Won't You Be My Neighbor

From LifeDate - Spring 2005.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

(Changing the Way We Think and Act about Abortion)

by Rev. Dr. James I . Lamb

Being a neighbor seemed important to Jesus. According to Him, the second greatest commandment ever given is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The only thing greater than this is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28-31). Being a neighbor ranks pretty high! Asking—as Mr. Rogers so melodiously did—“Won’t you be my neighbor?” is a grand request indeed.

But the man lying stripped, beaten, and half dead in Jesus’ famous “neighbor” parable could not make such a request (Luke 10:30-37). Only his helpless condition spoke. The religious leaders—not willing to risk, not willing to pay—turned deaf ears to the silent supplication. A Samaritan—at possible risk to himself, at great expense to himself—answered the unspoken plea. He had pity. He showed mercy. He did the second greatest thing a human being could ever do. He saw the helpless man as his neighbor and was a neighbor to him.

Reasons or Excuses?

Children not yet born cannot speak. But couldn’t we change the way we think and act about abortion if we heard the silent cry of these who are helpless and vulnerable, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” What reasons could we offer for “passing by on the other side”?

“It’s the law of the land.” That’s not true. It is a decision by 7 of 9 justices that the right to kill an unborn child is found in the right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. That ruling struck down the law of the land. Forty-six states outlawed abortion prior to Roe v. Wade in 1973.

“It’s the will of the people.” That’s not true. Polls show that most people oppose most abortions. If Roe v. Wade were overturned today, it is predicted that 19 states would outlaw abortion immediately and 19 other states would soon follow. That’s the will of the people.

“It’s a safe, surgical procedure that ends a pregnancy.” That’s not true. It is the most common and most unregulated surgical procedure in the land. It ends a pregnancy by brutally shredding or dismembering or sucking the brains out of small children well over 3,000 times every day.

“It’s a woman’s right to do what she wants with her own body.” That’s not true. A woman doesn’t have the right to fill her body with illicit drugs or to put her drunken body behind the wheel of a car, or to punch a part of her body into someone’s nose. The greater falsehood implied by this statement is the baby is part of the woman’s body. Not true. The baby can grow independent of the mother for several days outside her body in a Petri dish. The baby may have a different blood type than the mother or be a different sex. If it were not for the placenta (which the baby produces) the mother would reject her child as foreign tissue.

“We don’t speak about political things in the Church.” That’s not true. If blacks were being enslaved and treated with brutality, would not the Church speak? If entire ethnic groups were being arrested and led to the slaughter in gas chambers, would not the Church speak? Sadly, tragically, many in the Church did not speak out—a lack of action that should not be repeated.

“It’s not really a human being.” That’s not true. When human sperm fertilizes a human egg, what other kind of being could it be? Embryology text books used in the medical schools of our country teach that human life begins at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. Scripture affirms this biological fact. If we were sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5), then we were human from the moment of conception. The fact that Jesus was conceived in the fallopian tube of Mary attests to our humanity at that stage of our development.

“Unborn human life has less value.” That’s not true. “Do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?” (Isaiah 45:11) God is the giver and creator of life in the womb (Psalm 139:13-14). God, in Christ, died for all human life (John 3:16). That makes all human life, regardless of condition or stage of development, precious to Him.

All of the above are only excuses, not reasons (i.e. something reasonable), for “passing on the other side” when we hear “Won’t you be my neighbor?” called out from the vulnerable condition of unborn life. But when we stop and heed that cry, it changes everything.

Changing the Way We Think

Recently a pastor was jolted by that cry. He wrote, “I read with tears this morning the research about the sensations babies feel in the womb. I apologize for myself and others who get so caught up in other ministry things that our passion for life, especially the life of those who cannot speak up for themselves, wanes.”

When we see that unborn boy or girl as our neighbor that changes how we think about abortion and its cruel consequences. When it’s our neighbor in that womb, we will want to be a neighbor. When it’s our neighbor in that womb, we will want to do the second greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

When it’s our neighbor in that womb, it changes the way we think about the one carrying that child. We will want to be her neighbor as well. It is not neighborly to encourage abortion. As one young woman who had an abortion put it, “Abortion is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” We do not love women as our neighbors when we offer them death as a solution to their problem. We do not love women as our neighbors when we ignore the struggles and fears of an unplanned pregnancy. Women deserve better than abortion. They deserve a neighbor. Reaching out to women in this situation enables us to do the second greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Changing the Way We Act

Seeing the unborn as our neighbor helps us think differently about abortion. But different thinking needs to translate into different acting. The Samaritan saw this helpless man as his neighbor, and then he acted! He not only had pity, he showed mercy. He was a neighbor to this man in real, practical ways. Yes, there was risk involved. The robbers might still be around. It would be easy for a passerby to mistake this Samaritan’s mercy for malice. Yes, it cost something. The two silver coins were substantial, enough to keep the man in an inn for over a month. It takes courage and self-sacrifice to do the second greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Taking action and being a neighbor to the unborn takes courage and self-sacrifice. Passing by is easy, albeit deadly. Taking the time to stop and speak for our neighbor in the womb takes courage. There is risk. Speaking about abortion in the Church will indeed cause controversy. There will be those who offer the excuses and will just want the Church to pass by. There may be cost. Members might leave or stop giving. Showing mercy often times comes with a price. It is time for the Church to start showing some courage and declaring to its people that the child in the womb is our neighbor, someone created by God and for whom Jesus died. It is time for the Church to redouble her efforts to minister to those experiencing a crisis pregnancy. It is time for the Church to deal with these issues with our children and young people so they can be taught to make good decisions and never have to face the difficult ones. It is time for the Church to start paying whatever price is necessary to do the second greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Greatest Message of Life in the World

There is no more positive message than this to apply to abortion. The Church has the greatest message of life there is—life given by a loving God, life redeemed by a merciful God. We know what it is like to be helpless and vulnerable and then to be loved with an unconditional love. We were dead in our transgressions and sins, but God made us alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-4). We who have been treated as a neighbor by our God, are to love as He has loved us (1 John 4:11).

And when we love this way, when we do the second greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love your neighbor as yourself”—we are at the same time doing the greatest thing a human being could ever do—“Love the Lord your God with all your heart”—for Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Hear the silent cry of the unborn. Don’t pass them by. Love your neighbor. Love your God. Have pity. Show mercy. Take the risk. Take some action. Be their neighbor.

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Won’t you please, Won’t you please?
Please won’t you be my neighbor?