There is so much happening in our world today that defies God’s plan for life that it feels like our heads are spinning. One can hardly keep up with the daily news cycle. It used to be we dealt with abortion on demand, and, although horrific, it was the primary life issue. We must not remove our focus from abortion—in spite of many distractions. Rather we must find time and energy to deal with all life issues.
We now deal with people being encouraged to take their own life through assisted suicide. When the state of New York legalized killing babies at birth, making infanticide legal, it stunned the whole world, yet a celebration took place in the statehouse. “Changing gender” has reached the point that anyone in disagreement is now labeled a bigot, making Christians a target for harassment. Children are being removed from parents’ homes if parents refuse to support their child’s transgender desires. Same-sex “marriage” is not only legal, but people are being viciously attacked and their businesses threatened when they refuse to go against their beliefs when providing their services. Sex education for our public schools developed by Planned Parenthood and radical gender-identity activists resembles pornography and is being proposed in many state legislatures. Our children’s minds are under attack and being flooded with non-Christian values. When the selling of baby parts was exposed, the brave people who discovered this evil were threatened with jail sentences for doing it. And the beat goes on.
The world we live in is sinful—that’s nothing new. However, today’s scary turn of events involves more than just laws changing to legalize things we cannot support. We are now being pushed to change our beliefs or be in danger of many different punishments from the unjust court of social justice. We are now forced to defend inaccurate interpretations of Scripture, as the Bible is no longer the moral standard by which our country lives. Wrong has become “right,” and right has become “wrong.” Our judicial system is not always our friend when it comes to challenging these moral wrongs. The result of court cases that involve life issues is like rolling a dice—there is no predictable outcome. It’s a crazy thing that tears at the heart of our Christian beliefs and values.
Christians are now the target of discrimination, especially if we speak the truth from Scripture. Yet we ask …
“Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:58)
What a wonderful, indescribable gift we have in our God Who created us and Who surrounds us with His love and fulfills His promises of salvation and life eternal. He will not fail us nor forsake us no matter how difficult things become. We need to lean on that hope as we surely can’t respond to all this on our own.
So, what do we do? First and foremost, we must nurture our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as He is our strength and fortress. We need to keep fueled-up through Christian fellowship in worship and in the sacraments. We need to pray without ceasing and receive the peace in that special relationship with God. And then, we need to stand strong and boldly declare God’s plan for life. We can’t be timid, afraid to speak up or be noticed. If we don’t share the truth, who will?
Someone recently reminded me of a bold future plan implemented by another Lutheran organization. When someone had challenged that plan, the response given was, “If not us, who? And, if not now, when?”
God has put us in our roles as life-affirming Lutherans in this place at this time. We must continue despite the world’s resistance. We must lean on God because He will support us. We must remember He has the words of eternal life!