Warning: I will mention the names of some politicians – not to mention a hot-button political issue -- in this post.I don’t believe it is appropriate for me as pastor of a church to endorse candidates or promote political parties. I know some disagree with me on this. I believe, however, the gospel of Jesus – not the next election – should be my focus. I – and Covenant Community Church – desire to be part of God building up His people for an eternal kingdom, not a temporal one.
That doesn’t mean I don’t believe a pastor should address important issues that have political ramifications. I believe I should, and I have done so in the past from the pulpit and at this blog. My general motto is something like this: “Issues? Yes. Candidates? No.”
So I approach this post with that as background as I address an issue I believe needs addressing and will result in me commenting on some candidates – in fact, the two major candidates for the presidency.
No doubt everyone who is reading this post has heard or read the comments by U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin about rape. They came about two weeks ago in response to a question about abortion in instances of rape. Akin is a pro-life Christian, and I believe he was seeking to uphold the sanctity of life of the unborn child in his answer. His words, however, were insensitive and ill-chosen. Nearly universal condemnation greeted the way he responded regarding rape, and I believe it has been appropriate for pro-lifers and Christians to hold him accountable for his offensive remarks. He has since apologized more than once for the words he used in speaking of rape.
From my perspective, abortion rights advocates and their friends in politics and the media pounced on Akin’s comments not only to chastise his deeply regrettable remarks but to score points against his party, which is the only one of the two major parties that supports the protection of unborn children, and to gain some ground in the ongoing battle over abortion in this country.
My reason for posting on this topic is not to provide my opinion on the politics of the controversy or on whether Akin should surrender his place on the ballot to another candidate from his party.
Instead, I cry out for the human being whom too many are quickly willing to throw overboard for political gain. In so doing, I also am reaching out to another human being who already has been victimized.
The leaders of each party have not been helpful in this case.
Mitt Romney says he is pro-life, and I don’t write to castigate his declaration. He has exceptions, however, and this is one of them. His campaign quickly rushed to make it clear Romney and his running mate disagree with Akin and do support abortion in case of conception by rape. My guess is vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan had to bite his tongue – hard – at that.
President Obama, meanwhile, has never met an abortion he could not support. His advocacy for abortion rights – including campaigning in unprecedented fashion for re-election on that issue – is unparalleled in a U.S president. It should not be surprising, however. Pro-lifers, especially in Illinois, tried to warn Americans in 2008. As a member of that state’s Senate, Obama voted four times against a bill that would have protected unborn babies who survive abortions. Yes, some babies survive abortions, but many are taken to another room and left to die without medical or humane care. Congress passed the same proposal without opposition during that time period, but Obama could not bring himself to vote to protect the rights of a helpless human being outside the womb.
And that gets to the point of this post. The person who has been kicked to the curb, so to speak, in this controversy is the person conceived by an act of rape. If we, as pro-life Christians, say the means of conception determines the validity of the unborn child’s right to exist, we have severely undermined our beliefs.
The testimony of Scripture and science is that conception produces a new life, a genetically separate and unique human being. The message of the Bible is that this new person is made in the image of God. Justice calls for protection for all those made in the image of God – regardless of their location or their condition. As fellow image bearers of God, as believers in the full authority of Scripture and as those who are followers of Jesus, we must stand firm on this truth.
Rape should never be a part of the experience of any woman or girl. It is a vile sin against a human being. Experiencing such a violation has to be horribly frightening and humiliating. Dealing with it has to be incredibly painful and devastatingly difficult. I cannot imagine the trauma a victim of rape experiences.
To carry and give birth to a child conceived by such a violation – a violation the victim would like to erase from her memory – require a depth of courage and sacrifice most of us will never know. Yet, God grants such courage and sacrifice to women and girls who need them.
We do no rape victim any favors by telling her abortion is a part of the remedy. Instead, we set her up for more grief and suffering. We should not abandon her or her child to abortion but walk both of them through this dark, dark “valley of the shadow of death” to life.
We, as the church, have the message and the resources a victim of rape needs. Most importantly, we have the strong and mighty Savior – the Lord of life – whom she needs. She needs not only emotional healing but spiritual deliverance, ongoing grace and strength, and the love of God's people. She needs Jesus and His gospel. Whether a rape victim is a follower of Christ or not, that message in its fullness – that God the Son lived, died and was resurrected to make sinners saints and give glory to God -- is what she needs to hear and to apply to her own life.
How powerful is that gospel? It is powerful enough to make beautiful a life seemingly destroyed by the wickedness of one and to empower her to give life to another.
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