ex·ile
-
The state of being barred from one’s native country, typically for political or punitive reasons.
Have you noticed that Christians have been relegated to the “little kids” table where most issues today are concerned? It’s like it’s Thanksgiving and we’re sitting at card tables in the spare bedroom while the grown-up, more “enlightened” people sit around the big table—casually deciding the future of our nation. Yes, Christians see what is happening, but many are afraid to say who we are and what we believe.
After all, who wants to end up at the little kids table?
The church is struggling with the fear of being exiled. Many pastors avoid “divisive” topics like abortion when they preach. For goodness sake, we definitely don’t want to talk about gay marriage. (That’s so yesterday.) Moving on.
Christians know what’s up. Speak the truth you’ll end up at the little kids table with someone’s leftover meatloaf. No more conversation for you, buddy. Come back to the table when you have something meaningful to contribute.
Take the case of Cecil, the beloved African Lion who was allegedly, “accidentally” illegally hunted and killed a few days ago. It’s trending big-time on social media, to the point where the hunter has had to go into hiding due to death threats. Yes, the lion was beloved and beautiful—but can I just say this out loud? “Cecil was a lion. An animal.” We’re enraged over the death of an animal while millions of our unborn are brutally killed every day in this country.
Cecil is getting a whole lot more attention on the news than the victims of abortion. Listen. I’m no fan of big game hunting like this—but it seems like a distraction from a much bigger issue: the murder of our unborn.
“#JusticeforCecil?” Really?
Where is the public outcry over the atrocious way unborn babies are torn from their mother’s wombs? I’ll admit it. It’s hard to have outcry against something you’ve casually been a part of. We legalized it. We’re part of the problem. Since 1973, abortion has destroyed the lives of more than 57,762,169 unborn children. That’s over fifty-seven million.
But we want justice for the lion.
We live here. We know what’s going on in abortion “clinics” across this nation. So yes. We’re all culpable for allowing such an atrocity to continue all these years. Our silence has allowed a genocide to happen right in our own back yard. I praise God for the brave men and women who made the videos that are exposing what all knew in our hearts was happening at Planned Parenthood.
Don’t look the other way. We’ve got a lot to atone for.
I have worked alongside many pro-life groups over the years, but I’ll be honest: it’s discouraging to feel like there’s no hope of ever seeing the tide turn our way in the fight for life. However today, as I write this from my little corner of the United States, I have a hunch we might be seeing the tide turn in favor of life. If you care about this issue, now is the time to speak. Now is the time to let your voice be heard.
“He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 22:16
This is part of what it means to know the Lord. I’ve been re-reading Bonhoeffer this summer. What stunning similarities there are between then and now! Hitler’s Third Reich “Church” rose while simultaneously silencing true Christians in Europe! The Reich told Believers that their ways were best for Germany—but deep down, Christians knew otherwise. Bonhoeffer witnessed the slow but steady silencing of church leaders in his time, and finally, the almost complete capitulation of the Church to the Reich. It was exile. Many of God’s people turned away from public discourse in an effort to escape the scrutiny of the SS and avoid being publicly ridiculed or even arrested. Slowly, evil men were able to take full control of Germany as good men kept silent.
What a price was paid for the silence purchased through intimidation and fear. What began as a quiet exile of good men and women ended in a genocide.
I know that some people will be offended at the comparison between then and now—but it is what it is. Read for yourself.
As an author, I have been privileged to speak to tens of thousands of people over the past ten years. In the past year, I’ve noticed a dramatic change in the demeanor of many Christians in the public arena. Many are afraid. Afraid of being hated because of their beliefs. Afraid of being misunderstood. Afraid of being made to look foolish because of their faith. And while it’s understandable to want to stay quiet, our silence is speaking for us. As Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
We may have begun to see Christians exiled, but it should not deter nor surprise us. Jesus said in John 5:15, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
As a Christian woman, I am compelled to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. I am compelled by my faith to do what God says is right, no matter what other people will say. The Bible teaches us that the war we are in is an epic battle between good and evil. The temptation is for us to yield the floor to our emotions—but we cannot argue from our emotions alone. Our argument is not emotional. It is spiritual. It’s God’s argument.
This means that our reason for being pro-life is NOT because we “feel bad” about the gruesome practice of harvesting organs from new babies is commonplace for Planned Parenthood (though we certainly should). Yes, we should be outraged by these things, but outrage is not our reason for opposing PP. We oppose abortion for the same reason we oppose all things God calls sin.
We oppose abortion because God opposes it. End of story. God knows the preborn child. “You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret” (Psalm 139:13,15)
It’s time that we stopped using the world’s reasoning and started coming back to Scripture as our first line of defense. Any other kind of reasoning falls short of carrying with it the victory that is ultimately found in Christ alone.
Let’s not make the same mistake that many Christians made when they turned a blind eye to the evil that Hitler was committing against the Jews. We serve the living God. Let’s act like it. No matter the SCOTUS rulings, Planned Parenthood atrocities or “pro-choice” arguments, we must not be silent.
Pray. Ask the Lord how you can get involved and what He would have you do. We do not have to be exiled from the conversations that our culture is engaged in today. God’s Word is as relevant today as it was when it was written.
Your seat at the table was reserved at Calvary. Take your seat and speak on behalf of the One who gave His life for you.
Click here to sign the petition to demand a Congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood and immediate defunding of the abortion provider.
In case you have not yet heard me speak on this issue: check out the podcast. I hope you’ll visit iTunes and help me spread a word of encouragement from the Bible every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Listen on the blog: http://heidistjohn.com/blog//
Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here
I have watched abortion ruin the lives of several women I know, as I commented on the post from a few days ago. I don’t have a problem standing on the foundation of my Christian beliefs to argue for Pro-Life, but what I find is that when you are arguing it is a sin to people who don’t believe in God, it doesn’t have an effect. For people who don’t believe in God and sin in the first place, it is hard to get the message through. Which doesn’t mean that we stop trying, absolutely not!
However, if you remove the fact that it is a sin so that you can get through to non-believers, the argument that speaks volumes to me is that less than 1% of abortions are due to rape or incest. I believe if you add in the instances of the mother’s health being in jeopardy, it is less than 3% total for all 3 reasons. So abortion is most often being used as a solution for irresponsibility and bad behavior. So people want to live irresponsibly and have sex, but then if they accidentally become pregnant, they want to commit murder. Or in the case of my sister-in-law, when she became pregnant before her and my brother-in-law were “ready for kids”, they just murdered their child. If you are old enough to make the choice to have sex, then you need to deal with all that comes with that. Period. Living irresponsibly and then committing murder as a solution isn’t even on the radar as logical. So, if I run up my credit cards and then can’t pay them, is it legal for me to rob a bank to pay them off? If I drink too much at the bar, is it OK for me to drive home and kill people on the way? NO! Of course not! This reasoning doesn’t make sense in any other scenarios except have sex and then murder your child.
So yes, as Christians we have to stand firm on this atrocity, but as human beings…Christian or Non-Believers this doesn’t make sense. It is murder. I would like to think that most people, Christian or not, would agree that if you make a mistake it isn’t OK to just murder someone to solve your problem. We are living in a world of -I can do whatever I want. I can be whatever I want. Why is everyone entitled to whatever they want? I want to be a boy today and a girl tomorrow. I want to have sex today and kill my child tomorrow. I want to charge my credit card today and not pay it tomorrow. We are suffering a major accountability crisis in this country and instead of holding people accountable, we just write laws to make what they are doing OK for them. To me, this isn’t just an issue of sin. It is an issue of right and wrong that I would like to think non-believers can still distinguish between.
Thank you Heidi for continuing to remind all of us that we can fight and we don’t have to lie down and accept what this country is becoming!
Hi Amy. Thanks for commenting. I am speaking directly to the Church (big “C”) here because I see Christians being silent when they should be speaking. The very reason there is “right and wrong” is because of sin. So we must talk about it truthfully and stop hiding because we think people will reject us out of hand if we use words like “sin” to talk about things like murder and homosexuality. We have replaced Biblical arguments with emotional ones and thereby lost both our credibility as Believers and our position at the table where discourse should be occurring. We don’t have an abortion problem in our culture … we have a sin problem. People need the healing touch of their Redeemer. We have a President in office right now who we literally elected because our nation is so desperate for “hope and change” that we thought a President could give it to us. Not so. As Christians, we can do no less than share the reason for the hope that lies within in us. This is where healing and hope will ultimately be found.
Hi Heidi. I couldn’t agree more. I was trying to make a different point, albeit not very well. I too am tired of Christians being treated like they belong at the kids table or as if we are foolish and out of date. We are indeed in a fight against sin. And a fight against our society, politicians, and unfortunately now churches bending to meet the public “norm” rather than being vocal about what the Word says and our Christian foundation.
Now more than ever in recent history, Christians and Churches have to join together and stand firm against the Darkness our society is falling into.
We do need to be truthful that it is sin and not hide behind non-Biblical arguments. I just feel that as far as the genocide of abortion is concerned, we are going to have to join believers and non-believers together to fight abortion. There are plenty of non-believers that still have a moral compass even if they don’t recognize it as sin. We will need everyone who believes that murdering defenseless children is wrong to turn the tide on abortion. For Christians it will be a fight against sin and for them it will be “doing what is right” but collectively we may have a chance to change this. Of course, I would love it if in the process, we save many non-believers and give them the hope that lies in Jesus Christ. However, I will gladly stand side by side with non-believers if we have a chance at outlawing abortion.
Thank you as always for a stirring post and a reminder that we aren’t alone!
I agree, Amy! I’ll have to write more to that point soon. 🙂
God bless you Heidi for speaking the truth and not shying away!! We have had 3 miscarriages in the last year. The last one was twin girls. I have their testimonies written down and have shared them with others. God moved in our time of grief and witnesses who He is through each time. I am always willing to share their testimonies to show how these precious souls are just that from the very beginning!!
Heidi, I am so thankful for the way you are not afraid to speak the truth in love! I shared this on my Facebook page because I don’t want to be afraid either. When I tried to share the link to the petition on my page, it was blocked by Facebook! Did anyone else have the same problem?
Thank you for being so honest with this, I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought the whole lion thing was ridiculous! Not only are unborn babies being murdered but Christians all over the world are being murdered due to their beliefs, where is your hashtag for that?! It’s horrible what society puts as valuable lives anymore!