I really hate it when non believers quote "judge not lest ye be judged." They don't understand that scripture and it just sounds good to them to get Christians off their back. Then again there is some truth to it, sometimes we can be judgmental in a harmful way. The enemy loves to condemn us, to cause us to feel like our sin is unforgivable, just beyond graces reach, that is a lie. When we condemn someone we are not extending the mercy we have been shown and we are using that same lie to possibly hold them back from faithfully returning to God. I began to ponder the path a Christian woman might walk down when faced with an unplanned pregnancy outside of marriage and my heart began to fill with sorrow for the way we sometimes respond to these women. I don't believe that "the sanctity of life" is the issue for Christian women who choose abortion, they know it is wrong. I believe the fear of judgement and rejection of their church body or brothers and sisters in Christ may cause them to consider abortion.
We, as the body of Christ, need to be careful not to let these women down. Sometimes we have rejected people who need to be embraced. Because the church is made up of imperfect people, sometimes we do not live up to the expectations that are put on us, to be like Christ. It grieves my heart that one in five women who are having abortions are born again believers. You would not think this to be the case but it is, and its very sad. Our system is broken, our women are rejected, and fear wins the war. Every church in the world should be a crisis pregnancy center, that should be the first place a woman runs when she finds herself faced with a crisis pregnancy. Many churches avoid these hot topic subjects for fear of offending their congregation, but what really happens is that it leaves no place for the women to turn. How are we supposed to help our sisters if they are too scared of judgment to walk through the doors and seek counsel....
In most cases crisis pregnancies, outside of marriage, result from two acts; pre-marital sex or adultery. As Christians we know that both of these acts are sinful and we are meant to reject them. The problem is that sometimes we have made it very hard for those who have stumbled in these sins to come back to church to seek redemption. Over the years I have listened to amazing pastors so harshly address specific sins, especially adultery, that I cringed at the thought of someone who was struggling to return to the Lord after stumbling in this area. I could imagine that they would struggle to feel comfortable seeking counsel from that pastor. The fear of judgement from the body of Christ alone can be enough to drive a woman to abortion just to keep her mistake unknown. How about murder? It is easy to forget that the taking of life is something that a post abortion woman faces on her conscience daily, and our harsh words do not give her a place of safety to walk into when she is reaching for God. Our words matter, and it is important to direct the church not to sin, but we need to remember that even good people can fall off the path of righteousness and they deserve to be restored gently and without judgement, if they are returning with a repentant heart. We have forgotten that our place is to love the sinner, for the church to be a safe place to bring your failures and shame to. The non believers are watching how we handle the restoration of the body of Christ, if we love like Jesus or condemn. Of course we must correct those who are on the path to destruction, but the purpose of that correction is to restore them to the body of Christ, not shame them from it.
Galatians 6:1a
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person onto the right path.
God views all sin the same, he does not select a few and hate them more. When people in the body of Christ emphasize certain sins being less acceptable than others they alienate anyone who may be trying to turn their lives around from the snare of those sins. The church needs to be an open door for people who have lost their way to seek help and counsel without fear of rejection or judgement. Sin starts in the mind, so we are wise to remember that although some may have never committed any "serious" sins in the physical sense, we still can be guilty of sinning in our hearts.
Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
We need to take a note from Jesus on how to approach the repentant. Again, I am not speaking of those who are willfully and fully engaged in sin of their choosing. They need to be rebuked and redirected so that they can turn from their sin. I am talking about those with truly repentant hearts who have made the decision to turn from sin and seek a fresh start under the forgiveness and mercy freely given by Christ.
John 8:10-11
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Jesus didn't require the woman to suffer further shame or public display. He accepted her repentant heart and gave her clear instructions to leave the life of sin behind! As a pro-life missionary it is important for me to extend the same mercy that God would extend to those in crisis pregnancy born from a sinful act. It is my place to be gentle and to correct their direction if need be, but to show them Christs redemptive mercy and love. We are all sinners and we have all stumbled, not one of us is perfect, the forgiveness of our sins comes from the same place.
I would guess that 90% of Christians have past sin and shame that they don't want the world to know every little detail of. Can you imagine if a pastor designated a church service where everyone was required to list each and every sin and read it out loud before our brothers and sisters in Christ. I would guess that very few people would show up that day! Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could confess our every sin and failure to each other without fear of judgement!
Few sins are worn so visibly then sexual sin that results in an unplanned pregnancy. These women don't need to be reminded by us that they messed up! What they need is to be loved and corrected gently so that they can get back on the right path. They need to feel safe to walk through the doors of our churches and be free to say "I messed up, can you help me?" We need to do better to be a safe, loving place for them to do so. A life created out of premarital sex or adultery is no less precious than a planned child, in fact God planned each and every one of us! If we want to protect women and children from the threat of abortion we need to start by helping the women in our churches feel safe enough to choose life!
We also spend so much time telling our children not to have sex before marriage without really explaining to them why God says to wait. It isn't any wonder that they then seek a secret abortion instead of facing us and disappointing us. These young people are not given the firm foundation and understanding of the truth behind abstinence to cause them to adhere to it. We have simple labeled sex before marriage as a sinful and shameful act and made it hard for them to come to us honestly. We, as parents, need to spend time explaining why God tells us to wait and establishing and open and safe place for our children to come to for direction and advise. Only a firm foundation of truth and love can truly give them the resolve to abstain. If they stumble and it results in a pregnancy the lines of safe and open communication have already been established and will give them greater confidence to come to us for guidance.
We need our churches to be acting out the greatest commandment, LOVE! We, as the body of Christ, need to stop with judging the repentant. We need to stop with the gossip and the backstabbing. We need to rise to new levels of compassion! It is the purpose of the church to draw the sinner and saint alike into the house of God. Of course, we don't condone sin, and if a brother or sister refuses to turn from their sin we have clear direction on that also.
Matthew 18:15
If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
First instruction is to quietly confront them. The idea is NOT to make a spectacle of them. Only if they refuse to turn from the sin do you involve the whole church.
Matthew 18:16-17
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
When dealing with women facing a crisis pregnancy, the fear of being rejected by their church family alone could cause them to abort! We have to be a safe haven, the place to come as you are and let God do his work.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Our words matter. When we project our personal feelings towards specific sin we ostracize those who may be recovering from those sins. We hate all sin, of course! We don't accept sin, but we are all sinners. Jesus didn't walk in a way that made sinners afraid of to come to him, in fact they ran to him! We need to extend the mercy that has been extended to us. When we embrace a sinner and focus only on their restoration to redemption we are furthering God's kingdom. Let us not be like the world, let us not reject people in their failures, let us not be a closed door to those who stumble. Let us be a place where sinners and the broken hearted run to knowing they will be accepted and given guidance to the correct path.
The church has the power to end abortion. We need to answer the call. We need to be the safe haven offering love, real solutions and walking in unity with these pregnant mothers. Let us end the silence and begin to show the world that we truly are the body of Christ!
We, as the body of Christ, need to be careful not to let these women down. Sometimes we have rejected people who need to be embraced. Because the church is made up of imperfect people, sometimes we do not live up to the expectations that are put on us, to be like Christ. It grieves my heart that one in five women who are having abortions are born again believers. You would not think this to be the case but it is, and its very sad. Our system is broken, our women are rejected, and fear wins the war. Every church in the world should be a crisis pregnancy center, that should be the first place a woman runs when she finds herself faced with a crisis pregnancy. Many churches avoid these hot topic subjects for fear of offending their congregation, but what really happens is that it leaves no place for the women to turn. How are we supposed to help our sisters if they are too scared of judgment to walk through the doors and seek counsel....
In most cases crisis pregnancies, outside of marriage, result from two acts; pre-marital sex or adultery. As Christians we know that both of these acts are sinful and we are meant to reject them. The problem is that sometimes we have made it very hard for those who have stumbled in these sins to come back to church to seek redemption. Over the years I have listened to amazing pastors so harshly address specific sins, especially adultery, that I cringed at the thought of someone who was struggling to return to the Lord after stumbling in this area. I could imagine that they would struggle to feel comfortable seeking counsel from that pastor. The fear of judgement from the body of Christ alone can be enough to drive a woman to abortion just to keep her mistake unknown. How about murder? It is easy to forget that the taking of life is something that a post abortion woman faces on her conscience daily, and our harsh words do not give her a place of safety to walk into when she is reaching for God. Our words matter, and it is important to direct the church not to sin, but we need to remember that even good people can fall off the path of righteousness and they deserve to be restored gently and without judgement, if they are returning with a repentant heart. We have forgotten that our place is to love the sinner, for the church to be a safe place to bring your failures and shame to. The non believers are watching how we handle the restoration of the body of Christ, if we love like Jesus or condemn. Of course we must correct those who are on the path to destruction, but the purpose of that correction is to restore them to the body of Christ, not shame them from it.
Galatians 6:1a
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person onto the right path.
God views all sin the same, he does not select a few and hate them more. When people in the body of Christ emphasize certain sins being less acceptable than others they alienate anyone who may be trying to turn their lives around from the snare of those sins. The church needs to be an open door for people who have lost their way to seek help and counsel without fear of rejection or judgement. Sin starts in the mind, so we are wise to remember that although some may have never committed any "serious" sins in the physical sense, we still can be guilty of sinning in our hearts.
Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
We need to take a note from Jesus on how to approach the repentant. Again, I am not speaking of those who are willfully and fully engaged in sin of their choosing. They need to be rebuked and redirected so that they can turn from their sin. I am talking about those with truly repentant hearts who have made the decision to turn from sin and seek a fresh start under the forgiveness and mercy freely given by Christ.
John 8:10-11
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Jesus didn't require the woman to suffer further shame or public display. He accepted her repentant heart and gave her clear instructions to leave the life of sin behind! As a pro-life missionary it is important for me to extend the same mercy that God would extend to those in crisis pregnancy born from a sinful act. It is my place to be gentle and to correct their direction if need be, but to show them Christs redemptive mercy and love. We are all sinners and we have all stumbled, not one of us is perfect, the forgiveness of our sins comes from the same place.
I would guess that 90% of Christians have past sin and shame that they don't want the world to know every little detail of. Can you imagine if a pastor designated a church service where everyone was required to list each and every sin and read it out loud before our brothers and sisters in Christ. I would guess that very few people would show up that day! Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could confess our every sin and failure to each other without fear of judgement!
Few sins are worn so visibly then sexual sin that results in an unplanned pregnancy. These women don't need to be reminded by us that they messed up! What they need is to be loved and corrected gently so that they can get back on the right path. They need to feel safe to walk through the doors of our churches and be free to say "I messed up, can you help me?" We need to do better to be a safe, loving place for them to do so. A life created out of premarital sex or adultery is no less precious than a planned child, in fact God planned each and every one of us! If we want to protect women and children from the threat of abortion we need to start by helping the women in our churches feel safe enough to choose life!
We also spend so much time telling our children not to have sex before marriage without really explaining to them why God says to wait. It isn't any wonder that they then seek a secret abortion instead of facing us and disappointing us. These young people are not given the firm foundation and understanding of the truth behind abstinence to cause them to adhere to it. We have simple labeled sex before marriage as a sinful and shameful act and made it hard for them to come to us honestly. We, as parents, need to spend time explaining why God tells us to wait and establishing and open and safe place for our children to come to for direction and advise. Only a firm foundation of truth and love can truly give them the resolve to abstain. If they stumble and it results in a pregnancy the lines of safe and open communication have already been established and will give them greater confidence to come to us for guidance.
We need our churches to be acting out the greatest commandment, LOVE! We, as the body of Christ, need to stop with judging the repentant. We need to stop with the gossip and the backstabbing. We need to rise to new levels of compassion! It is the purpose of the church to draw the sinner and saint alike into the house of God. Of course, we don't condone sin, and if a brother or sister refuses to turn from their sin we have clear direction on that also.
Matthew 18:15
If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
First instruction is to quietly confront them. The idea is NOT to make a spectacle of them. Only if they refuse to turn from the sin do you involve the whole church.
Matthew 18:16-17
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
When dealing with women facing a crisis pregnancy, the fear of being rejected by their church family alone could cause them to abort! We have to be a safe haven, the place to come as you are and let God do his work.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Our words matter. When we project our personal feelings towards specific sin we ostracize those who may be recovering from those sins. We hate all sin, of course! We don't accept sin, but we are all sinners. Jesus didn't walk in a way that made sinners afraid of to come to him, in fact they ran to him! We need to extend the mercy that has been extended to us. When we embrace a sinner and focus only on their restoration to redemption we are furthering God's kingdom. Let us not be like the world, let us not reject people in their failures, let us not be a closed door to those who stumble. Let us be a place where sinners and the broken hearted run to knowing they will be accepted and given guidance to the correct path.
The church has the power to end abortion. We need to answer the call. We need to be the safe haven offering love, real solutions and walking in unity with these pregnant mothers. Let us end the silence and begin to show the world that we truly are the body of Christ!
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