Tag Archives: Compassion and Justice

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Becoming a Pro-Life Statesman

Pro-life expert Scott Klusendorf lays out a really helpful framework for how to grow as an ambassador for life whatever your context may be (by the way, wouldn’t it be great if the next time Anderson Cooper or Bill O’Reilly did segment on abortion choice / pro-life issues that Scott was asked to be an expert on the show?)

A colleague of mine asked what adjustments pro-life advocates should make to better position themselves for 2011 and beyond.

That’s a loaded question that’s best left to brighter minds, but my general reply was as follows: Pro-life Christians should bring God glory. At the practical level, that means they must not only state their case persuasively, but transform themselves into winsome statesmen without sacrificing the intellectual content of their ideas.

I then sketched out a rough (and very incomplete) outline of what that transformation might look like, including those principles that I strive to live by as a pro-life apologist.

Thesis: The pro-life statesman completes five key tasks:

I) The pro-life statesman presents a persuasive case for life in forums where our message most needs a hearing:

A. in Catholic and Protestant high schools

B. in presentations to clergy

C. in debates at high schools and universities

D. in training seminars for lay people

E. in talks to elementary age children

F. in worldview courses for high school students

II) The pro-life statesman engages the debate in the academy:

A. in philosophy:

1. He defends the substance view of human persons

2. He challenges naturalism as a foundation for human rights and ethics

B. in Law: refutation of moral and legal neutrality

C. in Ethics: He helps Christians think biblically about medical technology related to the edges of life (beginning and end of life)

III) The pro-life statesman clarifies theological misconceptions

A. in Evangelical theology: He challenges the mistaken belief that we should only preach the gospel and never do politics–but he does so without sacrificing fidelity to the gospel or Scripture

B. in Catholic theology: He confronts the mistaken belief that social justice requires that all moral issues carry equal moral weight

C. in Pastoral theology: He engages clergy who mistakenly think the gospel of grace means ignoring sin

D. in personal theology: He challenges the mistaken view that individuals must get a personal assignment from God to do pro-life work

E. in youth ministry theology: He challenges the claim that today’s twitter generation can’t handle serious pro-life content

IV) The pro-life statesman connects the dots

A. in churches: He helps pastors win connecting biblical truth to abortion

B. in politics: He graciously explains why all political parties are not equal in their defense of human life

C. in pregnancy center ministry: He inspires staff and volunteers to minister to women AND impact culture



See his excellent book: The Case for Life.
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Voices of Haiti – A Daily Photo Essay

You owe it to yourself to see some of these beautiful pictures from haiti. My friend and photographer Jeremy Cowart explains why he put this together:

“After the 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti on January 12th of this year, I was deeply moved as most of you were. For days I watched as the television flashed images of gloom and doom… dead bodies, crumbled buildings… It just felt like a heartless display of numbers and statistics. “How were the people feeling?” I wondered. I was tired of hearing endless reports from strangers that just arrived to this devastated nation. So I decided to go to Port-Au-Prince myself and ask them directly. My question was simply “What do you have to say about all this?” This photo essay reveals the many answers to that question.”
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Social Gospel? Beck Should Read the Prophets, John the Baptist, and Jesus

Darrell Bock has a thoughtful post on Glenn Beck’s recent comments:

“I am in Israel but am reading about what I see as a strange controversy in the USA. It is Glenn Beck’s call for people to leave church’s that preach a “social gospel”, but then goes on to discuss social action and issues of justice as if to do so is unbiblical. The confusion is that these are NOT all the same thing. Let’s be clear: the gospel is NOT about doing social work. The gospel is not doign social work, but that fdoes not mean social work is irrelevant ot those who embrace the gospel. Social work can be a witness for the gospel or real evidecne of a proper response to God, a product of the gospel. The roots are in the Prophets, such as Micah 6:8.

He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD really wants from you:
He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful,
and to live obediently before your God.

Or try John the Baptist. In Luke 3:10-14 when he is asked to explain what repentance is that is ready for the Lord to come he says:

So the crowds were asking him, “What then should we do?”
John answered them, “The person who has two tunics34 must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”
Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
He told them, “Collect no more than you are required to.” Then some soldiers also asked him, “And as for us—what should we do?” He told them, “Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your pay.”

To turn to God means I relate to other peopel differently.

Or try Jesus’ words to his audience (Matt 5:14-16):

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden.
People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Or the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:5-9:

And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today.” So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. And when the people saw it, they all complained, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham!

Something about Zacchaeus’s heart was right in showing concern for the poor. Jesus commends the attitude. So let’s not let Christian virtue get captured in ideological political rhetoric of cultural wars that take people away from the call of the gospel to be socially sensitive. Let’s be sure we read and listen to the prophets John the Baptist and Jesus. May political commentators giving advice to members of the church be sure and read their Bible first and not oversimplify what God asks of people who serve him. Yes, the gospel is about salvation of the soul, but service to the world and caring for justice and the poor grows out of responding properly to God. Once again what some want to make either-or is actually a both-and when bibically defined. Let’s not villify with political associations of communism or socialism a concern and compassion Jesus asks of people who love their neighbor….(more)“

Sound advice.Now good intentions don’t always translate into the outcomes for the oppressed or poor that we desire. That is why it is about more than giving money to a good cause. See these three helpful works on this point. But it appears that Beck has a confused understanding of the Good News of God and what that means for all people.

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves by Corbett and Fikkert

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Money, Greed, and God by Jay Richards