Sunday, April 08, 2007

Mandate / Debate



First of all, A big Happy Easter to everyone! May we not have Jesus come up to us today and say "O foolish men... slow to believe" as He did in Luke 24. May we, His Church live and breathe by His Word and every word that He said, never waivering or doubting! He is, after all coming again you know!

Today I was reading a blog posted by an anti-abortion group. They shared about how they physically barricaded a clinic last week and attempted to thwart the scheduled abortions there on that specific day. I am pro-life, pro-Jesus and pro-confrontation (when necessary) - but my issues arose when they, complete with pictures, described occurrences such as when a 17- year old girl showed up and they told her things like "don't kill your baby" and then they had altercations with the staff before the police arrived. It was apparently all kicked off with questions like, "Who's willing to get arrested today?".

Here is my response to their blog:

"OK, I realize that I wasn't at this gathering, so any input or response that I have to this blog is all from a distance and simply what I feel as I read the preceding information. I'm a Christian, pro-life and believe that it truly breaks God's heart each and every time an unborn child is helplessly murdered. What I'm having a problem with, especially as I look at the pictures, is that people yelling, getting hit by cars and creating chaos just doesn't sit well in my spirit. To this world, particularly to those getting abortions, the Gospel is nonsense. What we stand for and what we proclaim is truth is simply gibberish to them. So when I see someone begging a 17-year old pregnant mother to not "kill your little baby", it seems downright cruel to me. PLEASE don't get me wrong - I take a bold stance and do not waiver on Biblical truth and have no trouble "confronting". But when I pray for abortion, the Holy Spirit has, without fail, led me to pray the Father's love and compassion to fall on these unwilling mothers. I want God's heart of compassion and grace to "impregnate" them and inundate their entire being. Only then will they see that the life within their belly is one formed by God before the creation of time. Again, I know that I was not there and I'm not a part of your "ministry". I just feel that God weeps over the mothers and fathers of the aborted babies as much as the babies themselves - He is longing for those clinic workers to see their error and surrender to Him. The Word says, they don't even know their left hand from their right. Lord, bring your forgiveness and mercy to us all."


I'm not saying I want to go picket against the picketers or anything like that, but I just have to wonder if this is, in fact, the best way to approach this. Why not sit quietly outside of the building and pray in the Spirit for the Holy Spirit to fall with fire and conviction? I want to pray so mightily that it dispatches angels and God Himself ministers to these mothers, fathers and clinic workers. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the matter at hand. What do you think is the best method to approach this? What have you done personally and what does the Word speak to you about how you should handle it? Discuss.

5 comments:

amber said...

I read this blog as well, and I posted a similar response. I noticed all of the comments on the blog saying, "way to go. Goood for you. You're awesome." I also noticed that your comment was different, and I appreciated that. My comment was similar to yours. I disagree with this kind of behavior. I think that we are to show people love, compassion, mercy, gentleness, and kindness. When Christians get in peoples faces and shove things down others throats, then the ability to reach them is lost. This pushes people away from God, instead of drawing them near, and I believe it is very dangerous. I feel that people are often times to quick to obey their flesh, wanting to make a stand, without considering what they're doing. I think that these people had the best intentions, for the most part, but it seemed to me to be a matter of confrontation rather than a desire to show pure and total love.

Joel Spencer said...

Yea, I thought the same in regards to the many "way to tell them!" comments. I thought maybe I would stand alone, so I'm glad that you shared. May we show God's love as He desires us to, whether we agree with others are doing or not.

rave.n said...

I just read a chapter in "Body Piercing Saved My Life" where an atheist/agonist was interested in researching the Rock for Life campaign. He describes first-hand the altercation between the pro-life and a pro-choice group somewhere in washington as they try to outprotest each other with clever signs and gimmicks.

It's funny and prolly poignant that at the end of the chapter was seemed to capture more than this author's eye but also something deeper was the group that appeared after the televison cameras left.

Another prolife group that chose to protest in silent prayer. Since kneeling is against the law in D.C. they taped their mouths and stood in silent prayer.

This made him ask real questions like "what are you doing? why are you doing it?"

Not the defensive "how could you stand for this?" that people on either side of the line like to scream at each other not really waiting for an answer.

Anyway, our culture at large is so loud and provocative that it seems the whispers or still quiet voices are what can really be heard.

Joel Spencer said...

Well said Raven - I'd agree that often the less we "speak", the more we "say". Anyone else have an opinion?

Anonymous said...

Yes and Amen to all of the above and to your blog. Its time for Christians to examine their motives. They will know we are Christians by our .... love. But sadly we are known more for our disdain, lack of love and compassion and frankly downright hatred of others.

This mind set goes beyond just the abortion issue, it effects how we treat homosexuals, moslems ... its uncertain who our next President will be. Will we commit to pray for our leaders with the love of Christ in our hearts, regardless of who they are and whether or not we agree with them? Are we going to actually be disciples of Jesus and apply what He taught us in the bible or not? Jesus had compassion on the sinners, He didn't condone their sin, He just loved them and told them the truth. He also said to pray for our enemies, to love those who hate us and despise us.

These are powerful truths that can break the back of the enemy in these areas. May the love of Christ be alive and active in me (us) today.