Hate This Child

Hate this child, my sister said:

He’s painful, scary, selfish and he wets the bed.

Hate this child, all my brothers say:

He’s loud and he’s expensive and he’s in our way!

Prevent this child

Kill this child

Ignore this child

Hate this child.

Love this child,

"Eyes of Wonder," 2009, Josiah Meyer

Said my Father true

His whiny needy selfish

Is my gift to you.

Love this child

Said His Son above

And in dying, living, laughing

I will teach you love.

Receive this child

Hold this child

Adopt this child

Love this child.

 

My Position On Abortion

As a cool, emergent type, abortion has been one of those topics which I have conveniently pushed to the periphery of my psyche. Yes, some unborn children die. Yes, this is technically wrong. No, I never really bought into the whole “only tissue until born” mythology of the pro-choice camp. But, I argued, the Evangelicals seem to have only two hobby-horses which they ride over and over – abortion and homosexuality. (Note: this line I learned from Drew Marshall, who modified it from Tony Campolo’s “Letters to a Young Evangelical”) Enough, enough already – others are covering plenty of bandwidth with this topic. Conveniently, I just ignored the issue.

This needs to end. I am only a humble blogger: I am not sure how much I can realistically do. However, I will do what I can: I am stating publicly that my stance on abortion is that abortion of an unborn child is murder. It is not for a woman to decide whether her unborn child lives or dies anymore than it is her choice whether her birthed child lives or dies.

Are there extenuating circumstances, loop-holes, exceptions? Perhaps there are a tiny percentage – just as there are a tiny percentage of cases where one adult human’s life is weighed against another. However, the number of cases that fall into this category is so minuscule, that Mark Driscoll (in his excellent sermon on this topic) is wise to completely side-step the fine print and get at the heart of the issue. In virtually all cases, abortion is a murder of convenience.

As I say this, I am having a similar sort of feeling that I had when I turned to really face the fact that the Bible spoke about hell. If hell is real, the horror and finality of that place must affect so much of what we do here and now. There is no excuse for wimpy evangelism, for indifference towards missions, for pulpits who go years and decades without even touching the subject. In a similar way – if abortion is really murder, there is no excuse for being silent, being passive, being defeatist.

The way I see it is this: if I was alive in Nazi Germany, my life likely would not have ended the Holocaust. However, I would hope that I would protest loudly enough, and fight vigorously enough against it that at least my life would vindicate me of corporate culpability in that great massacre. Would this have been hard? Likely it would have been. My grand-father risked life and limb to smuggle Jews out of Holland. I bear him undying gratitude, for a legacy which is untarnished by that great sin.

By definition, to remaining silent and passive when one has the ability to stop – or at least to attempt to stop – a crime is to be complicit with that crime.

In some small way, I hope that this post will extricate me from the great sin which Canada is committing against her unborn young.

My stance is this: I am against the pro-choice movement, and against abortion.

Since life is sacred, and abortion is murder.

I am proud to be a Canadian, but ashamed of this part of our legacy. To whatever extent I can, I will try to stand against it, and uphold the dignity of life.

 

A Decision to Remain Undecided

I have long loved the story related in Matt. 21. The Pharisees come to Jesus, to try to trap Him by asking where His authority came from. Rather than responding, he asks them a “filter-question.” The question had nothing at all to do with the topic at hand: however, Jesus knew how to cut through to the real heart of the issue. His method was to ask them to state their position on a current, relevant issue: “Was John from God or from men?” This question put them between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they had their reputations and institutions to defend – on the other, they had the fear of public outcry. One notices that the question of “truth” did not factor into their discussions at all. Unwilling to cause scandal or offense, and apparently unconcerned with truth, they choose perpetual indecision: “we do not know, teacher.” In response, Jesus denied to answer their question. It is those who worship God in “spirit and in truth” whom the Father seeks (John 4:24): the double-minded man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8).

This question applies to the emergent doctrine of “perpetual indecision.” According to some, to state that one knows anything with absolute certainty is pure arrogance. As I heard one person say, “Once you come to a conclusion, the emergent conversation is over.” Instead, the good “emerger” is to remain in a perpetual stasis of indecision on touchy issues.

A famous case of this is Brian Maclaren, who still (as far as I know) has not declared his position on homosexuality.

There are many valid reasons for a Christian to be undecided. A topic may be beyond their expertise (I am decidedly undecided about the science of creation, since I am not a scientist), or Scriptures may be silent or intentionally vague about a topic (e.g. the “end times”), or a topic may be simply irrelevant (seriously – who CARES whether the human is body/soul or body/soul/spirit?!).

I think it goes without saying that none of these caveats apply to the topics of homosexuality, hell, or abortion, to name a few.

These topics are pressingly relevant, spoken of clearly in Scriptures, and  within the scope of every Christian to make an informed decision.

This is yet another water-shed moment for the emergent community. Yes, mystery, toleration and questioning can be good things. But what will one do when one finally emerges out of the mists of confusion, to be presented with the cold, hard words of Scriptures? Will they bow in humble submission to the lordship of Christ, or will they intentionally turn their backs on certainty, to stumble backwards into a perpetual wandering in the wastelands of indecision?

If they chose this latter road, they will find a difference. Indecision as a pathway to decision is a road blessed by God: indecision as a rejection of the lordship of Jesus is a sin. Until this rebellion is repented of, I believe they will feel God’s disapproval in place of his approval, God’s judgment in place of His blessing, God’s God’s silence in place of His voice, as their intentional indecision leads them further and further abroad from His revealed presence.