After getting home from a long day at work, I relaxed with my family over some frozen pizza and leftover pasta. After an hour or so of playing with my son, I kissed him good night. It was time for mom to put little man to sleep and dad to work on the blog for a little while.
After checking some email and responding to a few comments, I thought I would see what the twitter world was up to. We don’t have cable TV so I sometimes use twitter to see what’s going on in the world. Some of the pastors and ministries I follow kept tweeting about “40 years later.” After some initial poking around and using the twitter search function, I learned the sad truth that today marks 40 years later since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade.
I then watched an interview with John Piper and others discussing the tragedy of 50,000,000 babies being killed since 1973. I was in tears reading what R.C. Sproul wrote on the Ligonier Blog. I then watched a moving video posted by Randy Alcorn on Facebook about the hypocrisy of our president when it comes to “protecting our children.”
Before my wife became a homemaker, she worked in a local pregnancy care center that provided support for abortion-minded young women. It is a wonderful and great ministry. Thousands of young women have chosen life instead of murder just in our little neck of the woods! Praise God for the lives that have been spared due in part to people who care enough to fight for the rights of the unborn.
But instead of just making this into a political issue or asking you to donate money to your local care center or to the many pro-life organizations in existence, I thought I would challenge you a bit further. I was especially inspired by Dr. Sproul’s quote from the blog post mentioned above:
“Rather my intent is to highlight the deep gap between how we think about abortion forty years later, and the reality. We think in terms of strategies, movements, parties, and avert our eyes from the body parts. Strategies, movements, parties are all abstractions. The babies are real, and they are really dead. The anniversary is just a date on the calendar. The babies are dead, not fifty million of them, but one of them, fifty million times.”
In a sermon this past Sunday from church, our teaching elder encouraged us that if we were to really be pro-life, we had to be pro-single-mom. To that I say, “Amen!” But if we are really concerned with building God’s kingdom on earth and living for the glory of Jesus Christ, I would like to challenge you one step further…
Would you consider adoption? After all, if you are a child of God you have been grafted into His family. You have had each and every one of your sins cleansed and washed as white as snow. Just as the unwanted child is undeserving, so were you and I of Christ’s atonement for our sins!
It is my opinion that if we, as Christians, are going to be pro-life, we must also be pro-adoption. Am I saying that every Christian family must adopt children into their home? Of course not! But maybe they could give financially to help ease the burden of the high costs of adoption for another family who sees this as God’s calling.
If we are living for the glory of Christ and proclaiming His name among all people groups to all nations, what better way to preach the gospel than to adopt a son or daughter so they can hear it each and every night? I do not wish to burden anyone with this blog post, but please commit this matter to prayer. Pray and ask the Lord if this is something He would have for your family.
To wrap up, since this is a blog about personal finances for the Christian, I would like to issue some challenges:
- Instead of worrying about a fully funded emergency fund, consider fully funding the life of an unwanted child.
- Instead of scrimping and saving to put every last penny away for retirement, scrimp and save to adopt a child.
- Instead of spending lavishly on eating out and entertainment, give lavishly to help a family who wishes to adopt.
- Instead of taking a relaxing vacation this year, consider saving a life.
- Instead of saving for your current children’s college, consider adding another child to the family.
- Instead of buying a larger house, consider enlarging your family with an unwanted child.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt. 6:19-21
Check out the following video by Voddie Baucham. It is a moving story of his life and his stories with adoption.
As we look back on the last 40 years, I pray that you see we can actually make a difference. We need to be pro-single-mom and pro-adoption to really consider ourselves pro-life. Would you prayerfully consider adopting a child?
I’m a single dad. If I were younger, remarried, and more financially stable, I would consider adoption, but would that change the amount of babies that are aborted? Would a turnover of Roe v. Wade even make a significant change? I’m not sure.
Hello Dan! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I’m not sure anything but the Gospel will change the opinions of sinful men about abortion. Over 90% of abortions are for convenience. With that being the case, I don’t think a pregnant college girl is going to “inconvenience” herself to become a single mom or give the baby up for adoption just b/c we think she should. After all, it’s her life and her body (that’s how the argument goes).
You are correct that abortions took place before Roe v Wade and would continue to take place if it were overturned. But if it were overturned, you would have to conclude that fewer babies would be murdered because the ease of access to the procedures and morning after pills would cease.
I’m afraid the recent polls still suggest a large majority of Americans are in favor or abortion being legal. That is why prayer to God for mercy and a change of sinful man’s heart is the only true remedy for the situation.
But from what I’ve witnessed in my wife’s working and other reading, I do think adoption and options for young pregnant woman do help. I think adoption would be even more popular and beneficial if it wasn’t so expensive. It is crazy to think that adoption costs about the same amount as the median yearly wage in the United States.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
The root of the problem all stems from knowing Jesus Christ and learning/following His wonderful rules for a blessed life. Girls (and boys) need to be taught the importance and blessings of abstinence (as opposed to instant “gratification” our society teaches today). When people are taught their true value through Christ, they will understand just how precious their bodies are, and work to avoid pre-marital relations and thus will avoid unwanted pregnancies, and convenience abortions. We need to get back to the root of training our children up in the way they should go, instead of leaving training up to the world and the education system. God help us to do that… Great post, Oliver.
Abstinence education is certainly helpful! Agreed on the point about training up your children, but most children in our country do not grow up with Christian parents. Jesus Christ is the only way a person can have their sinful, wicked heart changed to desire to live holy, Christ-honoring lives. May the Lord be merciful to an undeserving nation!
Amen, Oliver. And I forgot to mention that I wholeheartedly agree with you about all of your point on adoption, and that it is something we hope to do someday as well!
The recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade breaks my heart, too. My wife has had some involvement with a local pregnancy care center as well, and it has been a sad eye-opener for her. We may adopt in a little bit. We’re considering the possibility.
Thanks for a great comment Loren! It is hard to fathom when you hear the large numbers thrown around (50 million). If you volunteer your time and see the faces of the young, pregnant girls, the numbers become an actual human being. Not only that, the ultra sound shows another actual human being! We’re considering the possibility of adopting as well. We’re excited to see where the Lord leads.