Why Christians Should Oppose Abortion and LGBT Special Rights
Introduction: A Pastoral Word for Left Leaning Christians
Tonight’s discussion of Christian opposition to abortion and to the LGBT agenda will be considered mostly an “in house” discussion among believers in Christ. Having said that, we should then be able to agree that abortion, homosexual practice, transgenderism and the like are sinful, according to Scripture. I’m speaking, however, to good brothers and sisters who, whether reluctantly or heartily, have supported pro-choice, pro-LGBT politicians and policies for reasons that concern and confuse me. It seems completely inconsistent with a biblical worldview to want to promote such things in our society. This leads me to ask what I believe will be a crucial question:
How does your theology inform your politics?
And the answer is: “It does.” Your theology (reflective of what you believe about God, mankind and reality) will always shape your political views. Even if you said as a Christian, “Its not the government’s job to legislate our morality,” that has come from certain beliefs about God, government and morality. Maybe you believe that God has nothing to do with the government or public life, and he is only concerned with the Church and with the personal lives of Christians. But even in trying to avoid theology, you are making a theological assertion – and a wrong one at that. You have a spiritualized version of the “Separation of Church and State” which no chapter-and-verse can support.
Further, when you remove the Christian voice from public life, there will be other worldiews to fill the void. Don’t be deceived: There is no such thing as moral neutrality. While you try to muffle your faith and pretend to be objective, modern secularists are fighting tooth and nail to enforce their pagan atheistic worldview that devalues human life, glorifies sex and human autonomy, and deifies the State.
Given the short amount of time we have, I cannot begin to unpack all that God has to say about the role of government, social justice and Christian activism. But I will say that God’s Word is by no means silent on the matter. God even gave Moses a civil law, complete with the equivalent of tax laws and a criminal justice system! So for Christians who lean left politically and support unbiblical practices thereby, I graciously chalk it up to ignorance, and prescribe proper discipleship and teaching on these issues. Our view of government policy should come from God and his Word, not from the news media. And we should place allegiance to Christ and his Kingdom above our party, culture, race or sexuality.
Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
ABORTION: STATS
DEFINITION OF ABORTION: The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy (Oxford).
- Abortion has been legal since 1973 per the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade.
- 58 million abortions have occurred in the past 43 years.
- There are roughly 1.5 million abortions per year / 3,500 per day / 2 per minute. 3 out of 10 women will have had an abortion by age 45.
ABORTION PROCEDURES
“Suction Aspiration/Suction Curettage”
“Salt Poisoning (Saline Injection)”
“Dilation and Extraction (D&X)”
“Partial Birth”
THE BIBLICAL CASE AGAINST ABORTION
God’s Word declares that all human beings – regardless of age, race, gender, class, stature or impairment – bear God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-28). They are spiritual creatures with eternal destinies and the ability to fellowship with God. Thus, God promises a stiff judgment on those who wrongfully take human life.
Regardless of how governments, past and present, have attempted to limit what is considered “human” and “life” by using arbitrary designations of age, race and skin color, God’s Word has spoken to the humanness of every human from the moment of conception. According to God, unborn children are: (1) Miracles (Ps. 139:13-18), (2) Blessings (Ps. 127:3-4), (3) Fully human (Gen. 1:26-28; 9:5-6), (4) Our neighbors (Lev. 19:18; Lk. 10:25-29), and (5) The least of these (Mat. 25:31-46).
If 1.5 million a year of such are being mutilated at will by their parents under the protection of the law, we call this genocide. God’s Word describes it in the following terms: (1) a spiritual issue (Jhn. 8:37-40; 1 Jhn. 3:11-15), (2) murder (Ex. 20:13), (3) child abandonment (1 Tim. 5:8), (4) child sacrifice (Ps. 106:35-40), and (5) our national sin (2 Kgs. 17:13-20; Jer. 7:31-34).
In response to this, disciples of Christ are called to be salt and light to a decaying and darkened culture (Matt. 5:13-16); they are to speak against evil and injustice (Micah 6:8; Eph. 5:16); and to speak up for the oppressed (Prov. 24:11-12; 31:8-9). Metro Praise International, therefore, stands against the evil of abortion and in defense of unborn children.
A BIBLICAL CASE AGAINST THE LGBT AGENDA
There ought to be a clear case against the homosexual lifestyle, based on the clear denunciations found in Scripture (Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-11). But in order to make our case for a positive view on the subject, we wish to establish some basic biblical parameters for marriage, gender and sexuality. Jesus did exactly this when he was questioned about divorce and remarriage, and based his answer on God’s design at creation:
Matthew 19:4-6, “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
The plain inference is that God that created gender, having made mankind “male and female.” Further, God created marriage, for He intended that a “man” leave his “father and mother” to “be united to his wife.”
Observe what Jesus declared about God’s design for marriage and sexuality:
- God created mankind to have only one of two genders – male or female.
- God created marriage, and thus has the right to define marriage.
- God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman.
- Marriage is a rite reserved for adults for a man must leave his parent’s home before he finds a wife.
Jesus, by appealing to God’s design in creation, ruled out any type of marriage arrangement, except for a monogamous union between one man and one woman. It also rules any type of gender identity except for the God-given gender each person receives at birth.
SOCIAL CONCERNS
The LGBT movement, as implied by its very name (an acronym for “Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender”), encompasses a wide variety of sexual behaviors and preferences; most predominant in our culture are homosexuality and transgenderism. In recent years both the Executive and Judicial branches of the U.S. government have moved to enshrine the freedom to these sexual lifestyles as civil rights, even going as far redefining marriage. This goes against Scripture’s teaching on marriage and sexuality, and it goes beyond the limited role God has assigned to the State. There are many reasons Christians should be concerned about these developments; to name a few:
(1) A Threat to Religious Freedom: In recent years we have seen numerous headlines of small businesses shut down, reputations destroyed, and individuals forced out of their jobs all in the name of “Gay Rights.” The LGBT agenda has been driving force behind the silencing of the Christian voice in the public square. If the Christian voice is removed, then with it goes the freedoms of religion and speech – freedoms which have set America apart from so many totalitarian regimes.
Examples:
- Christian bakers fined $135,000 and forced to close shop when they refused to bake for a lesbian wedding.
- University of Illinois instructor fired for calling homosexuality “immoral.”
(2) The Degradation of Families: Healthy families are vital to society. Families produce and develop human beings that go on to become members and leaders of society. Broken families that are marred by divorce, abuse and fatherlessness tend to produce broken individuals and adversely affect society. The statistics of juvenile delinquency, drug use and teen pregnancy in relation to broken homes are undeniable. Similarly, families that are wrongly structured, having two men or two women as parents, for example, are shown to adversely affect children and, in turn, society. Children need mothers and fathers for proper care and to provide adequate models of masculinity, femininity and overall loving relationships. The research is somewhat new, but we are beginning to see the dysfunction that is inherent in homosexual parenting. Thus, in redefining marriage, we redefine family, and redefine society as we know it.
Example:
- Analysis of recent studies on homosexual parenting
We as disciples of Christ have a moral duty to “love our neighbors” by speaking against the sins of abortion and the LGBT agenda and promoting God’s life-giving truth.