Saturday, February 7, 2009

It's Not Time for Fatalism (Part 2)

Before you continue reading, know that I am an amateur. I possess no great experience, so if for any reason, you feel me to be off track, please let me know, I would greatly appreciate your input.
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Stunningly clear in Romans 13 is Paul's call that Christians are to honor and respect governing authorities. And he isn't just referring to the ones that are easy to honor. Living while the Emperor Nero was in control, he knew what it was like to have less than preferable rulers. Even so, the command is the same: submit to the ruling authorities.

On the other hand, are we to simply stand idly by as legislation is presented and even past that is unjust and dishonors the very handiwork of God? What is the balance between respecting and submitting to the rulers, and standing up for what is right?

Perhaps the balance can be found here: First we trust that, as Paul writes, "There is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God." (Rom. 13:1) But we also recognize that it is our responsibility to do something, however seemingly small, to advocate causes that are near to the heart of God. God is concerned about justice. The Scriptures are littered with calls to plead the cause of the widows and fatherless. We find in the Isaiah the admonition to, "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

But how do we approach such a daunting task? As was written before, prayer is an awesome method of taking action. I've heard it said that prayer is the mightiest machine God has placed in our hands. What a privilege to exercise it and join forces for the unborn.
Furthermore, we can offer our time and services to support just causes and organizations that are already engaged in the abortion fight. Why not sign up for National Right to Life News, and take advantage of their practical ways to help? Perhaps we won't see results here and now; but neither did the great believers in the past, like Wilberforce, who made a stand and were eventually rewarded, whether they directly saw the fruit or not.

Friends, I'm no expert in this area. I'm far more intimidated by abortion movement than you would believe. Further, it's so easy for me to forget about it, to develop immunity to the thousands of abortions performed every day. But I'm challenged by the words of Mother Teresa,

"If we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell people not to kill one another?" (Mother Teresa, spoken before the president of the United States, February 1995, A Hunger For God, pg. 161)
Let's do what we can to fight for life; and let's pray that God will chose to use us as tools in accomplishing his awesome plan.

1 comments:

Rogers family said...

That's so true and yet we so frequently fall complacent in prayer for our nation! I know I have been lackadaisical in this area. By God's grace, we must make prayer for our nation a regular habit! Thanks for the challenge, Kell!

-Molly