I know that what I am addressing is a very sensitive issue and an extremely weighty one. For the great atrocity of our day which is called abortion is nothing less that sanitized murder for sake of selfishness and convenience, and it is no less atrocious than the acts of the heathens who sacrifice their children for the sake of worship to their false gods. For abortion is essentially the same practice, except, instead of being practiced on an altar for worship of an idol, it is done on an surgeon’s table for the worship of one’s self. For we are a self-worshipping generation, and we have demonstrated that no sacrifice is too great to be placed upon the altar of our self-worship.
The vast majority of Christians view abortion in this way, and rightly condemn its practice. And among many Christians, abortion is their greatest worldly concern, and they therefore align themselves in the political arena with those politicians who claim to be against abortion in order that, by God’s grace, the practice of abortion might be made illegal. However, the issue of abortion has made many Christians adopt an “ends justifies the means” philosophy so that they are willing to throw their unabashed support behind any political candidate who stands against abortion though that person might otherwise be morally reprehensible.
Take for example this last presidential election where the two candidates were the anti-abortionist John McCain and the pro-abortionist Barack Obama. For the most part, Christians offered their full political support to John McCain for the mere sake of the abortion issue in spite of the fact that John McCain left his first wife, who waited faithfully for him for several years while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, because she had in that time been involved in a terrible car wreck that greatly disfigured her body from her once beautiful and swimsuit modeling physique (Source). Rather than loving and sympathizing with the woman who bore him his first three children, he cast her aside as a piece of unwanted trash and married the second Mrs. McCain, who is eighteen years his junior.
What did this alignment of Christians with John McCain say to the world except that they were willing to forget all character traits and morality for sake of one moral issue–abortion. In this way, Christians demonstrated to the world that their primary concern is not the Gospel and God’s righteousness, but it is the ending of abortion by any means necessary. Therefore, Christians are viewed by the world not as Gospel people but as people who oppose abortion, which is a terrible exchange.
This exchange is terrible for two reasons. The first is that this exchange hardens the hearts of the people of this country to the Gospel, because the Gospel is not shown to be the first priority among Christians. Instead of Christians being viewed as those who love the Gospel and the Gospel alone, they are seen as those who oppose abortion, homosexual marriage, and unjust taxation alone. For this reason, those in the world who are at present, by nature, worldly, and do not agree with the Christian stance on abortion, etc. are hardened against the only means by which their heart will be changed–the Gospel. For whether or not abortion, homosexual marriage, and the like are made illegal, the world will still practice these things but will do them illegally rather than legally. Regardless of legislation, abortion and homosexuality will never cease; they will merely be done behind closed doors rather than out in the open. The only hope for change that we have is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we have flippantly forfeited for legislation.
This exchange is terrible, secondly, because God is, as he ever was, sovereign and gracious, and he providentially oversees all things, even abortion. Though on our side abortion is seen to be a great travesty (and it is), there is a great grace behind abortion in that by its practice, thousands upon thousands of souls are being ushered into God’s Glory each day. What we must understand is that, though the power of hell is great, the grace of God is greater, and it will never be thwarted, even by abortion. The Gospel will triumph, and we can rest assured of that.
For these reasons, we should live as the apostle Paul admonishes the Roman church: “As far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (v. 12:18). As Christians, the only offense that we give the world should be the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it alone can make the unrighteous righteous. Therefore, we should cast aside all political allegiances on this earth for the sake of King Jesus alone, who, in spite of what appears to us, is in absolute control of all things, both good and evil.
Thanks for your post. Indeed, we should be careful about how we treat pro-choicers, liberals, and democrats among us. I would like to discuss some differences in either emphasis or opinion:
There are so many good and bad aspects of both candidates in any election that it is hard to say clearly what one's vote says about one's opinions. I will unashamedly put my support behind the lesser of two evils for the good that they do. That said, I admit my vote for McCain states that his stance on various important issues is more important evil choices he has made when compared against the views and decisions made by his opponent.
I admit that Christians should not divide against those who are pro-choice out of ignorance. But we know that a willing murderer is not a true believer. This knowledge can theoretically be helpful with, e.g., selecting church leaders (though it may not be useful in practice).
It is in accordance with commands from God that we fight actively against evils such as abortion; it is not merely pushing _our_ political agenda, but is loving our neighbors, defending the fatherless, freeing the captives, and upholding justice. We should continue in appropriate political participation "for the sake of King Jesus alone".
Outlawing abortion should tremendously reduce the number of abortions. Such political issues do have eternal significance (indirectly), and teamwork on the issue is helpful.