When I read the news I often feel like I am walking around in a the middle of a power-outage. Things are not arranged the way I thought they were (or at least the way my mind thinks they should be). Let me give you a couple of examples.
In the last few weeks the National Football League (NFL) has been in the headlines for incidents that occurred off the football field. In the first instance, Ray Rice was seen violently abusing his then fiancé. The running back appears to knock her out cold and then calmly drag her out of an elevator. The video goes viral and is accompanied by a loud public outcry. Rice is suspended indefinitely from the NFL and cut from his team. In another story, another running back, Adrian Peterson, is indicted for child abuse. Peterson, allegedly, went far beyond any reasonable forms of discipline and training his child. The images and descriptions of the wounds are graphic and disturbing. The public outcry over Peterson’s case is also loud and it appears, justifiably so.
As Christians we can join in the chorus of opposition. In both cases, Rice and Peterson, we see the breakdown of what God created man to be. Instead of loving, protective, sacrificial, servant leadership that promotes flourishing, there is violence, selfishness, and destructiveness.
Now, here is where I crash into a piece of furniture that I did not expect.
I can also open up the nation’s leading newspaper and read articles about abortion. The articles remind us again that this practice continues, whether it is reported or not. But what’s more, the article in Sunday’s paper highlighted the attempts to justify abortion through, what Dr Mohler calls the “radicalization of the abortion movement.” This stream not only wants abortion legal but to make it free from any feelings of morality whatsoever.
No doubt you can see the connection. With Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson people are outraged that harm has been done to another person, particularly those who are weaker and vulnerable. On the other hand there is outrage over anyone expressing outrage over the killing of babies.
Think about this. The World Health organization estimates that every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion, there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.
To further make the contrast, some of these abortions occur very late in the pregnancy. In several states a woman can have a legal abortion at 37 weeks. However, if a baby is born at the same time or earlier and then is the victim of a crime the person will be prosecuted.
How is this possible?
How can we in America go hoarse yelling about a child who is abused and then likewise lose our voice yelling for the rights of mothers to kill their unborn children?
This is moral ambiguity.
The Christian should not have this moral ambiguity. We understand that all people, born and unborn are created in the image of God. All people have dignity and worth. No person may rightly assert themselves and their perceived rights over another. The children killed at 1 day of gestation, 6 weeks, or 37 weeks have the same rights as a 4-year-old or a 30-year-old.
We live in a world where the contradictions abound. The moral furniture is all out of place. As Christians we have the right to speak up with the word of truth, the gospel. Because it’s only when someone sees God as Creator, Judge, and Redeemer that the lights actually come on.
Thy Kingdom Come…