What does Pro-Life really mean?

 Ugh, I know. I'm coming out of the gate swinging daring to approach this topic so early on.  But it's relevant.  Not only to the our culture, to my personal walk with Jesus right now. 

As I've mentioned previously, I grew up in a VERY pro-life environment, participating in Saturday morning picketing outside the local abortion clinic with my family and other members of my church. When I look back on those mornings, I feel so cringey - like deep in my soul, praying no one ever recognized me cringey. 

At the same time, I remember sitting in a beach chair on the sidewalk outside of the gates of this clinic next to my bestie and we were just hanging out. Talking, playing MASH, doing what teenagers did in 1998 - just all on a sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic. It all felt so normal at the time. At 16 years old, this was a normal part of being a Christian. Along with See You at the Pole and WWJD bracelets and True Love Waits rings and choosing courtship over dating (whole different post)- it was just part of being a Christian in the 90's. 

I remember talking to others so passionately about how abortion was murder and it should be illegal and people would respond with "What about rape and incest?" My response? "Do two wrongs make a right? Is it the baby's fault that they were conceived that way?"  And while there may be a shred of truth in those statements, there is absolutely ZERO grace.

At the same time that I was "fighting for the rights of the unborn" I was consistently exposed to very racist rhetoric in my home. Hostile comments made about Ebonics and hip hop culture or how Mexicans were taking over "OUR" country.  

I watched as the arguments in my home got physical and scary. I stood, back against the wall as my dad's finger drove it's way into my sternum and he yelled in my face, his spit landing on my cheeks because I had failed him, once again in some way.  

But, we were pro-life. 

Part of me hesitates to say any of this - I don't want to be misunderstood. I am pro-life. 

I do believe abortion is wrong. 

I also believe that abuse is wrong.  And hatred is wrong. Pride and arrogance are wrong. Gossip and slander are wrong. To dehumanize anyone is wrong. 

And yet, they happen all the time. Often, too often than I care to admit, in my own heart. 

When I go to scripture, and I observe the life of Jesus, what I see time and time again is that He put little effort into the political during his time on Earth. He called out the religious leaders a lot - but his concern wasn't the laws that governed the land, rather the love that governed hearts.

He wasn't interested in behavior reform. He put his efforts in heart transformation. 

I believe life begins at conception. But WHY do I believe this?  Because I believe the Bible is true. I believe God. I trust God to be good and just and merciful. 

How can we expect anyone who isn't sure how they feel about God to behave like they trust Him? How? 

And how can we expect them to ever see Him as good and trustworthy when all they have experienced from Christians is shame and ostracism? 

And how does holding up a snarky sign and screaming at someone or getting into an argument on Facebook with your Liberal friend from high school proclaim the love of Jesus?

We have made massive mistakes in the name of being pro-life. We have placed people in positions of power that have no character all in the name of being pro-life. We have shamed women and girls in their deepest time of hurt and fear all in the name of being pro-life. We have clouded the face of Jesus and created confusion around the nature of our God all in the name of being pro-life.

Am I pro-life?  Yes. In every sense of the word. I believe abortion is wrong and I also believe Black Lives Matter and that Immigrants are just as deserving of a life of safety as I am.  I believe those in the LGBTQ+ community are human beings created in the image of God and are therefore worthy of love. I believe abusers should be called out and held accountable for the ways they've used their power selfishly. And, I believe women in a difficult position shouldn't be met with signs and yelling and rhetoric - but mercy and compassion- especially from those who know that apart from Christ, they would still be dead in their own sin. 

I also believe that our mission on this earth is not to go therefore and reform the government through the laws of the land, thereby forcing Christian values on people who are not Christians.  Do not hear me say that Christians should not be in politics - that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying, is that Jesus never promised to revise this Kingdom, but to establish a NEW ONE!

How do we build the NEW Kingdom?  "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19)  Disciples of who? JESUS!  Not the Republican party or whichever politician or Christian celebrity that best aligns with your personal opinions. No - disciples of JESUS!

Jesus, who gave Himself up for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. Jesus who sat with the sinners and tax-collectors. Jesus who never used shame as a tactic, rather he BORE OUR SHAME. He met people where they were, met their felt need and then met their deeper need - and then called them to go and sin no more. 

He transformed their hearts BEFORE he asked them to change their behavior.  

This is a job for the church - not the government. This is a job for the people of God, on the ground in our day to day lives. This is a call to move in to the uncomfortable places in order to PROCLAIM the goodness of God through the way we LOVE, how we live in the moment by moment and day to day. Who cares how you vote, who cares how loudly you "speak the truth," if you do not LOVE?

You want to prevent abortions? Travel outside of your bubble of like-minded brothers and sisters and live among those who believe and think differently than you. Be a missionary in your own backyard - not preaching the message of Christian Values - but pointing people to JESUS by building relationship with them.  See people who are different than you as just as valuable as you- in fact, see them as friends!  Learn about their experiences, their families, their fears - and trust the Holy Spirit to lead you as you show them who Jesus is. And then let Jesus do the changing of their hearts. That's not your job. 

"If I speak the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."    

-1 Corinthians 13:1-7