I Was Stunned When I Read This Statement from Someone Who Should Know Better
The recent Supreme Court ruling that reverses Roe v. Wade may end up being THE top story of 2022. It has unleashed from both sides a flood of emotion-laden tweets, blog posts, and articles.
Right after the decision was announced, I came across a column that left me speechless. The writer is a top official – the Associate General Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries – in a denomination I belonged to when I was in high school. Historically, this denomination has had less faith in the Bible’s authority than I have.
The column’s writer is a long-time abortion rights advocate and explains why she considers pro-life Christians hypocritical. Space does not allow me to discuss all her arguments, but I do have to comment on something she said that made my jaw drop:
The right to choose is part of our God-given inalienable rights. As a Christian, the creation story says it’s the right of every human being to have choice – that God gives us choice. GOD DOESN’T EVEN MANDATE WORSHIP. GOD DOESN’T EVEN MANDATE OBEDIENCE TO GOD. Human beings have the right to make these decisions for themselves, and women shouldn’t have to jeopardize their lives because they make such a decision (emphasis added).
I had to read this paragraph a few times to make sure I was reading correctly. In one sense, she is right. God doesn’t FORCE US to worship or be obedient to him. But, from cover to cover, the Bible teaches that we were designed to know God and worship him.
The very first of the Ten Commandments states: “I am the Lord your God. . . . You shall have no other God’s before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). Sounds like worship and obedience to me.
Psalm 100:2 instructs us to “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”
Jesus, referencing Deuteronomy 6:13, says, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10)
There is no doubt that God created us to worship him. And part of worshiping is obeying him. Jesus himself says, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teachings” (John 14:23). So, technically, the author is correct. God gives us the choice to worship and obey him or not. But EVERYTHING in the Bible teaches we should.
Does the fact that we can choose something make it an acceptable option? Here are some choices to ponder:
Cain CHOSE to kill his brother Abel.
Idi Amin CHOSE to slaughter, by some estimates, up to 300,000 of his fellow Ugandans.
Just this week, a young man CHOSE to open fire on a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
Let me close by relating a very personal brush with the nonsensical and even dangerous nature of this reasoning.
Unfortunately, my only sibling, an older brother, suffered from schizophrenia, and he ended up committing suicide by hanging while a patient in a Virginia mental hospital. My wife, kids and I went down there for his memorial service. During the service, my dad – who throughout his whole adult life CHOSE to reject virtually every conventional societal norm – gave a talk celebrating choices. He described how his own father CHOSE to end his life by jumping in front of a train. And then he explained my brother made a similar choice to kill himself
This talk was wrong on three levels.
My dad's comments and logic were exactly parallel to what this pastor said in her column: We have the right to make any choice we want to. Neither my dad nor the pastor placed any limits on our choices.
My dad made these remarks in a room filled with mental hospital patients. Do you think his comments could have given permission to or even encouraged some of the mentally unstable patients to follow my brother's example?
My kids (who were 11 and 9 at the time) were supposed to be at the service. There is no way I was going to let them hear that it was OK that their Uncle Gary chose to end his life. Right before the service, I got wind of what my dad was going to say and asked my wife Annette to take them out of the room when my dad was getting ready to talk.
Yes, choices are wonderful, as long as they are made within the boundaries God has established. God help us if a senior leader of a large Christian denomination can so thoroughly turn the core message of the Bible – that we were created to love, worship and obey God – on its head to elevate our ability to choose above life itself and above worshiping God!