Things Worth Noticing: 7/1/22
A Special Post-Roe Edition
Greetings!
It’s been a while since I’ve sent out this newsletter. Since our newest baby is (mostly) to blame for my hiatus, I thought it’d be fitting to focus this newsletter on the big item that’s captured most of our attention this week: the fall of Roe v. Wade.
While I take the end of Roe to be a cause for celebration, others see it as a cause célèbre—the very end of our constitutional order as opposed to its restoration. That was to be expected from those who vocally support so-called abortion rights. What was unexpected, at least for me, was the number of otherwise conservative Christians (many of them pastors) who would take to the Twitters to lament rather than rejoice.
Some of these lamentations have come from those who’ve all but sold their biblical birthright for a pot of cultural stew. I have little to say here other than what Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” If a church loses her prophetic voice for the sake of cultural acceptance, then what right does she have to continue as a herald of the offensive, life-saving truth of the Gospel? None.
Unless I’m looking in the wrong places, though, most of the misguided lamentations I’ve read are not rooted in compromise. Rather, they stem from a genuine (though often poorly expressed) desire to balance justice for the unborn with concern for their bearers. This, of course, is seasoned with a deep longing to communicate gospel truth to those on the all sides of the abortion issue.
This is an important tension to maintain. I’ve found the following posts to help me think about how to rejoice without reserve, even as I long to speak words of grace to those who feel less than joyful right now. I hope they’ll help you.
Rejoice, Even in Imperfection
As only he can, Kevin DeYoung’s article for World, “When Roe was overturned,” marries wit with satire in order to bring home the point expressed in the article’s subhead: “Christians should rejoice in the destruction of an instrument of death.”
The article comes as a response to those who spend much time wringing their hands over the pro-life movement’s so-called failures (real and imagined) yet virtually none in public recognition that the fall of Roe is a great victory for the cause of the unborn.
The article’s conceit? Imagine an ending to the original Star Wars movie in which, instead of rejoicing over the Death Star’s destruction, everyone went introspective:
“They gathered a large collection of counselors to help them process what had happened. They agreed that the Death Star was bad, but some quietly wondered if the Rebels had plans up their sleeves that were even worse. They talked at great length about the turmoil in the galaxy, about the bad behavior of some of the Rebels, and why being anti–Death Star was not enough.”
But, of course, that’s not how the movie really ended. Rather, this is how:
“The whole Rebel Alliance rejoiced because the instrument of death had been destroyed. The ones who didn’t smile either didn’t know what the Death Star really was or they weren’t really sure they wanted to be lumped in with the Rebels any longer. The war for truth and life and honor goes on, but thanks be to God for those who have seen this essential battle through to the end.”
What Now?
Scott Sauls wrote an article titled “Roe v. Wade Has Been Overturned… What Now?” In some circles, I hear Sauls maligned as one of those pastors who’s in danger of selling his birthright (see above). Whatever merit there may be in that critique, I don’t see anything like that at work in this article.
Sauls is quite clear about the Bible’s position with respect to abortion (“Ambivalence about the life/choice debate is not an option for a follower of Christ”). Yet, his clarity is matched with a call to the church to fill in the inevitable “gap” that will be created by the fall of Roe. This is a message I’ve shared with my own congregation, and Sauls brings it with both truth and grace. He also does it while dispelling the widespread chicanery that says Christians are merely pro-birth.
“So then, what to do now since Roe v. Wade is no more? I believe the answer is for Christians to continue the work that so many have already been doing in the quiet, hands-on, grass roots context of their congregations and local communities — and to do so all the more robustly, creatively, and generously.”
Speaking of Chicanery…
My fellow Vanhoozerite, Derek Rishmawy, wrote an article for Mere Orthodoxy tearing down the ridiculous memes that have made the rounds on Facebook this week.
The writing is appropriately feisty. One choice paragraph calls out the reactionary ethical sentiments of a generation who would rather individuate than think with any sort of moral clarity or conviction:
"Folks, you can distinguish yourselves all you want, but at some point you have to recognize that just because your evangelical parents or Aunt and Uncle voted for Trump and are pro-life, that didn’t suddenly transform what you used to think were babies, worthy of dignity, respect, and legal protection into not babies, no longer worthy of such things or their defense."
60 Questions
Last, but not least, Mere Orthodoxy gets another hat tip in this week’s newsletter with Jamie Wilder’s “60 Questions for Pro-Choice Christians.” Just like the title says, this article lays out 60 questions that one simply must wrestle with if they claim to trust the Bible as God’s Word and defend a woman’s so-called right to choose.
Here are a few of the most poignant and thought-provoking:
9. Is the life within the womb human?
10. When does a person deserve rights?
14. In America, it is illegal to kill a bald eagle, carrying a maximum fine of $250,000 or two years in prison. And the law extends to the eggs of the bald eagle, making no differentiation between a livingbald eagle and a pre-born bald eagle. Why should a bald eagle egg have more protection than an unborn baby?
28. Do you think a society that kills over two-thirds of pre-born babies diagnosed with Down syndrome is a society that values what God values?
47. Christologically speaking, did God the Son disappear from the cosmos when he left Heaven until he was born?
A Sermon for Failures
In the abortion discussion, it’s easy to miss the real human stories involved and to speak more condemnation than grace—especially toward those who’ve ever terminated or participated in the termination of a pregnancy.
If you’re in that set, then I’d encourage you to watch this powerful sermon from our denomination’s General Assembly last week. In it, Elbert McGowan reminds us all the God’s grace is for the weak and imperfect. His friendship is for the failures.
If you’re feeling the weight of sin, then you need to know that Jesus bore the full weight of sin at the cross. Forgiveness is for you, no matter what your past holds.
Yet Not I
If you’re in Christ, then you’ve been given grace without measure. Not so sure about that right now? This beautiful a capella rendition of “Yet Not I” will help convince you otherwise. May it encourage your soul as much as it did mine this week.
Now, For Something Simple and Fun
Frame for frame. Brick for brick. Now, I really need to go see this movie. Think I can get away with bringing a baby to an IMAX?
That’s it for this special edition of my weekly newsletter. May the Lord bless you all as you head into the weekend.
In Christ alone,
Kenny