A political analyst I am not. I merely offer here some personal observations and reflections upon the recent election. (Not to be taken as anything “official” from Lutherans For Life!) I admit I am not as elated as some of my For-Life colleagues. I cringe a bit at headlines like, “Voters Make Bold Pro-Life Statement.” Did they? They certainly did elect pro-life leaders, but I’m not so sure they cast their votes because of what a candidate was for or because of what they, the voters, were against. I’m stepping above my pay grade here, but I would guess that many of these same voters voted for the most pro-abortion president we have ever had. I pray I’m wrong about the voters’ pro-life priorities, but I’m afraid there is another “P” word operative here—pocketbooks.
John Eidsmoe, a pastor and attorney and a member of the LFL board of directors, wrote some reflections on the election. In his piece, he quoted Mario Rubio, newly-elected Republican Senator from Florida: “… and we make a grave mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican Party. What they are is a second chance—a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be, not so long ago.”
In a similar vein, we make a grave mistake if we think just electing leaders whom we label “pro-life” is somehow a pro-life mandate that will bring sweeping changes protecting the unborn from the daily slaughter of abortion. That did not even happen when all three branches of our government were “pro-life.” We don’t need just pro-life politicians. We need pro-life champions who will promote the priority of protecting innocent children even over the priority of protecting pocketbooks.
Okay, back to my pay grade before it goes even lower! The words of Psalm 118 come to mind. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (vs 8-9). I do pray and hope the “pro-life princes” we have elected will indeed bring pro-life changes. But my trust for real change is in the Lord. He changes hearts, and we need a lot more changed hearts before we will ever get changed laws. We need a lot more changed hearts so we can get a lot more pro-life champions. We need a lot more changed hearts so we can get our priorities in their proper place.
That’s why LFL will continue to do what we have always done regardless of which “princes” are in office. We will continue to equip Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life. We will continue to help people view the life issues through the lens of the Word of God and the cross of Christ. We will continue to pray that through His Word, God will change the hearts of more and more of His people on these issues so that, based on the great value God in Christ gives to human life, we can be an increasingly influential and loving voice both in our congregations and in our society.