Recently, I talked to a pastor who had felt in certain cases abortion was an option, and he was not talking about the situation of the life of the mother. I told him that even in the cases of deformity or mental defect that a child’s life is on the line and we have no right to kill because of difficulty or inconvenience.
Another pastor had counseled one of his distraught church members, who had been told they were carrying a 6-month defective fetus, that in regards to abortion, to “do whatever she had a peace about.” She chose abortion and upon delivery found out that there was nothing wrong with the baby.
Another so-called “strong Bible believing pastor” counseled that, “abortion would probably be best” for a member who had gotten a mistress pregnant.
It is bad enough that one pastor would capitulate to the death culture around us, but tragically, it appears to be rampant throughout the churches that are supposed to be the followers of Jesus Christ.
I have often quoted the Guttemaker study that shows that statistically women inside the churches across America are aborting their babies at the same rate as those outside the church. But this statistic reveals more than the individual choices of women, it reveals the lack of leadership in the church to actively stop abortion and restore those who desperately need forgiveness. How do we get our pastors to actively stop abortion and encourage them to restore those who have had abortions? The answer to these questions are found in asking ourselves why a pastor is reluctant to address this crisis in the church.
Probably the single greatest reason why a pastor does not address abortion is that they have no personal conviction based on the fear of God and the scriptures concerning the shedding of innocent blood. Unfortunately, they are more afraid of offending their members than offending God. They may also be uninformed biblically, biologically and historically about the unborn child. So, because of this lack of foundation they have bought into the world’s values.
A pastor believing that it is a woman’s choice to determine whether a child is worthy of life or death is a very sad legacy for a man of God. Perhaps another reason is that we have not called our pastors to account for this holocaust. We have not talked to our pastors to let them know that we oppose abortion and that we would support them in speaking against it from the pulpit.
(To be continued!)
Phil Magnan of Chula Vista and his wife Diane represent Life Source, (619) 426-9960.
