By James Wilson
I met Jesus in
April 1970 in an encounter both dramatic and intimate while proctoring an exam
in a public high school in San Diego, California. Two years prior I helped two friends abort
their pregnancies; I found a doctor willing to perform (then) illegal abortions
and borrowed the money from a relative. I had nothing to do with creating these
pregnancies but in my mind there was no higher value than having your friends’
backs; I did what I believed needed to be done.
When I met Jesus He did not condemn me for what I had done in 1968. It did not come up at all for a few weeks.
In
a Holy Spirit show of irony this hippy (me) was led into one of the most
traditional and structured denominations; they even practiced “going to
confession.” When I asked the pastor
what I should do next – as a new member with no previous experience of church –
he told me to show up for confession the coming Saturday. When I asked how I should prepare – seeing as
how I lacked even a grasp of what might be called sin – he told me to write
down everything I could think of in my past that might stand between me and
God. He said I should include even the
apparently trivial and then he said something I thought odd but encouraging. He said if some sinful incident came to mind
after my confession I was not to worry about it; if the Lord had wanted me to
deal with it then He would have brought it up in time for the confession.
I
was surprised at how much I remembered of clearly out of bounds behavior even
to someone as clueless as myself; I had a laundry list by the time I got into
that little booth I had only seen in movies before. Midway through the exercise I heard a voice
as clear as my own saying, “Don’t forget the abortions.” There was no condemnation of me as a murderer
of the unborn; neither were excuses offered on account of my ignorance. There was only the instruction. I walked out of that confessional convinced
of two things. Abortion is murder – the
unjustified killing of a human being – and I dare not condemn those who have
done what I did; I must speak the truth about this heinous act in love and
humility.
California
leads the nation in elective abortions; our lead is far in excess of our share
of the national population. Our
legislature recently adopted a law permitting even non-physicians to abort
pregnancies despite the fact I could not abort my dog unless I have a doctor of
veterinary medicine perform the procedure.
In each case we are doing – as I did – what seems the only realistic
option in the face of emergency. But we
are so committed to aborting all unwanted pregnancies we forget Ludwig Von Beethoven
was an unwanted pregnancy; we forget God knows more about what is both best and
most realistic than we do. And we forget
substitution of our best for His is key to many sins.
Shedding
innocent blood is sin that – when it becomes a social pattern – pollutes the
land and atmosphere under and over wherever it is welcomed. California taxpayers fund thirty thousand
abortions yearly – on top of the multiple thousands paid for by the panicky
parents seeking them. It always seems
like the only way out of a bad situation until we consider the overwhelming
medical odds against any one pregnancy resulting in a live birth. Truth is there is simply no way a pregnancy
comes to term without the intervention of a loving God; if one were truly
unplanned it would self-abort. With the
large numbers of couples desperately seeking to adopt there is no way a woman
must be saddled with raising a child she does not want. When we choose to bail out on a baby we are
shedding innocent blood and spitting in God’s eye at the same time. But what should we do?
The
first thing is to adopt the 40 Days for Life approach. Bless and do not curse those with whom we
disagree. The second is to repent of our
role in creating a culture where dealing death is so easily rationalized. The silence of pastors, leaders, and everyone
else is the reason it flourishes. And
last is to commit to a lifestyle in which we sacrifice ourselves for others –
as Jesus did and does – instead of expecting others – whether unborn children
or the driver one lane over – to sacrifice for us.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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