Complacent Bystanders
There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood…..Proverbs 6:15-16 (emphasis mine)
Studies show that the more people that are around to witness a crime, the less likely it is that someone will come to the aide of the victim. (Comfortable Bystanders)
Because of a discussion about that phenomenon in our country someone shared an article written by Dr. Gary North in 1994[1]. In it he is addressing Paul Hill, a man who killed an abortion doctor. In the midst of his reasons why we should not take that kind of justice on abortionists into our own hands he said this:
“This is our problem. It is a political problem resting on a specific moral foundation: humanism. The problem is judicial. It is corporate. And finally, when the physicians are driven out of business by mass produced abortifacient, pro-lifers are going to face a new reality. They are going to realize that it is not abortion as such that is the problem. It is the problem of a society that has legalized abortion.”
“An anti-abortion protester today may save a few lives on a particular day. There may be a protest that saves a couple lives, but there is still going to be a million and a half that are not saved this year. There will be a million and a half who are going to die, whether or not you protest. The protests are symbolic. The protests are focusing on the evil of the act. But if they are to be life-saving, the protests must be used to call the whole society to its moral senses. The primary problem is the whole society, not the abortionist around the corner. This is a symbolic war which must be fought politically.”
I am not exactly sure how to fight this war politically. But Dr. North is certainly right that politics is the next step.
It seems that the first politics that have to be examined are those within the church. I have been a Christian for over 20 years and it is only in the last 4 or 5 that I have begun to hear enough about abortion to understand the evil that it has brought into our nation – how our land has been polluted with blood and how God sees land that is polluted with innocent blood (Numbers 35:33). The politics of our churches is such that most don’t face that reality head on.
Through this process Christians (including me) have been pretty silent. We have gone to the fundraising banquets for pregnancy centers. We give money to help the woman who wants to keep her baby. We even throw baby showers for women in need.
But, we are effectively silent on the issue when we vote for the “Pro-choice” politician who believes that the Supreme Court is the highest form of authority we have to obey. We are equally silent as we vote for “Pro-life” politicians who – if we take an honest look –have done absolutely nothing with regard to stopping the killing of babies in the womb.
Babies can now be killed in buildings with better entrances and exits, wider hallways, and more comfortable seating. We have limited the time for an abortion in some cases. But, all of those “pro-life” political solutions end with “then you can kill the baby.”
As a church, God’s people, will we stand up and speak to (and about) our politicians? Are we willing to stand firm for God’s Word and say that women who are abort are killing a baby?
Millions of Christians have been “Complacent Bystanders” as our nation killed over 60 million children. They certainly qualify before God as “innocent blood.” It is an abomination to Him.
[1] http://www.reformed.org/social/index.html