By now, we all know the terrible truths embedded in the first four videos from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Our stomachs turned inside out, and our outrage amplified. However, the story has gone mostly unnoticed by the major news networks, apart from Fox News. Not surprisingly, the majority of Americans remain mostly unaffected by the sobering truth that we as a people finance on a daily basis the methodical murder of babies and the sale of their body parts. Indeed, many of our fellow Americans remain persuaded that we Pro-Lifers who shout about these videos and the barbarity evidenced within them stand as outliers and extremists who exaggerate what surely cannot be happening.
But, it is happening.
Under the leadership of Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood murders 900 babies each and every day, and they show no signs of wanting to end their own barbarity, especially since they have now monetized their products. As pressure increases on the group, their supporters in the media, government and business now recognize that the organization must kill more than just babies to keep on killing babies; they now must silence all opposition.
It came as no surprise Friday night, therefore, that those on the demand side of the abortion industry found a judge who temporarily restrained CMP from releasing a video from a meeting that will (most likely) expose that Planned Parenthood provided intact babies to a customer. If shown, this video may be the evidence that finally awakens a silent number of Americans to see one or more evil aspects of this foul trade.
Or, the videos and the attempt to defund Planned Parenthood may be overwhelmed by another national story without eternal consequence. Would you have guessed a week ago that the death of a lion could so quickly catch the attention of the public as it did? Surely, the American people are not so easily misled. Sometimes, they are. Sometimes, even we are. Indeed, the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the national responses to the Cecil the Lion story alongside the Planned Parenthood videos left many of us wondering, “Where is the soul of America?”
These past weeks remind us that public opinion by itself is no basis for grounding one’s life, religion, philosophy, thoughts or morals. Everything in the public eye flips on a dime without consistency, logic or reason. It has no stable ground.
We have seen, to our own discomfort and agony, that many of our countrymen do not care. Some will never care. But, some will. We must not forget that the battle for hearts is a slow fight won ultimately by the collision of God’s Word and Spirit in the human heart. As such, we must not grow weary at our compatriots’ lack of pressing care for these babies, this story and the continuing crisis of abortion for at least two reasons: 1) we were once just as they are, being led by our own sin and 2) we know that God triumphs in the end in Christ.
The arm of the Lord is not too short to save. We must seek to make disciples and to love God and others, seeking His will in prayer, the Scriptures and amongst our local churches as we go out into the rest of the world. This simple paradigm marks how we must respond to such a broken world. God values these moms, dads, babies and even the abortionists. That’s right. We have a biblical obligation to love them as well. Even the worst of these is not too far from God’s grace.
If we stay silent, we also become complicit in this evil because we are not warning people of the coming Kingdom of God and the judgment for such sin. In fact, our silence adds to sin, death and suffering. On the other hand, if we proclaim mere judgment and do not offer the hope of life in Christ, we also become complicit in evil because we have only warned of sin and not told the whole story, the gospel hope for all involved. Both of these directions, the silent and the one-sided story, shepherd people away from Christ and His Kingdom.
We lament our fellow Americans’ souls, so we must walk in the ministry of reconciliation that God in Christ offers us. Indeed, our ministry to tell others God’s truth in love is the only ministry that remains for the care of our own souls. You see, we are among the ones at risk by this story. We are at risk of distraction and a fading concern, compassion and care. We are the ones who could ignore it while knowing so much of the truth. Haven’t we done so before?
And yet, we must be the ones to proclaim God’s Kingdom, His gospel in Christ. Only the church can define sin and point the way back to God in Christ. The only way that we can keep ourselves from following after the abortionists is to take up our own crosses, deny ourselves and follow Jesus unto death. That’s it. It’s an impossible task to complete alone. However, what is impossible with man is possible with God.
We have seen the terrible truths of Planned Parenthood in the past few weeks because God wants us to show others how He has changed us, is changing us and will perfectly change us in the end so that they too can be touched and changed by Him. Such a witness is where life exists for us and for them, no matter what they might say. We must not be silenced in the face of this great evil. We must roar as lions, but not as Cecil or Cecile roared. They sought to preserve themselves, but we must preserve others, even our enemies.
We must rest in the Lion of Judah by echoing His roar across the fruited plains: the Kingdom of God is coming. That is where we may and indeed will find the soul of America. It will be wanting, lost, confused and dying. However, we may also find amongst our nation, many souls turning to Christ. The call is upon us to amplify His roar. We have a God deserving of such and brothers and sisters who need our help to hear His voice.
