In case you weren’t aware, tomorrow is “Sanctity of Life Sunday”. Thousands of churches across the land will be emphasizing the most basic of all human rights, the right to life; i.e., the right to continue “living”. Sermons, testimonies, and multimedia presentations will be delivered in an effort to raise awareness and combat our complacency regarding this intolerable, self-induced plague we’ve allowed to flourish in our country. In acknowledgement of this special day, I’d like to just express my heart regarding this industry of death that we euphemistically call “abortion”.  And as one who has watched the evolution of this divisive issue for decades and who has been actively involved in opposing it publicly, privately, and politically, I want to do that openly, honestly, and unapologetically. 

Praises Called For ~
To begin with, “Sanctity of Life Sunday” should elicit a roar of hallelujahs rising heavenward in praise. Thanks to God and the efforts of those heroic warriors who have sacrificed time, money, reputations, and careers in the fight to save their lives, the number of babies being killed has substantially declined from their peak. But the numbers are still staggering, and abortion is still an intolerable, self-induced plague that stands as a moral indictment against the foundational values we claim to hold. 

It’s tragically paradoxical that people are “protesting” in the streets, pretending to care about the innocent lives being lost in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine, but conveniently ignore the other bloodbath going on. The truth is that more innocent lives are being brutally and heartlessly slaughtered in American “clinics” week to week than all the wars currently raging around the world. But the helpless babies targeted for annihilation every day don’t have billionaires to fund screaming student activists demanding that the killing be stopped. The innocent babies can’t rent a mob of professional rioters to block traffic, wave flags, threaten politicians, and chant slogans on their behalf. The news reporters aren’t there with their cameras as the babies are quietly torn apart or chemically poisoned in their mother’s womb. 

More than One Victim ~
But these babies aren’t the only victims, and we mustn’t forget to pray for their would-be parents. Abortion candidates are often young, misinformed, spiritually confused, emotionally distraught, relationally abandoned, and situationally hopeless – and that doesn’t just apply to the mothers. In the ongoing abortion debates, the role of the fathers is, for the most part, ignored altogether. Whether his position is pro or con, the father’s role is disregarded, his voice is silenced, and accountability for his part in the process is nonexistent. To one degree or another, most parents of the babies they created, and whose lives are threatened, feel trapped and desperate. Our job is not to excuse abortion because of that, but to cry out to God for intervention and protection. 

Beyond that, for the sake of the babies and our own intellectual and spiritual integrity, it’s imperative that we stop allowing leftist political euphemisms to insulate our conscience. It’s time to admit some unchangeable truths and ask some unsettling questions. A truth impervious to political manipulation is that the life of each one of these aborted babies was no less real and no less important to God than yours and mine. And considering that the life being sacrificed is real and valid, there are reasonable and relevant questions we ought to ask. For instance . . .  

• • If this lethal “procedure” used to take the life of a baby in the womb was performed on the same healthy child a year or two later, would we still promote it as “healthcare” or defend it as a “medical intervention”? 

And here’s another scenario . . . 

• • Suppose a person hired a professional “hit-man” to kill someone because they represented a costly and intolerable inconvenience. Then after the deed was done, they sought to justify it by claiming it was all done in the interest of the instigator’s “mental health”.  How do you think that strategy would play out in court?

Manufactured Complexities ~
Analogies like that aren’t new, and however enlightening they may be, applying analogies alone won’t provide a resolution to the problem. When the abortion proponents made it a political issue rather than a moral and spiritual one, they succeeded in doing what politicians always do with a problem. They make it too complex to solve and too politically beneficial to disregard. So, abortion has been made into a liberal politician’s dream. The simple solution of outlawing most of it is seen as too politically costly for either party to consider and other solutions are declared to be too legally complex to successfully implement.   

A Different Kind of Warfare ~
Attacks will be launched against pro-life candidates in every political contest, of course. Pro-abortion rhetoric will be reinforced in every form of social media and constantly supported by propaganda machines masquerading as news agencies. They will portray defenders of life as dangerous radicals and social neanderthals. We’re likely to feel outnumbered, ill-equipped, and out-maneuvered, and that’s because the devil owns those battlefields. Engaging the enemy in his territory and on his terms is always a recipe for defeat. But the wars we’re called to wage and the battles we’re sent to engage in aren’t political. Our weapons aren’t digital, our defenses aren’t financial, and our strategies are not generated by an AI chatbot. The battles we’re called to fight are spiritual and paradoxically, victory in those battles begins with …  Surrender. But to whom? We first submit ourselves and everything we have to God and then we heed Paul’s admonition to be prepared spiritually:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10–13 NKJV)

Surrender Doesn’t Mean Retreat ~
But surrendering to God doesn’t mean retreating from the world, ignoring the culture around us, and talking to no one but Jesus. It means that we don’t engage the world without Him. Whether we engage the political world, the cultural world, or the world where we work, play, and worship, we don’t just do it for Him. We do it with Him. That means that our “talking points” aren’t drawn from anyone’s “campaign headquarters.” They come from what Jesus taught about whatever the issue happens to be. Working with Him and not just for Him means that if our shouts of victory aren’t motivated by love, they’re just empty noise.   

Given that abortion will once again be a major “hot button” issue with vital implications for both parties in the months ahead, “Sanctity of Life Sunday” for this year should be even more important and special than usual. It should be a time for embracing hope, sharing information, and encouraging action, but it should also be a time when every one of us cries out to the living God for a divine influx of faith, wisdom, courage, and perseverance. 

One final thought. We’re not the only ones who were ever confronted by a wicked, corrupt, and violent world. Jesus faced that, too, and He dealt with it by embodying two concepts that seem incompatible. John described it like this:  

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  (John 1:17 NKJV)

An Overcoming Combination ~
Jesus encompassed the disturbing, often frightening, implications of unvarnished truth and the power and hope of unmerited grace in the same body. Jesus never minimized the truth that even the best of us fail to meet God’s standards and stand condemned before Him. But He also looked beyond the evil that lurks within us and saw people as hopeless, lost, broken, and in need of something they could never attain on their own. Then He applied love that the world couldn’t provide to truth the world couldn’t deny and redeeming grace was born. 

The cross Jesus bore and the tomb He defied proved to us that in Him, grace and truth can work together. Our mission to the wicked, corrupt, and violent world we live in is not just to condemn it. Our job is to confront it with the love Jesus offers and demonstrate how the power of grace can overcome it.  May the love of God bring grace and truth together in each of us, and may innocent babies be saved, misguided souls be redeemed, miraculous wonders be wrought, and may the Living God be honored in our country again.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • “To one degree or another, most parents of the babies they created, and whose lives are threatened by abortion, feel trapped and desperate. Our job is not to excuse abortion because of that, but to cry out to God for intervention and protection.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “Abortion has been made into a liberal politician’s dream. The simple solution of outlawing most of it is seen as too politically costly for either party to consider, and other solutions are declared to be too legally complex to successfully implement.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “Surrendering to God means we don’t engage the world without Him. Whether engaging the political or cultural world or the world we work, play and worship in, we don’t just do it for Him. We do it “with” Him, using Jesus’ teachings on whatever the issue happens to be.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “We don’t just engage the culture around us ‘for’ God. We do it ‘with’ Him. Our “talking points” come from what Jesus taught about whatever the issue happens to be. Working “with” Him means that if our shouts of victory aren’t motivated by love, they’re just empty noise.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

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