I am heartbroken, to say the least the decision by New York legislators to legalize the infanticide of yet-to-be born people.  The only thing worse than the decision itself was the reaction of the legislature when the bill passed.  Regardless of one’s position on abortion, how in the name of decency can people applaud the procedure.

I am heartbroken for young girls who feel there’s no other alternative than to take the life of the child they conceived. My heart breaks for unborn who did not ask to be brought into this world conceived, and who are killed before they seeing the light of day. My heart breaks for the spiritual condition of our country that would see this as a “good” thing.  I cannot conceive of any way abortion can be defined as good.

But… (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?)

The Greatest Heartbreak

As I have prayed for and thought about this issue, my greatest burden is for the church of Jesus Christ.  This is on us, folks.  This is on us.

Jesus called us to be and enables us to be “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”

Salt permeates, flavors, and influences once it comes out of the salt shaker.  But we remain in our salt shakers.  Salt shakers with nice seats, cool lights, climate control.  Our salt shakers have nice sound systems and cool programs.  We love that our salt shakers have great programs to entertain our little salt grains and make us feel better about our “sodium-ness.” 

Light penetrates the darkness.  But we have kept our light hidden behind stained glass.  We take up causes instead of crosses.  We promote political candidates and agendas instead of preaching Christ and Him crucified.  If our problem had been political, God would have sent a politician.  But our problem is sin, so He sent a Savior.

Yes, the fact that our culture is so sinful and dark is on us.  God gave us both the commission and the power to affect the world around us.  We have chosen to try other means.  And now the buzzard has come home to roost.

What to Do

While I am glad to see the outrage over this decision, we must do more than pontificate.  We have tried that for years and it hasn’t worked.  It’s not enough to decry the sin, we must also present the solution. 

Abortion is a fruit issue not a root issue.  If we want to make progress, we have to address the root cause – sin.  While I believe we should still seek legislative answers, we must also do battle in the hearts of children and young people.

What if we raised a generation that saw abortion as abhorrent? We need to do a better job of discipling children and youth.

Also, we need to stop being so timid about Jesus.  Do we really believe the Gospel is good news?  Then why do we let others intimidate us into not sharing it?  What if we learned to show how Jesus is the answer to all of our brokenness and loving share Him with others?

All in all, we have to get out of salt shakers and shine our lights beyond the stained glass.  Let’s engage people – one on one – with the Good News. Let’s turn our outrage into action.

You can also read Our Most Valuable Possession.

Also, locally in Middle GA, consider partnering with Caring Solutions