CHRISTIANS AND THE VULNERABLE AMONG US

Our world is going to hell in a handbasket.  

Just this week, I {Alayna} ran across two articles that made me cry, sob even.  They made my heart hurt and stomach turn.   (Warning graphic content!)

In the first article, a Chinese newborn baby, perhaps only a few days old, was extracted from a sewer line this past Saturday, where he had been heard wailing for two days.  The sewer pipe was only 4 inches in diameter, and the baby was stuck there after he had been flushed down the toilet in a residential building in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang.  Firefighters cut the pipe loose and took the pipe with terrified baby inside to the hospital, so that doctors could cut the baby loose.  He's being called "number 59" because of his incubator number at the hospital.  The whole community has reached out to care for this baby with donations and offers to adopt, while the Chinese public has been expressing a good bit of outrage on the Chinese version of Twitter.  If you haven't seen this story, it's also tough to read and even tougher to look at the pictures.

In the second article, an OBGYN doctor is testifying in Congress in the last week about a bill to ban abortions beyond 20 weeks where the baby feels pain.  This doctor, who had performed 1,200 first and second trimester abortions before becoming prolife, describes performing a second trimester dilation and extraction (D&E) abortion on a baby as though the listener or reader were the doctor.  It's the most graphic, most disturbing description that I have ever heard, and I have read a lot about abortion.  He talks about pulling the baby out, body part by body part.  And finally clamping the baby's head, about the size of a plum, and crushing it to extract it from the woman's uterus.  He said, "Many times a little face will come out and stare back at you."  Wow.  If you can stomach to read or watch a video of the doctor's testimony, see the full article here.

In reading these stories, I was sickened and troubled.  How we treat our most vulnerable says a lot about our society.  Or as Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, so eloquently said: 

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."   

The soul of America, and the soul of our world, is dark.  And I think it's a reflection of our own souls, even the souls of those who say they follow Christ.

Did you hear about these stories?  Do you care? I know too many Christians who don't like to read about uncomfortable, controversial things such as late term abortion.  Or don't want to hear about things that make them sad like starving and abandoned children.

And I don't think that is right.  If you call yourself a Christian, this is written to you.  

I am very passionate about babies and abortion.  Is everyone?  No.  But I believe, as Christians, we should be passionate about the things that God is passionate about.  But there are too many of us who aren't passionate about anything.

Or maybe we are just passionate about ourselves.  

Hard to hear?  Yes.  

Am I selfish beyond belief sometimes?  Yes. 

We all are selfish.  We are born with a human nature, where pride, arguably one of the sins at the root of many other sins, the sin that made Satan fall, is almost automatic.  Pride is self love, self importance, arrogance, and haughtiness.  Putting our wants, needs, and desires in God's place.  Or setting ourselves up as God, to dictate our own lives, to rule.  Pride keeps sinners from Jesus.  Pride and selfishness keep Christians so worried about ourselves that we don't see or care about the plight of anyone else.  

When all we love and care about is ourselves, we don't have space or time in our lives to care about the things that God cares about.  

And God loves and cares about people.  God cares about life.  Young lives, old  lives, and even lives that aren't yet born.  I believe that if you call yourself a follower of Christ, you should care about life, too. 
 

Jesus says that he came that we may have life and life abundantly.  How can you have life or life abundantly, either spiritually or physically, if you never get a chance at living?  If you can never take your first breath? 
  
Do I think that all Christians should be praying outside of abortion clinics? Probably not.  But I believe that everyone is called to do something for those that are marginalized and discarded.  

Even if its just being knowledgeable about the problem of abortion. About the problem of child trafficking. About the plight of children in foster care in America. About the epidemic of abandoned children all across the world. About the lack of water in third world countries. About all of the issues that are matters of physical life and physical death.  

Jesus talks very directly about believers being judged at the final judgement on whether they provided for the physical needs of others in Matthew 25:31-46.  Jesus says in Matthew 25:35-40,

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’"

Jesus tells this story to show God's judgment on those who met the physical needs of the "least of these" of the society.  Followers who met the needs, and by doing so served Christ, went on to eternal life.  Those that didn't meet the needs, went on to eternal torment.  I believe that rescuing children from sex trafficking and forced slavery, rescuing abandoned babies, saving babies and women from abortion, and providing water in communities that have none, are right in line with meeting the physical needs of the "least of these" that Jesus talks about. 

Don't mis hear me and assume that I am neglecting spiritual life in Christ.  I am not.  Introducing people to Jesus and giving them a chance at eternal spiritual life through Him is extremely important.  But God cares about meeting people's physical needs too.  If we are physically dead, how can we choose to trust in Christ for spiritual life?

So, Christians, don't bury your head in the sand when you hear about stories of children sold into sex slavery, because they make you uncomfortable.  Don't ignore the unpleasant parts of life, the stories or pictures of aborted babies and starving children, because they make you feel sad or uncomfortable.  The cross made Jesus uncomfortable.  And he embraced it and suffered it for you.  He put aside His wants and desires (read the garden of Gethsemane) to embrace that which was uncomfortable to do the Father's will.  Be like Jesus. 

If you are faced with these unpleasantries, a simple heart nod toward the neglected and downtrodden isn't really enough.  Learn about these issues of life and death and let your heart be moved to care about that which God cares about.  Be passionate about the things that God is passionate about.  Be passionate about people, about babies and children, who are certainly the least of these.  Pass your knowledge and passion on to other Christ followers, that together we can shine a light into this present darkness. 

If the plight of unborn babies and abandoned children - and their mothers who often just need someone to care and to lend a hand to help - in America is disturbing to you, here are a few suggestions...

1.  Help at a pregnancy resource center.  They are popping up across America, seeking to bring truth and love and most importantly help to women faced with unplanned pregnancies.  Support one.  In Pittsburgh, we have two, Pregnancy Resource Center of the South Hills in Bethel Park and Homestead (PRCSH on FB) and Choices Pregnancy Center in Coraopolis.  Give money or your time to help women in need.  If you can physically, emotionally, and spiritually help the women who may choose abortion, maybe there will be a day that no women will feel the need to choose abortion.  Pregnancy resource centers often have post abortion counseling for women to help them heal from the trauma of abortion. 

2.  Be an advocate for children through adoption.  Adopt a child, if you can, from the US or from abroad.  Encourage women in crisis pregnancies to offer their baby for adoption.  Adopt from the foster care system or become a foster parent.  Give kids love and a home.  Even if it's just temporarily.  This isn't for everyone, as the emotional baggage can be a strain on some families.  But if God is calling you to it, adopt kids from foster care or be foster parents.  I think this must be one of the most difficult things to do, and my heart goes out to good foster parents with good foster homes.  If adoption or foster care isn't for you, reach out to kids in need, kids who are lost through great organizations like Big Brother, Big Sister.  Everyone needs someone to care.

3.  Know the truth about abortion.  Know about the risks and emotional scarring from early abortion, late term abortion, and all in between.  Be an advocate for the unborn, for those who haven't yet had a chance to live.  And have compassion on women hurt by abortion.  Many choose abortion because they are scared, alone, and believe abortion to be their only choice.  Love them.  Don't heap abuse on them as though you know what you would have done in their situation.  Direct hurting women to post abortion counseling and the love and healing of Christ. 

4.  Volunteer with 40 Days for Life.  There is movement of prayer and fasting happening outside of abortion clinics all around the US several times a year called 40 Days for Life.  It happens right here in Pittsburgh, outside the downtown Planned Parenthood, twice a year.  I went for the first time this past spring.  It's not violent, it's not in your face, it's not loud.  It's offers of prayer and a presence to women who may be in crisis situations.

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.  

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