Article 1 of 4 in the "Culture Changing Church" Category

Why haven’t we changed our culture on abortion?  If the church has been known for anything, historically, it’s that wherever we’ve spread, we’ve always been a culture changing force.

Over the last 50 years, at least 60 million lives have been lost to abortion. Today we’re still averaging somewhere between 750,000 to 900,000 per year. To help you grasp the enormity of that annual loss, close your eyes for a moment and imagine you’re sitting in a college football stadium filled to capacity. They average about 85,000 seats. As you look around, lower and upper deck, imagine every single seat is representative of a child that’s been aborted. Now, imagine 9 more stadiums filled the same way. That’s what we’re still dealing with. It’s easily the greatest human rights crisis the world has ever known and we’re barely making a dent.¹

Is the Dobbs decision the win we think it is?

Now we may be tempted to think the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs, that overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the issue back to the states, means we’ve won. It certainly is at least a temporary victory for the sanctity of life but is it really a culture changer? Most would agree, that would mean making abortion not just illegal but unthinkable but, in a recent Gallup poll, 52% of Americans believe abortion to be “morally acceptable” and 67% say it should even be legal in first three months of pregnancy.² These sentiments were further made known during this month’s mid-term elections where every ballot that included a pro-CHOICE referendum succeeded whereas every pro-LIFE referendum failed. This even includes traditional Red/Republican leaning states such as Kentucky and Montana.³ Furthermore, Florida, which is completely in Republican control, only has a 15 week abortion ban which will still allow for 90% of their abortions to occur. So regardless of the Dobbs victory, with polls, politics and voting trends like these and for the common sense reasoning we’ll state in our next article, it’s hard to believe any significant, state level, pro-life legislation will remain in place for long.

Maybe we’ve been missing something?

So I ask again, why haven’t we changed our culture on abortion? Maybe we’ve been missing something? Could it be that passing abortion restrictive legislation, launching thousands of pro-life clinics and related non-profits, as important as they’ve been, stopped short of what God wanted from us or for these moms? Maybe we've failed to persuade a majority of the moms having abortions, most of whom are living at or below the poverty line (~500,000)⁴ and are stuck in cyclical, generational patterns of destruction, because our offers of bottles, blankets, buggies and brochures that list numerous helpful non-profits, can’t deliver what they long for…what they were made for.

What God’s people must understand is that He never intended for us to save the life of a child only to then allow mother and child to struggle on their own, out there in non-profit world because for Him, it’s not just about life, it’s about the abundant life. It’s why He not only pursues and redeems, it’s why He also restores. (Luke 15) That’s why, what does work, what we’ve seen persuade desperate moms time and again is when we intentionally and effectively pursue and connect them to the one entity God designed to bring about that restoration…the local church. The local church, scattered and gathered, operating out of an eternal perspective, acting as the hands and feet of Jesus, loving, serving and sacrificing, has always been the strategy and hope of the world. 

But for too long now we’ve acted as if our clinics and non-profits “got this,” “mission accomplished” and have forgotten the vital role a long-term, small, yet close community of authentic, humble, loving, forgiving Christ-followers, pledging to be there for them not just for nine months but a lifetime, plays in persuading people in need.  Maybe we’ve never experienced this personally or perhaps we’ve forgotten how powerful it was for us or someone else, as an outsider, to witness smaller groups of people meeting regularly, at least initially, outside of a church context. Maybe it was in high school youth group that met at school or a bible study you were invited to at someone's apartment. Maybe it was an invitation to share a meal with a group of Christians out and about on the town or in someone's home.  Yes, we’re emphasizing “homes,” or at least smaller, more intimate contexts outside of our church buildings because there are vital things present in those contexts that our Sunday morning services/classes can’t facilitate, weren't designed for and/or simply don’t translate to outsiders.  However, what does translate, what’s so compelling and life changing is when "outsiders" witness individuals living transparently, with roof off and walls down, meeting needs, confessing their sins, experiencing and extending grace, truth and love over time.  To witness people being prayed for, encouraged and constantly reminded of the greater story God has written for their lives.  Having witnessed it, it's not much of a leap for them to think, "I too could be shepherded toward the things I long for such as dignity, purpose and righteousness, to have my sense of belonging restored, ultimately, to experience what I was made for," which is ultimately the deep fellowship of our Triune God.  This is the kind of community He’s always used to help usher in the renewal and restoration that speaks to all our hearts.  It’s THE game changer…the new life in a new kingdom…the gospel.  Is there any doubt that this is the will of our Father?  If so, shouldn’t we evaluate all our past and current strategies by whether or not these families end up in the long-term, caring community He desires for them?  If they’re not responding, if it’s not appealing, it makes one wonder what misguided methods or redacted version of the gospel we’re proclaiming and practicing.  It’s high time we speak truth in love to one another.  There’s so much at stake.

The return to a culture changing force

This blog is the first in a series of four that will explore how our churches, clinics and non-profits, acting in concert with one another, can complete the circle of care God always wanted from us.  The next article will speak specifically to church leaders asking them to consider some changes that would build accessible bridges to life-giving communities.  These are practices that would help change our reputation from “only caring that the child is born and then leaving them to struggle on their own” to a reputation of “we will be there for you in a significant way, not just for nine months but a lifetime.”  If we do this, then and only then will we return to the relevant, influential culture changing force we once were.  At the very least, it will give us steps to take to stop enabling shortsighted, fearmongering institutions from pushing broken strategies and agendas that only perpetuate lies about Christ and the church He died for. 

Finally, for those of us that weren’t compelled by the statistics shared above and think the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs "won the war so why change?", our next article will also explain how only solving the legislative side of the multi-sided abortion Rubik’s Cube, automatically creates greater chaos and crises on the others.  If those sides are left unaddressed, if we don’t change our tactics, offering comprehensive, gospel-centric solutions, the end result, ironically, could end in even greater loss of life and alter “life” as we currently know it.  In other words, brothers, sisters, this problem only gets worse until we respond in the manner God always desired from us. JOIN US. Only together can we complete the circle of care He wants from us and return His bride to the culture changing force she once was.

1.  Some statistics accumulated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show the average number of abortions annually has steadily decreased since 2010-2018 (however, increasing again in 2019) but as they rely on abortion providers to voluntarily share this information, it should be considered unreliable at best. Additionally, with the introduction of medically induced abortions (Sept. 2000), abortions carried out through a simple series of prescription drugs (Mifepristone/RU-486), those have increased 10% annually every year since and with the medical/pharmaceutical community’s inability to regulate and accumulate accurate statistics on drug induced abortions, the numbers of abortions occurring today are believed to remain around 750,000-900,000 annually.
2. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx
3. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/abortion-2022-election-results-ballot-initiatives-states-voting/
4. https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states#