Opinion
How should Christians respond to abortion?
Stuart Bailey attended an abortion related prayer meeting back in November, and the evening left him with some nagging thoughts.
Where are the Churches?
The event, organised by Brephos, was attended by representatives of just a handful of the many churches in and around Norwich. Given the magnitude of the subject, I was left wondering where the other Churches were.
At the meeting, we were told that since the legalization of abortion in 1967, ten million babies have been legally “terminated” in the UK. At present one in three of all pregnancies ends in abortion – that figure rises to one in two for Generation Z (people aged from young teen to twenty-five). It was pointed out that a baby in the womb is more likely to be killed than a front-line soldier was during World-War I.
Why should we care; after all, the world tells us that a baby is not a real person until they are born (they are simply an embryo or a foetus and part of the mother’s body)?
The word “Brephos” points to why we should care. Brephos (βρέφος or the plural βρέφη) is the Greek word used in the Bible to describe babies, from conception to toddler. For example:
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (βρέφος) leaped in her womb” [Luke 1:41 NIV]
"This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby (βρέφος) wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” [Luke 2:12 NIV]
“People were also bringing babies (βρέφη) to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them.” [Luke 18:15 NIV]
We should care about abortion because the Bible makes no discrimination between a baby in the womb and a baby post birth. And in this country 10,000,000 “βρέφη” have been legally killed.
Commenting on Pharo’s edict that Hebrew babies should be killed at birth, Acts 7:19 says: “He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies (βρέφη) so that they would die.” (NIV)
Such an act was despicable to God then and must be equally so now.
This is why the Church should care: This is why the Church should be gathering in their thousands to pray, to demonstrate and to plead with our Government to change the law.
Just as I thought things could not get any worse, we were informed at the meeting that the current Crime and Policing Bill contains an amendment decriminalizing women who choose to abort their babies in any manner even up to birth. How would the God who spoke Acts 17 respond to this? How should we respond?
What do we offer pregnant women in crisis?
What help do we offer to women and girls who are pregnant through rape or incest? Or those who face severe financial or material hardship? If we are serious in our condemnation of abortion, what help are we willing to give local women and girls to help them make the right decision and go through with their birth?
There is an old adage that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. In the RAF we used to tell people “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”. In my first role as a Sergeant, I went to the Flight Commander with an issue. He looked across the table and simply said, “so what are you going to do about it?”. It was a wake-up call, I was now in a position of responsibility and could no longer 'pass the buck upwards'.
Similarly, we cannot pass the buck, but must find answers. Right now I don’t know the how we can respond, but we need to pray, seek guidance and offer pregnant women and girls a genuine alternative to abortion.
But, there is hope.
Despite the enormity of the problem and the seemingly unstoppable tide of public opinion, there is hope. In that small meeting of a few Christians, I heard the most powerful and heartfelt prayers that I have encountered in a long time. While there a few who are prepared to stand up for what it right and beg the LORD to act, there is hope for future generations.
The Christian Church began with a handful of people gathered in an upper room. When the Holy Spirit came on them, they preached the Word of God, and thousands were added to their number. So, God can do amazing things through a small number of people.
In recent years there have been reports of a “quiet revival” in our communities – particularly among the very generation that is killing 50% of unborn children. If God is calling this generation to repentance and faith, there is hope for a great revival and change of social attitudes.
So please, realize this is something that all God’s children should care about. The devil wants us to be ambivalent and think it’s about the choice of the individual: Please pray. And consider how we can all play a real part in helping the situation by offering a genuine alternative to anyone considering abortion.
Above all don’t lose heart – God can do amazing things through us.
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Stuart Bailey is Pastor at The Open Door Christian Fellowship, which meets every Sunday morning at Ramsey Close in Norwich. Their aim is to create a fellowship in which there is a homely, family atmosphere, where everyone feels genuinely welcome to join in, free to express their thoughts, doubts, fears and failings with no concern that they will be judged.
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