The Gift of Life
by Lauri Krentz
I recently read an article in a Sunday School paper that deeply disturbed me entitled, The Freedom to Choose Life. The author told of her experience of rape and the trauma of the possibility of being pregnant and the dilemma of whether or not to have an abortion. It turned out she was not pregnant, but the experience changed her perspective. She compromised Biblical principals and sound reasoning. She based her reasoning on feelings and emotions. What bothered me was that she is not alone in her thinking among many Christians.
In a society where black and white issues are being turned into gray areas it is important that we, as Christians, not lose sight of what we base our convictions on, God's Word. If we stop using Scripture to evaluate the circumstances of life we lose the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong. Psalm 119 is full of references to the importance of Scripture in keeping our attitudes and perceptions clear. Without a Scriptural basis our opinions and attitudes are shaky and not trustworthy.
As a follower of Jesus Christ I am pro-life. Because I am a follower of Christ, I believe the Scripture is God's inerrant Truth. Scriptures teaches that God is the author of life and values every single human being, born and unborn. (Psalm 139) He alone gives life. That is my basis for being pro-life.
I found the article to be a self-centered view of life as opposed to a Christ-centered view. The author stated: "How dare a government, or a religious faction . . .have more power than I do over my own body. Whatever happened to the Christian concept of free will? What happened to my inalienable right to personal freedom?" This is a twisted view of personal freedom and free will. I am not insensitive to the author's horrible experience of rape and the emotional crisis following such a tragedy. The fact is that when we go through such a crisis our feelings and emotions are running rampant. Unless the focus is on Jesus Christ, one can easily get disoriented in trying to make sense out of it all and come up with human solutions. One is very susceptible to compromise at these times if they focus on their feelings.
Alan Keyes has stated that no person has the right to choose to do what is wrong. He hit the nail directly on the head. Yes, God has given us a free will; a freedom to choose what direction we will take our lives, but those choices can be deadly wrong. We do not have the right to do what is morally wrong. It is easy for Christians to get caught in the "rights" movement. Even though we are given a free will, Jesus Christ asks us to give up that free will and be totally self-less in obedience to Him. He asks us to give up our rights, our dreams, our perceptions, our feelings, our reputation, our all to follow Him; to allow Him to mold and make us as He sees fit. Servanthood, abandonment to self, laying down one's life for a friend are the examples Jesus showed when He was here on earth.
The author stated: "Pro-choice does not necessarily represent advocating abortion. It exemplifies the preservation of freedom. Abolition of human rights for any cause is a stepping-stone toward tyranny." (Was the banning of slavery and giving blacks equal rights with other human beings taking away the human rights of slave holders; making the abolition of slavery a "stepping stone to tyranny"? Of course not!) Very rarely does "pro-choice" mean anything other than advocating abortion. (One is naive to think otherwise.) "Pro-choice" means the preservation of the freedom to kill an unborn human baby for any reason, whether it be for sex selection, inconvenience or because of rape or incest. We do not have the personal freedom to kill our babies, it is not a human right. The "pro-choice" argument is given by the author without any reference to the little innocent life that is at stake. Once a little one is conceived the "choice" for life has been made. The choice may have been forced on one by rape or by a free choice to conceive, but the choice has been made, a life precious to God has begun. How can one possibly say it is our "human right" to kill a baby for the sake of personal rights or freedoms?
The author stated: "Our first obligation to ourselves and each other is to raise our level of awareness, enabling us to step beyond personal passions into a realm of compassion." If by personal passions, the author is referring to personal convictions, then she is asking us to step beyond our convictions to show compassion. I am passionately pro-life because it is a deep personal conviction based on God's Word. The meaning of the word "compassion" has become warped in much of the Christian church today. It seems to mean to many that you cannot confront sin and wrong and still be compassionate. Anything you do that is compassionate must make one "feel" better or it's not compassion. Jesus had the ultimate compassion for us when He died on the cross in our place. But before we can feel better, we must feel really badly; we must experience the utter despair of our own sinfulness and our need to repent. Only then do we begin to see the positive results of Christ's compassion for us. True compassion means helping one make the right decision despite the consequences. It is our responsibility to make right choices whether they are comfortable or not. But as believers, we have the wonderful assurance of a Savior who will help and guide us when we make those right choices.
The author stated: ". . .our personal convictions surface more freely and clearly when we have an opportunity to explore our feelings and all possible alternatives. . ." It is a dangerous thing to base personal conviction on feelings. I have learned that I cannot base anything concrete on my feelings; they change so often. The only foundation for any personal conviction is that of the Truth of God's Word. It is the only stable, unchanging, accurate measure to go by. If one does not believe that, they will find themselves going down a very confusing, ever changing road that will lead to nothing but frustration.
Our goal as Christians should not be to make ourselves or others feel good, nor should it be to try
and alleviate all suffering from the world, but it should be to lead suffering people to Jesus
Christ. He alone can make good out of evil; He alone can sustain and strengthen us in the midst
of suffering and tragedy. We live in a fallen world where good people often find themselves in
bad situations. The innocent do suffer. But we have a Savior who is above all that and who,
through our suffering, can mold us into saints if we respond in a right way.
We do not have the freedom to choose life, we did not choose life, we were given the gift of life by God. It is our responsibility to live our lives to glorify Him, that is our choice, we have a free will to choose whether or not to do that.