set apart

I had a painful conversation with some friends last week. We got together for lunch and on the way there, one shared that she was absolutely heartbroken over news she had received. A friend from college had called to tell her she was considering having an abortion. She had become pregnant by someone she didn’t see a future with, and in the days since, had continued partying, drinking, and had even done cocaine several times. My friend was devastated, and against her best efforts to dissuade her, the girl proceeded, arguing that having a baby at 25 "wasn’t right for her" even though she “knew the baby would be beautiful.” So at two months old, a life was ended and my two friends in the car were in tears. I sat quietly in the passengers seat.

I recounted the story to my mom and dad at dinner last night. Their eyes filled with tears, but I was filled with something else.  Anger, disgust, righteous indignation. How can you be so careless? Reckless? At 25 years old, with a college degree, how can one not realize the consequences of her actions? I openly admitted it to my parents… “I don’t feel grace. I don’t feel sympathy. I feel disgust.” I’ve become conditioned to this way of thinking and have even put a personal spin on it: my brother and sister are adopted. Their biological mom is a heroin addict (or was at the time.) She has made a lot of really bad decisions. But she made two really good ones. Having her babies, and realizing she was unfit to keep them. Because they are the best gift God ever gave our family. I left dinner feeling self-righteous.

Until this morning... I was reading in Romans and I got to chapter 2…

“1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

And then I heard that still, small voice say “She’s my baby too.” And my selfish heart shattered into a thousand pieces. How can you be so careless? Reckless? At 25 years old, with a college degree, how can one not realize the consequences of her actions?

It’s easy to sit with likeminded friends and talk about the goodness of God… but approaching a nonbeliever with that same boldness? Banish the thought. At the end of the day, I am no different from the girl in the story. My sins seem more sophisticated, but the consequences: eternal. The fullness of God’s grace is that this precious baby that died too soon will spend eternity in heaven. But the unbelieving momma? My inaction will only result in her spending eternity in hell.  At best my actions are careless, at worst they’re truly diabolical.

We have a family friend who has been an activist for the pro-life movement for many years. He tells a story of a pro-life rally and someone coming up to him and yelling, “You only care about the babies!” He took it to heart and came back and started a nonprofit to provide support for expectant moms. If abortion breaks your heart as much as it breaks mine, do something about it. But don’t forget, it starts with the moms.  There is no life apart from Christ, and we have no business identifying with a movement that calls itself just that, pro-life, if we are unwilling to reach souls for Christ.