To say we live in polarizing times is an understatement. As Christians, we should seek unity with each other and endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3, NKJV).
We should demonstrate to the world God’s love and grace through our love and unity with each other. Certainly, when we love others well and unite in our common bond of Christ, we live from the abundant life Jesus promised.
Currently, the church is divided—much like our nation. Do I lack faith, hope and love for the church? No. I am being painfully honest about our current condition. Just spend a little time on social media looking at your “friends'” posts, comments, likes and dislikes and I think you might agree.
People I have known for years are at odds with each other over politics and issues affecting our nation. Churches have widely differing views on COVID-19, Black Lives Matter (BLM), systemic racism, immigration, abortion, human trafficking, socialism, politics and so on.
While we may strive to love each other and walk in unity, it can be difficult when faced with such divisive issues. Our perspective of truth is often relative to our race, cultural context, socio-economic situation, political and religious views.
However, the Bible is full of truths, precepts, guidance and commands. Jesus is perfect truth, and He came to fulfill the law in grace and truth.
While the issues facing the church and nation are many, I believe there is one issue that is deeper and more serious than other issues we are facing. While many are focused on the suffering of COVID-19, police brutality and racial justice, there is another evil that is largely ignored. In fact, this evil is so sinister and deceptive, I believe it may be the cause of much of the suffering in our nation. That issue is abortion.
The Ten Commandments Are Simple and Clear
We are to love God solely and have no other idols or objects of affection before Yahweh. We are to love and honor our parents, commanded not to steal, covet, commit adultery or murder. Yet, in America, over the last few years, we average nearly 600,000 abortions (murders) yearly. Since the 1973 passing of Roe vs. Wade in the Supreme Court, data shows more than 50 million abortions were performed between 1973 and 2011.
Some estimate the real number of abortions are closer to 70 million babies murdered since 1973 to present. These numbers indicate genocide by any standard.
Compare the above abortion deaths with 170,000 deaths in the USA caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or the killing of 13 unarmed Black men by police in 2019. For sure, the pandemic has caused widespread suffering, beyond the mortality rate. We mourn every lost family and friend in our nation.
And to be clear, every death caused by police brutality or negligence is horrific, and legitimate police reforms are needed. However, consider that 28% of all Black pregnancies end in induced abortion and abortion is the number one killer of Black lives in America. The disproportionate societal and church response towards COVID and police brutality versus abortion is shocking—but not entirely surprising. Deception is very deceiving
Mother Theresa made this statement during the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast: “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”
Roots of Abortion
Margaret Sanger was a forerunner of birth control and abortion in our nation, using my city of Tucson as a home base for her Planned Parenthood Operations. To be clear, Sanger was not only a eugenist but a racist, consider her words from “Birth Control and Racial Betterment” (1919):
“Before eugenicists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for birth control. Like the advocates of birth control, the eugenicists, for instance, are seeking to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit. Both are seeking a single end but they lay emphasis upon different methods.”
Sanger would later state, in “The Pivot of Civilization” (1922): “We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.” She would also state in “A Plan for Peace” (1932): The government should “give certain dysgenic groups in our population their choice of segregation or sterilization.” The following statement encapsulates her beliefs, from “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda” (1921): “Today eugenics is suggested by the most diverse minds as the most adequate and thorough avenue in the solution of racial, political and social problems.”
Sanger’s theories were racist and genocidal. She is the “mother” of Planned Parenthood and abortion in our nation. Oddly enough, both Hillary Clinton in 2009 and Nancy Pelosi in 2014 have been recipients of the Margaret Sanger Award, an award given by Planned Parenthood to those who espouse their beliefs and practice.
People of color, especially in the African American community, for a century have been targeted by eugenicists and the elite for population control through birth control and abortion. Considering the truth of abortion, where is the outcry from the BLM movement, from the church and social justice advocates? Black lives matter, including those in the womb!
During the 1977 March for Life, the Rev. Jessie Jackson, Black Baptist pastor and civil rights leader, asked this important question of our nation, “What happens … to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience?”
We have reached this moment in our nation—without a pang of conscience—regarding abortion. Third-trimester, including at birth abortion, is now acceptable by many on the Left. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his vice-presidential pick Kamala Harris, along with the majority on the Left, want to repeal the 1976 Hyde amendment that restricts federal funding of abortions and remove gestational term limits for when a baby can be aborted.
Biden moved further left on this issue after pressure in his party. He is now the most radical presidential candidate ever on the issue of abortion, and other issues as well. He and others in the Democratic party advocate third trimester abortions on demand—this is barbaric and outright murderous. Where is the pang of conscious with these leaders?
Spiritually, we have reached a fragile place in our nation. I shared during an online forum recently with other church leaders that I believe the issue of abortion, and specifically the repeal of the Hyde Amendment and what that would entail, has become a “demarcation line” for us, or a “point of no return” as a nation.
Yet many in the church seem oblivious to the evil of abortion. Many treat it has simply pro-choice versus pro-life, a Left versus Right political issue. But it is murder—plain and simple. Life begins at conception; the Bible is clear on this issue (see Ps. 139:13-16; Jer. 1:5). The genocide that has occurred cannot be ignored, the blood of the aborted cries out no different than Abel’s blood, George Floyd’s blood, or any other victims’ blood. The blood is on our hands as a nation, and as a church, for empowering leaders to get elected who advocate such evil.
While we need to pursue unity and love each other in the body of Christ, we have compromised on the issue of abortion to preserve “unity” while ignoring the evil. While we want to leave politics out of the church, the issue of abortion forces the church to confront this evil—no different than racism or slavery in previous generations in our nation (which is not to minimize or ignore human trafficking and slavery that still occurs globally today).
I have spoken to many pastors and Christians who vote for candidates who support abortion and they are indifferent on the matter, citing other social justice issues as more important and thereby justifying their vote and agreement with the murderous practice of abortion and candidates who support this. Church, this issue has allowed lawlessness and death to reign over our nation.
This election is pivotal. It is a values election. We must vote for candidates who are pro-life and continue to stand against the evil of abortion in our land.
After I shared my concerns about abortion with the other pastors last Thursday, I had a dream that night. In the dream, I saw a beautiful field, green grass and flowers everywhere. However, in the center of the field, and as far as I could see in the distance, sat little skulls—grey, eerie, human skulls. It was disturbing. In the center of the skulls, was a little girl, maybe age seven, placing flowers on all the skulls. That was my dream. When I woke up Friday, I was gripped by the dream. The Lord prompted me to do a word study on Molech (Moloch). {eoa}
For the rest of this story, tune in to charismmag.com Friday.
Dr. Bob Sawvelle is the founding and senior leader of Passion Church in Tucson, Arizona. Passion Church is a vibrant, kingdom-minded church in the heart of Tucson that values God’s love and presence. Bob is an author, and his books Receive Your Miracle Now, Fulfill Your Dreams and Our Eyes Are On You can be found on his website bobsawvelle.com and on Amazon. He is a doctoral mentor at United Theological Seminary (UTS), an adjunct professor with Global Awakening Theological Seminary (GATS) and online course facilitator for Global Awakening’s Christian Prophetic Certification Program (CPCP). Sign up to receive his weekly blog article and podcast at bobsawvelle.com.
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