As the abortion issue boils over on the stove of American politics, with the Supreme Court apparently on the verge of suspending its nearly half century old establishment of a qualified (limited) federal constitutional right of women to terminate their own pregnancies, I found the below post by Christian pastor Dave Barnhart, who serves the Lord at Saint Junia United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, most provocative and worthy of incorporation into the Bristol Epistle.
As you read it, bear in mind that the quoted pastor is not saying that all opponents of Roe v Wade ignore the needs of the disadvantaged groups of living persons that Jesus implored His followers to love and serve as they had the means and the opportunity. He’s talking about priorities and hypocrisy.
As one who has served God in parts of the world where personal survival is the day-to-day dependence on God that Jesus taught, I can assure you that a huge swath of American Christianity is in the category of which Jesus said, in Matthew 25, “I never knew you.” This is a hard message to digest in our culture of relative riches and abundance where most of our physical needs are met and where God is often unacknowledged as the ultimate source of our blessings.
But it’s true nonetheless. Many evangelicals have bought into a distorted version of Christianity that asks very little of its proponents. It serves up what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” We eagerly consume it to the point of gluttony. Political operatives play it like a Stradivarius. It is comfortable, safe and makes us feel really good about ourselves.
Well, here is the referenced post. Read it and reflect.
“'The Unborn' are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or child care; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It’s almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim that you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe.
Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn."
END OF QUOTE.
I am certain that Jesus would add another category of people in distress to the list, namely women facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, or perhaps impregnated by a rapist or family member for whom incest was not a moral issue. How would He treat such women? Think about it. Would He condemn them, shame them, persecute them…or love them unconditionally and minister to them in life changing ways? Look in the mirror. Go back and read Matthew 25:31-46. Consider for a moment the implications of Jesus identifying in a very personal way with people in distressful need.
And if you are not a follower of Jesus, the Old Testament and the Koran also talk about the spiritual importance of serving the needs of disadvantaged persons. Doing it can be inconvenient and difficult, but I see it as a universal truth. It is a vital part of our universal DNA, about being created in the very image of God.
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