exclusive of the other and in fact, I would argue, the two are in harmony. What do I mean by that?....

2. The missionary heroes of faith, those we might tout as being in the evangelism hall of fame, are filled with examples of saints who minister first and spent most of their time ministering to physical needs of those they were with. The list is long and just off the top of my head here are but a few:

• Hudson Taylor - missionary to China who cared for the needs of unwanted chinese children
  
• William Carry-missionary to India. Was instrumental in bringing an end to "Sati" the practice of burning widows after their husbands died.
  
• Amy Carmichael-missionary to India. Known for rescuing young girls from being enslaved as Hindu temple prostitutes.
  
• Gladys Aylward-missionary to China. Rescued hundreds of orphans. Helped stop the practice of foot binding.
  
• Corrie Ten Boom-devoted Christian and along with her sister and father, were part of the Dutch resistance to the Nazis and rescued Jews from slaughter.
  
• George Mueller-Evangelist and coordinated orphanages in Bristol, England.
• Mother Theresa-Roman Catholic Nun who ministered to the sick, poor and dying for decades.
  

I know the list could go on but you get the idea. Let's not also forget that the historians record that the early Christian church was known for caring for the sick and needy. And they were also known for caring for abandoned babies. Something that the Roman culture practiced and despite the legal prohibitions by the Roman government to intervene for these babies, the Christians cared for them anyway under great persecution.

3. And thirdly, since when does "evangelism" trump the commandments of Jesus? Jesus and the apostles clearly commanded Christians to care for the physical needs of the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40) and to care for "widows and orphans" (James 2). We see through out the Old Testament that God repeatedly demands justice for the helpless and needy.

I don't understand this logic. But really I should. Why is that? What is it that is different about the helpless people that the above listed saints cared for and the unborn children being killed by abortion? The difference here is that most people do not see the pre-born babies as the same as the victims of the above injustices. The pre-born is an abstraction and abortion is merely a lesser of evils but not a great evil. At least not nearly an evil comparable to the genocides listed above.

I see this all the time. The smartest people and what you might say are the most godly people completely miss that there is a holocaust happening in their own backyard.

So you see there is no contradiction between Christian evangelism and pro-life activism. That is unless the unborn are really not human beings and are not our "neighbor" who we should love as ourselves.

Don Cooper

"If those who claim the name of Christ are not willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask if Christ is real." -Francis Schaeffer

Baby Gabriel Is Born

There are times now in my life that I reflect on the work that I am doing and find it very odd.  In its most simplistic sense, I find it odd that there is even a reason that I have to argue that killing babies is wrong and should be illegal.  Fortunately, for most people, I don't have to argue too much because the facts speak for themselves and for most people when they see the hard evidence of what abortion is, the person's conscience reasons them to the conclusion that it is seriously wrong.  Unfortunately, these are facts that most people do not want to see and in fact would prefer to remain ignorant of them or in denial of them.  Hence the need for all the crazy stuff I do at CBR:  http://abortionNO.org

 Just a few days ago my son Gabriel was born.  I have been looking at this incredibly beautiful creation so perfectly formed.  He is utterly helpless and entirely dependent upon us to care for him.  He cannot talk and although he looks around and is very alert for a newborn baby, I am not sure how much he can even think.  Yet that makes him all the more precious. I would give up all things for the sake of this little boy.

I think about the pro-abortion arguments that attempt to justify killing babies with statements such as "viability" (which is another word for dependence), size, ability to think, level of development, etc. and I think how absurd these arguments are.  And in its most simplistic sense I am reminded that abortion is nothing short of the most evil and disgusting act that man has ever devised.  What kind of person takes a helpless, innocent human baby and rips him apart limb for limb?  When I look at my son I am reminded that there are babies just like him who are being tortured to death every day.  It is just wrong and utterly disgusting.

 

I am sometimes asked by people, "Why are you so passionate about abortion?".  Or they may ask, "Why did you decide to do this work fulltime?" And while I understand the question at some level, for the most part I want to ask, "Why do you even have to ask me that?"  Babies are being tortured to death all around us.  Why are you not so passionate about abortion?  Why are you not doing all you can to save these babies from this horror?