I plan to address this more fully in another post, but I'd like to apply an excerpt from Crazy Love to the error I find in a Christian accepting and even propagating this harmful belief.
"Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7
"When I am consumed by my problems--stressed out about my life, my family, and my job--I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have the "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.
Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.
Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace towards others, or our tight grip of control.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional."
Francis Chan, Crazy Love
As soon as I read this, I immediately thought of the pro-life with exceptions stance. So, here's my application of this excerpt.
When I am consumed by my problems--stressed out about my life, my family, and my feelings-- I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command not to murder. In other words, that I have the "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of the crimes committed against me and my feelings.
Exceptions for rape/incest imply that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.
Justifying the choice of abortion in cases of rape says that the circumstances and our feelings are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace towards the rape victim and the unborn child , and erases the value of life based on mode of conception.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin (murder) and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional."
God's view on the issue isn't murky. We weren't left not knowing how he feels about this. God directly commanded us not to murder. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we are told one of the things God hates is "hands that shed innocent blood". We are charged to "seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless" in Isaiah 1:17.
Does the fact that a child is conceived in rape/incest change the fact that it is a human being, an image-bearer of the Creator?
Is a child conceived in rape/incest inherently less innocent and warrant less protection by our efforts?
Does a child conceived in rape/incest deserve to be savagely murdered because of the sin of the father?
Turning a blind eye and making exceptions for rape and incest does no one any good. In promoting this philosophy, we are undermining not only our efforts but more importantly, the power of God.
Are we really so arrogant as to think that we know better than the Almighty? Do we really think that discomfort (because as agonizing as the trauma from rape is, it is still only an inconvenient discomfort) suddenly changes God's hatred of murder and the value of a life He created?
Are we so arrogant as to think that the great I AM is unable to heal a victim of rape and turn what the devil meant for evil into good?
Do we doubt that God hates the shed of innocent blood?
At it's core, the "exception abortion" belief of a Christian is a matter of the heart. While yes it is detrimental to our cause as a whole, it magnifies the beliefs of our hearts about who God is.
Do we really believe him when he says that he hates murder, that children are a blessing, and that he knew us before we were born? Or do we believe in his rules and believe him when he says murder is a sin, until and unless the life in question was produced by rape?
God has told us who he is and what he expects of us time and time again.
"You see and recognize what is right, but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don't really listen." Isaiah 42:20
I challenge you to evaluate, as fellow believers, God's word on the matter of abortion and to examine your hearts. God wasn't ambiguous about his feelings on the shedding of innocent blood. He made to exceptions.
