NOTICE: The following
article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to
violate their copyright. I will give some information on them.
PAGE TITLE: http://www.ligonier.org/
ARTICLE TITLE: The Voice of the
Church
DATE: April 1, 2013
AUTHOR: R.C Sproul
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Robert Charles Sproul (born February 13,
1939) is an American Calvinist theologian, author, and pastor. He is the
founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named after the Ligonier
Valley just outside of Pittsburgh, where the ministry started as a study center
for college and seminary students) and can be heard daily on the Renewing
Your Mind radio broadcast in the United States and internationally.
"Renewing Your Mind with Dr. R.C. Sproul" is also broadcast on Sirius
and XM satellite radio. In late July 2012, a new Christian internet radio
station called RefNet (Reformation Network) was also
announced by Ligonier Ministries in an effort to reach "as many people as
possible" where Internet access is available.
Ligonier Ministries hosts several theological
conferences each year, including the main conference held each year in Orlando,
FL, at which Sproul is one of the primary speakers.
Sproul was a passenger on the Amtrak train
that derailed in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck and often gives firsthand
accounts of the story.
When
Planned Parenthood adopted a strategy to win the debate on abortion and
establish the legal right for women to have abortions on demand, it asked a
strategic question: “From where will our strongest opposition come?” The organization
anticipated that opposition would come most fiercely from the Roman Catholic
Church. In order to offset the impact of the Roman community, Planned
Parenthood adopted a strategy to encourage Protestant churches to support a
woman’s right to abortion on demand. It encouraged the use of the mantras “A
woman’s right to choose” and “A woman’s right over her own body.” A further
part of the strategy was to use the slogan “prochoice” rather than
“pro-abortion.” In other words, the effort to legalize abortion on demand was
wrapped in the flag of personal liberty.
The
Planned Parenthood strategy was eminently successful. For the most part, the
mainline liberal churches backed the feminist crusade in favor of “choice.”
What was most distressing was the silence of evangelical churches, churches
committed to the authority of the Bible and the classical Christian faith. It
took many years for the evangelical church to come to a consensus on the evil
of abortion but, more tragically, many evangelical churches still refuse to
speak out against the destruction of babies made in the image of God.
Several
years ago, I produced a series of video lectures, out of which emerged my book
on abortion. We made an effort to get these educational materials to
evangelical churches, to help them instruct their members concerning this
profoundly serious ethical issue. I was saddened to receive the same response
over and over again. Innumerable evangelical pastors told me they could not use
our materials in their churches because the issue of abortion is so
controversial. If they took a stand against abortion on demand, they said, they
would divide their churches. What? Divide these churches? What could be a
greater evil than such a division? The answer is this: Remaining silent on the
most serious ethical issue that the United States has ever faced.
If
the slaughter of millions of unborn babies is to stop, the church must once
again become the church. Those who hide behind the idea that the church should
never speak to political issues have missed the scriptural accounts of what we
would call prophetic
criticism. It may have been politically incorrect for Nathan to
confront David over his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah (2
Sam. 12:1–15a). It may have been politically incorrect for Elijah to
confront Ahab for his sinful confiscation of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21). It
may have been politically incorrect for John the Baptist to challenge Herod the
Tetrarch’s illicit marriage (Matt. 14). In these and other examples from sacred
Scripture, we see representatives of the church not trying to become the state
but offering prophetic criticism to the state—despite the potential
consequences. The church is not the state, but it is the conscience of the
state, and it is a conscience that cannot afford to become seared
and silent.
The
state is an instrument ordained by God. It is also governed by God. The church
does not need to be the state, but it must remind the state of its God-given
duty. The principal reason for the existence of any government is to maintain,
sustain, and protect the sanctity of human life. When the state fails to do
that, it has become demonized. And it is the sacred duty of the church and of
every Christian to voice opposition to it.
The
evangelical church’s chief strategies to end abortion have been to put pressure
on abortion clinics and on elected officials. There is nothing wrong with these
strategies; however, one strategy that has not been used or adopted widely is
that of protesting those churches that support the ghastly murder of unborn
babies. It is time for Christians to give prophetic criticism to the church,
specifically to those churches that support abortion on demand or remain silent
on this major issue.
In
my own city, one of the largest evangelical churches has publicly welcomed the
woman in America who is the most visible and vocal supporter of partial-birth
abortions. That’s a scandal to the Christian community. It’s a scandal to the
cause of Jesus Christ. That church needs to be called to account.
It
is time for churches that see the evil of abortion to stand up and be
counted—no matter the risk or the cost. When the church is silent in the midst
of a holocaust, she ceases to be a real church. Wherever human dignity is under
attack, it is the duty of the church and of the Christian to rise up in protest
against it. This is not a political matter, and neither is it a temporary
matter. It is not a matter over which Christians may disagree. It is a matter
of life and death, the results of which will count forever.
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