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Abortion, pride, and different ministries

By Scott Tibbs, April 5, 2016

If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. -- 1 Corinthians 12:17-18

We must be careful to guard against the idolatry of pride as we admonish our fellow Believers to be more faithful in their opposition to the horror of abortion. As Pastor Tim Bayly warns us, those who take a condescending attitude toward other Believers regarding anti-abortion activism "tell us nothing about their commitment to the Gospel or to ending abortion, but everything about their pride."

Back in February I wrote an article about why people should be involved in pro-life activism. I am absolutely convinced that one of the great failures of the church today and over the last forty years is passivity while over a million babies are murdered every year. If Christians in America were genuinely committed to ending abortion, it would end. If Christians in Monroe County were genuinely committed to ending abortion, we would not have seen 811 babies murdered by abortion in 2012 or 753 babies murdered by abortion in 2013.

But we must also not forget that not everyone is called to anti-abortion activism. We must remember that we are all members of the body of Christ. Some of us are called to oppose the bloodshed of innocent unborn babies. Some are called to minister to victims of physical or sexual abuse. Some are called to minister to young men addicted to pornography. Some are called to feed, clothe and provide shelter (and the Gospel) to the homeless. Some are called to travel to Africa or Eastern Europe to bring the Gospel there. Just because we are the right foot does not mean that the left thumb, the heart or the nose is not valuable.

Most importantly, we absolutely must not puff up our chests and feel superior to other Believers because we are on the front lines trying to defend the little ones murdered by abortion, while others are doing something else. When we do that (and I have been guilty of this many times) we are stealing the glory that rightly belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ and placing that glory on ourselves. We have made our works into a "god" instead of serving the God of the universe.

We should call out the church - and specifically ministers of the Word and Sacrament - for not being faithful in opposing the bloodshed in our streets. But we should do so while understanding that we are all wretched sinners pulled up out of the mud by a gracious and merciful God who has every right to send us straight to eternal damnation in Hell fire for our sins against Him. Thank God that He sent His son to take the punishment we deserved.