Why “Sanctity of Life” Matters

by Jim Litchfield

Last Saturday, January 22, was the 38th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision which opened wide the door to the killing of our unborn babies. We asked one of our church’s strongest proponents of Right to Life issues to write about what keeps him and his wife Carolyn in the fight.

Abortion.

It is worse than you can imagine.

Abortion. The word itself elicits emotions across the entire spectrum of human feelings. Abortion. Our response to the scope and severity of this issue will undoubtedly be what our generation is judged for in the history books.

Abortion. An act of violence that kills a child. Abortion. Approximately 50,000,000 deaths in the United States since the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. 1,210,000 deaths per year in the U.S. (2005 figures). Approximately 3,315 per day. Every day in the U.S. there are more babies killed by abortion than the number of people killed on 9-11. Abortion. It is worse than you can imagine.

With the 38th annual commemoration of the Roe v Wade decision this month, Christians are once again confronted with the question about what we should do, both as individuals and as the church, in response to the killing of innocent children in our society. What should we do? What does Scripture say we should do?

There are numerous Scriptural references to the sanctity of life, to the fact that life begins at conception, and that we should defend the innocent.

For instance, consider the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). Is an unborn child our current neighbor (as opposed to merely being a future neighbor) in the sense meant by Jesus when He commanded us to “love our neighbor” in the parable?

If the unborn child is our current neighbor, what is our response supposed to be? The priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side of the beating victim may have felt pity for him but the Samaritan took pity on him. The Samaritan took risks and made sacrifices (a good definition of “love”) to save someone he didn’t know and to whom he owed no obvious duty (an extreme definition of “neighbor”). Even more importantly, if the unborn child is our neighbor now, we should be sobered by the fact that the Parable of the Good Samaritan is Christ’s answer to the question “. . . what must I do to be saved?” (Luke 10:25) Jesus said we are to love God and love our neighbor and then explained who our neighbor is and what real love looks like. How can this parable not apply to abortion?

Good works can’t save us but they will be judged as evidence that our faith is a saving faith. Jesus prophesied that He would judge faith by examining works: “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me . . . Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of

these, you did not do it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:41–45)

It is Scriptures like these that motivate me to respond to the abortion holocaust. Theologian Francis Schaeffer wrote that if Christians won’t stand up against something as evil as killing a baby—then the world has the right to ask whether Christ is real. I want the world to know that Jesus is real. I want the world to know that He is alive. And I want the world to hear the gospel, as it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

Ephesians 5:1 commands us, as believers in Christ to expose the deeds of evil and darkness. The world is watching the Christian Church’s response to the abortion holocaust and deciding what they think about Jesus as they do. If Jesus’ people aren’t doing anything about abortion, a very clear statement is being made about Jesus!

There are many, many ways that Christians can respond to the evil of abortion. First and foremost, educate yourself about abortion. There are numerous websites with all kinds of facts and figures and research (abortionNO.org and abort73.com). Once you have a better understanding of abortion and the enormity of the abortion problem, draw near to God and ask Him the same three questions that Pastor Steve Osborn taught in his sermon in the Sanctuary (January 16) and the Commons (January 23): Where does the Father want me to deploy the finite resources of my life to stop abortion? Who does the Father want me to work with to help stop abortion? And last, specifically what does the Father want me to do to stop abortion? Ask these questions in faith and, as you listen for His answer, pray that the Father answers you just as Jesus prayed the Father would answer

Him (Luke 22), “nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done.”

My fervent prayer is that there won’t need to be a 39th commemoration of Roe v Wade next year . . . but rather the first commemoration of the year that abortion ended in our country. Imagine that.