Pro- Choice? Make the Wise Choice!
Today’s abortion debate is framed in terms of pro-life or pro-choice, as if they are opposing ideas. But can we believe in choice and choose life? The God of scripture is vehemently pro-choice, as he has given everyone freewill. However, he does not leave us without guidance and the instructions we need to live well. The Lord God tells us to choose, and that the choices we have are between choosing death or life. But make no mistake, for God commands us to choose life! This is not only for our good, but for the good of our descendants, and society as a whole. Our choices make a difference, and not just for us. So what will we choose for ourselves, and our children? Will we listen to the advice of our Maker?
Choose the Narrow Path
Jesus also reaffirmed that we have a choice. There is the broad path that leads to death and the narrow path that leads to life. The choice is a stark one, and the consequences are unalterable, so Jesus tells his followers to choose life. Our ability to choose life is reaffirmed in the writings of Paul. For having chosen life at baptism, we were raised to a new way of living, with a new purpose, and the hope of eternal life. Yet, in the world, the sanctity of life is still a ‘hot-button’ issue, whether we are talking about abortion, euthanasia, or suicide. And amazingly even some who call themselves Christian think it is “loving” to choose death for an unborn child, or a suffering relative. But is this God’s perspective?
Consult the Giver of Life
Can we pretend to have love and choose to terminate an unborn child? Can we choose to give a lethal dose of medication to a loved one? Whose choice is it anyway?
God would have you consider the fact that he is the giver of life. And that the life we are given was made in God’s image and likeness, with his qualities of heart and mind. He instructs us to be renewed in our minds and in the image of our Creator. This means to put away all the attributes of the old self that would have resulted in death: malice, slander, deceit. We have no right to choose death for another, and pretend it is done in love.
Presently, our western societies are conflicted in this regard. On one hand we in our constitutions declare the intrinsic value of life and the dignity of the individual. On the other hand, contrary to this basic principle, our lands have ensconced laws that promote a culture of death. God is against those who use law to cause people to sin against him and his will. So what is his will? Jesus said he came to bring life. He warned that it is the false shepherds, the secular messiahs who destroy, steal, and kill. Christ came to promote the abundant life, and he warns against anyone or anything that would take a life contrary to scripture.
Our Choice for Abundant Living
Paul adds to Christ’s admonition, making it clear that we do not live or die to ourselves. In this sense we are not our own, we are God’s, and only he has the power of life and death. Through Christ, the Father has bought us back from death, and given us renewed life. We are all a part of a web of life, a complex tapestry that has profound effects on the lives of others. Because our actions, our choices, impact others in many subtle and dramatic ways, God commands us to choose life. And in making this choice God asks us to use our talents to promote his way of abundant life.
Both David and Jeremiah understood that God had known them in the womb, before they were born, and had prepared them to do a job. What hubris then, that some ‘third person’ should allow an abortion, thus stealing the life of a potential child of God!
God tells us to choose life. Modern day homicide, genocide, infanticide, or abortion are all the same to God; they reflect the spirit of murder and hatred, and cannot in anyway be characterized as ‘love.’ God’s concern for his children begins at conception. And he hates the ‘cult of death’ that has emerged in our time as much as he hated it in the time of ancient Israel.