human beings, who have been made in His image. We can read:
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Today, we stand in solidarity with thousands who have taken to the streets of Washington, DC because they love life - life as it was created and ordained by God...in the womb! Against the backdrop of a court decision legalizing abortion, people have seized the opportunity to show a better way, to defend those who cannot defend themselves, and to declare that because of love, lives can be saved. Motivated by compassion, the body of Christ can strive to be marked by that motivation.
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We recognize that all human beings were designed by our Creator God, reflecting His image, the
"imago Dei," or "image of God." Job 31 reinforces this notion:
13 "If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,
14 What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
This is a special day, an instance of turning a true human tragedy into an opportunity to testify to our wonderful Creator God and His love for the ones to whom He has given life. The anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision is used as a rallying point for people to show their respect for the sanctity of life.
Already today, the March for Life occurred in Washington, DC - it is an annual event bringing together people from a variety of backgrounds to show solidarity with and for the unborn. In addition to the President addressing those gathered in the nation's capital live via satellite - the first time the holder of that office has done so, there was a cadre of speakers in association with the event, including Pam Tebow, the mother of football star Tim Tebow.
Tim spoke recently about his mom's pregnancy at the Passion Conference. The Faithwire website related some of his words, as Tebow responded to Louie Giglio's question about what shaped his values: “I was originally born in the Philippines … to missionary parents and I have a special birth story,” adding, “The doctors said that I wasn’t even a baby; they said I was a tumor.”
He continued: "There was a lot of craziness with my mom’s pregnancy. She decided to trust God and not what the doctors were saying,” and he added, “And then I was born and it was a miracle — the placenta wasn’t attached the entire pregnancy … I was malnourished, but I made up for it pretty quickly."
Pam Tebow chose life - and her son continues to testify about her faith and his miraculous birth.
Today, we focus on the scourge of abortion, an act that "belittles women," according to someone who recently passed away and has been in the news. That would be Dolores O'Riordan, who was the lead singer of the Cranberries. Her comments to Rolling Stone a number of years ago were reported in another Faithwire story:
The singer said at the time that abortion is “not good for women to go through” and that it “belittles” them. She also said that it “crushes” a woman’s self-esteem.We take a few moments today to not only reflect on the horrors of abortion, but also to celebrate the wonder of our God, who has created each of us in His image. And, our view of life should be determined by the Scriptures. It can provide a foundation for how we view other people and how we treat them. Think about how we relate to people when we love them as Jesus loves and as we see that they, like us, were created by God.
Now, there does seem to be a trend to redefine what it means to be "pro-life," attempting to craft some sort of smorgasbord of issues that can be related to the pro-life perspective - I think this is a concerning trend, because it lessens the impact of what the pro-life perspective is all about. When the banner of "pro-life" is used to try to define other issues, some of them controversial, where there is disagreement within the Christian community, I think that it can become a diversion and can actually be used to create division. I suspect that it is a response to those who criticize pro-lifers for only being concerned with unborn babies, which, of course, is a totally false characterization. Now, there is nothing wrong in addressing those issues, and should be addressed in the right context, but we don't necessarily have to make them part of the "pro-life" rubric.
That being said, we have to make sure that our view is always driven by compassion. The pro-life cause is more than a political stance for the Christian, it should shape the lens through which we see the world. Although we have seen some pro-life victories and positive developments in that area, ultimately, we are not out to win an argument, but to win the heart - saving the life of the baby and providing help and healing for women and their families in crisis pregnancy situations. The theme of this year's March for Life is "Love Saves Lives" - this can challenge us to be motivated by the love of Christ to touch all who are created in His image.
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