Headlines this week were brimming with news stories and reactions to the proposed Republican platform. As the leader of Lifeline Children’s Services, a Gospel-focused pro-life organization, I was discouraged by the absence of a truly pro-life plank, the lack-luster stances, and the methodology by which it was formed. But my most substantial question was this:
Why are we as Christians surprised?
Our efforts have never been about shaping a political party’s stance on abortion. Instead, our efforts have always been about protecting every single life as a person who bears God’s image.
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We may lament that this news feels like a step backwards, because in some ways it is, but we must quickly remember, Christ told us things like this would happen. Institutions made by our hands will eventually disappoint us. Instead of putting our faith in things we build, Jesus implored us to place our allegiance in nothing other than Him.
We must remember that the pro-life movement isn’t a political cause. It is a moral response to the God-ordained sanctity of human life. This truth most fundamentally must shape our response to the news out of the RNC.
If you want your pro-life efforts to make the most impact without ceding ground, don’t look solely to politics for your pro-life action. Instead, find a like-minded church or organization rooted in the Gospel and get to work helping vulnerable children and families. We as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must begin to show the world our pro-life values even as we pray and work toward making abortion unthinkable.
Secular institutions are going to act like secular institutions. By their nature, political and cultural organizations will always seek to advance their own power and influence, not God’s.
Candidates, parties, and platforms will come and go. God’s truth will never change, and Jesus’ Church will prevail.
Our aim is that one day no children will be aborted. Christians can disagree about the best way to reach that goal, but we must agree — it will only be accomplished by God’s hand even as He works through the action of His people.
God explained this principle through the prophet Zechariah to Zerubbabel as God’s people sought to rebuild the Temple amidst great political and cultural opposition. He proclaimed, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts.”
This wasn’t God’s way of telling these men to sit back and do nothing. They were to move forward with the practical work before them brick by brick, giving God glory for every victory along the way. But, He was reminding them no victory would be achieved by their individual or collective efforts. God is responsible for the victory. I think we need to be reminded of that today.
One day, when the United States becomes a haven for the unborn, it won’t be because of a party platform or any legal ruling. It will be because God Himself sent a revival through the land softening hearts to the Truth of the Gospel and truly engaging His body, the Church. How I long for this day. Let us pray and work to that end!
Herbie Newell is the President of Lifeline Children’s Services, the largest Evangelical Christian adoption agency in the United States. The organization serves vulnerable children and families through private domestic and international adoption, family restoration, and pregnancy counseling. Herbie is also the author of Image Bearers: Shifting from Pro-Birth to Pro-Life.
