The Abortion Debate: A little more light & a little less heat

“Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.” Alyssa Milano

With the conservative bent on the current U.S. Supreme Court, there’s been a barrage of legislative action related to abortion on the part of the States. States like New York seek to protect their “abortion rights.” Others like Georgia, with their new stricter laws prohibiting abortion, hope a lawsuit will make its way to the Supreme Court to see Roe v. Wade re-addressed and even overturned. In the midst of this political maneuvering, there’s often been more heat than light from both sides of the moral debate.

  Yes, Alyssa Milano actually did tweet that. Unbeknownst to her, she was suggesting exactly what those who hold a biblical worldview believe and is the solution for abortion – abstinence. The Bible teaches that sex outside of marriage violates God’s standard for sexual morality. Let’s not forget that single professional football star, Tim Tebow, was ridiculed for committing to his own personal “sex strike” until marriage. The rationale of those opposed to abstinence is that we’re little more than animals with no hope of restraining ourselves and must succumb to our more carnal urges.

  There’s also blatant hypocrisy on the part of those who promise to boycott states like Georgia which have passed new pro-life laws. Here are just a few examples: Sophie Turner won’t film in Georgia, but she filmed Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland which bans abortion. Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman have both said that they’ll no longer work in Georgia, yet both filmed Star Wars in Tunisia, where it’s illegal to be gay. Tunisia has arrested people for just appearing to be gay.

  The most imprudent protest against new pro-life legislation has been from Disney. Yet, Disney has been filming in Bolivia, where abortion is illegal, Croatia, where abortion is illegal after 11 weeks and the UAE where abortion is illegal and being gay is illegal. Disney has no problem filming in any of these locations, yet suddenly Georgia is the enemy. It doesn’t take a genie to see that this is a big marketing blunder. How can one promote themselves as a “family place,” yet support what exterminates their customer base – families? In light of Disney’s defense of  “reproductive choice,” can we expect them to shut down production in China, including the shuttering of their theme parks on Chinese soil? China has draconian anti-LGBT discrimination and one of the worst records for human rights abuse. If Disney truly cares about human rights, how can they do business in a country with nearly Nazi-like laws against their own citizens?

  Moral ineptitudes make strange bedfellows. The spirit of Margaret Sanger still lives. White Supremacists also oppose the new anti-abortion laws. Why? “Only reason Blacks here in the US have only grown by a few percent each year is because of Planned Parenthood and abortion.”

  Apart from the moral issues, the pro-choice position is fiscally naïve. Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with her obsession with climate change suggests that young people should seriously consider even having children. No one seems to see the end result of such fuzzy thinking: “Who will pay the bills?” Americans and politicians are insatiable for more government programs, but there’s no free lunch. When was the last time you heard of a budget cut being proposed, much less passed?

  A few weeks ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report, concluding that the U.S. is in an official baby bust. It’s been declining for four straight years, but last year the number of babies born in this country fell to a 32-year low. There’s a term called the “replacement level” when you’re talking about fertility. To maintain our current population a woman needs to have 2.1 children, but we’ve been below that level since the early 1970s. Some outcomes of our population decrease will be greater labor shortages and school closings. Taxes must increase. The need for elder care will increase with fewer available to step into those roles. The more that the birth number falls below the replacement level, the weaker our economy will become, especially as a homegrown workforce decreases and more retire. Already-strained programs like Medicare and Social Security will suffer. Fewer workers, i.e., taxpayers,  means fewer paying into the system that supports the growing number of retirees.  We’ve come a long and dark way since Hillary Clinton’s 1990’s comment that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”

  What’s the solution? Obviously, it’s not another government program but none of these problems are new. Ours is a post-Christian age. The early church faced a pre-Christian one with far worse atrocities; slavery, religious prostitution, infanticide, etc. As the gospel, remedied old world problems, it can remedy contemporary world problems. It’s the gospel that can transform someone’s life, changing someone with no life values to someone who values life and willingly sacrifices for those who can’t defend themselves, the pre-born, disabled, infirm and elderly. We have examples within our own church of grandparents who’ve stepped up to care for a grandchild or an elderly parent.

  It’s the gospel that transforms culture, not social programs, jobs or education. Those are outcomes of the gospel. A Christian who is living out a biblical worldview is a better spouse, parent, student, worker, and citizen. It’s one reason that at Grace we’re committed to planting churches in places like South Chicago (Tom Kubiak) and Nepal (Bishnu).

  The gospel is not just a ticket to heaven. It’s a lifestyle. Living it out means that we’re unapologetically pro-life, but it’s much more than just babies. We’re also pro-living. We want that unaborted child to grow up healthy and safe into adulthood, and to have a quality life filled with opportunity. Yes, we are pro-life – we are pro-life from the first heartbeat to the last breath. That’s what it means to be a Christian. That’s what it means to have a biblical worldview.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Will YOU stop lying?

“Honesty may not always be the best policy, as a policy, but dishonesty is always a miserable policy, even when it succeeds.”   Iain Duguid

  You just can’t make this stuff up. In a recent debate between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his opponent, actress Cynthia Nixon, it became very heated as they battled for the Democratic primary nomination in the gubernatorial election. In one more contentious moments Cuomo demanded Nixon stop interrupting him, whereupon she said she would do so if he stopped lying. “Excuse me, can you stop interrupting?” Cuomo exclaimed. To which Nixon retorted, “Can you stop lying?” “Yeah, as soon as you do,” Cuomo responded as laughter erupted from the audience.

  Are you like me? When I hear promises or see accusations about a political opponent, I’m very skeptical. Please don’t get me wrong. There are some elected officials with integrity and a true commitment to honesty. It’s just that they seem to be very rare. Usually, I find them more often on the local level, rather than the national one.

  Much of it, I’m sure, is because I’m an adult child of an addict, but I have very little tolerance for lying. We survivors of an addicted parent were lied to so much in our formative years that it’s left a deep scar.

  Then, our culture has lost any value for honesty or truth. We’ve developed a litany of terms to soften lying: White lies. Fibs. Exaggerations. Ideology trumps truth. Yet, they’re still lies. In a court of law, it’s called perjury. They are falsehoods, fabrications and deceptions.

  As much as try, as much as we detest it – all of us have been guilty of lying. Lying is probably the most frequently committed sin. While we may put “degrees” on lying, it’s still a lie. We rationalize that “a little white lie” to save someone’s feelings isn’t that bad. After all, we’re just trying to make them feel good, right?

  Parents lie to children, thinking little of it, “No, this doesn’t have onions in it.” We lie to cover failure, “I’d have been here on time but the traffic was terrible.” As innocent as a lie may seem, with a holy God, there are no degrees of lying. ALL lies are sinful and violate His standard of truth.

  What many don’t realize is that lying is Satan’s native language. You and I are never more like the devil than when we lie. All that he does is lie. That should cause you to gasp! I know it does me. In John 8:44, Jesus is talking about Satan and states, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

  The first time Satan speaks in the Bible, he lies to Eve. When we lie, we intentionally deceive. There’s usually a conscious decision made each time we do it. Because God is truth, when we lie, we’re in direct opposition to His will. Just as it cost our first parents so much, lying has a high price tag.

  Lying destroys relationships. After you’ve been lied to, you know how difficult it can be to trust that person again. You can’t help but wonder why a friend or family member would treat you so poorly. When you lie, even if you think others will never find out, you’ll create a chasm of hurt in your relationship. If the other person finds out about your lie, as they frequently do, it’s very difficult to regain trust. No one wants a relationship based on lies. Truth and trust are foundational to healthy relationships.

  Lying destroys YOU. It throws you into a vicious cycle that’s extremely difficult to break free of. Once you lie, often you’ll lie again to cover up the first lie. Then, you feel worse. Lies are like weeds. They grow, rarely standing alone. If you don’t kill the first lie, it mutates, reproducing and becoming hard to stop. Lying is addictive. You so habitually lie, you have difficulty knowing what’s actually true as you begin to lie to yourself.

  Liars become trapped in a cycle of lying controlled by fear. They’re anxious of not only being found out as a liar, but also being exposed and having the truth uncovered about themselves. And it always comes with a high price. Lying destroys lives. Relationships crumble. Others refuse to trust you. Ultimately, the one most hurt by lying is you.

  Tragically, because lying is socially acceptable and even encouraged, it’s only through God’s grace, the God of truth, that we can be consistently honest. How can we be people of honesty and integrity?

  Honesty must become a godly discipline, a spiritual habit. Each morning I pray that the Lord will give me wisdom for that day. Wisdom always includes honesty. As God gives me wisdom, I speak (and post) the truth.

  When you lie, deal with it immediately. It’s embarrassing, yet a noxious weed is easier to kill while it’s small. More than once, I’ve had to call up a friend and apologize that I’d exaggerated or not been completely forthright.  Healthy shame helps me in the future be more cautious with my words.

  Be committed to speaking the truth in love. That’s the biblical command and control we find in Ephesians 4:15. Friends sometimes must say the tough things. Some speak the truth, yet wield it like a baseball bat. Others speak with love, yet love void of truth is worthless sentimentality. Like the Lord Jesus, we must commit to speaking both truth and love.

  Please know that honesty will probably cost you. It certainly cost professional golfer, Brian Davis…perhaps up to $2 million. In 2010 at the Verizon Heritage Classic, Davis thought that he’d inadvertently ticked a reed in his backswing, so he called over rules officials to review the video. He had. It cost him the Masters and countless endorsement bonuses. 

  You can’t be a Christian and be a liar (Revelation 21:8). Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” To follow Him, we must live by His standard of truth telling.

  In our culture tolerance is the norm. “Truth” is subjective. It’s purported that there are no absolutes. Being sincere is what really matters.

  That’s all a lie. As the people of the God of absolute truth, we know truth is the norm. There is a right and there is a wrong. There are absolutes. One can be sincere and sincerely wrong. Truth is always truth, always has been and always will be. Truth never changes. As Christ-followers, we must commit to being people of truth, no matter what!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.