"Like a Good Neighbor . . ." Stand Against Abortion

There is a good chance that most reading this blog have heard and can finish the State Farm jingle that begins with the words in the above title. More than making the point that a good neighbor is available to help, the message is that State Farm Insurance is always there to help. We can imagine that whoever came up with the advertisement thought they were on the cutting edge of marketing. Little did they know that two thousand years ago Jesus had made the same point—dare we say, coming close to the very jingle itself. According to the third Gospel writer (Luke 10:25-37), it happened when a law expert asked a timely test question for the rabbi from Nazareth: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” When Jesus responded with the double query, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” this first century Jewish scholar answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself.” Having turned the tables so that Jesus is now testing his inquirer, we are not surprised to find that he gives the man an A: “Right! …Do this and you will live!” This Law expert, well aware of a current debate among Jewish teachers, seeks to draw Jesus into it: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the well-known parable of the “Good Samaritan” to answer the question. We know the basic story. A man is attacked, robbed, left for dead, and then a Jewish priest comes along and “crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.” Next came a “temple assistant” and likewise, “he also passed by on the other side.” Next, along comes “a despised Samaritan” who “felt compassion for him,” medicated and bandaged up his wounds, took him to an inn, and then promised to cover whatever expenses would be incurred. Upon finishing the parable, Jesus then asked the law expert, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” After he answered correctly, Jesus exhorted him, “Now go and do the same.” The point is clear: Those who have eternal life through Jesus Christ love others.They are good neighbors who do not cross to the other side of the road and pass by those who are hurting. Good neighbors love others as an outgrowth of their love for God and desire to honor him (Lk. 7:11-19; 18:43). Luke intends for his readers to pay attention to the words of Jesus and to “go and do the same.” The lesson intended by Jesus is certainly bigger than the need to help all persons who are attacked and left for dead by thugs on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is to help all persons we can who are in need of help. Let’s take this a step further. If it is part of kingdom living to help people who are attacked and left for dead, would it also follow from this pattern of meaning that if there had been a different situation in Israel at the time and people would have had influence through the ballot box (as we do today in the U.S.), would it follow we should also vote for better security between Jerusalem and Jericho, especially if this were a recurring problem? In other words, wouldn’t a loving kingdom lifestyle pursue the prevention of such attacks, rather than waiting until people are brutalized? And if that were the situation, would such voters still be Christ-like, kingdom laborers, or would they be engaged in “filthy, partisan, politics”? Now this is why I have reminded us of this parable. There is a significant group of people in our society who are being attacked, killed, and, hurt. This group consists of babies who are created in God’s image and whose lives are being taken in the womb and their parents who make the decision to end their pregnancies. No one needs an explanation on how the babies are hurt but what about their parents? Randy Alcorn answers:

Dozens of studies tie abortion to a rise in sexual dysfunction, impotency, aversion to sex, loss of intimacy, unexpected guilt and extramarital affairs, traumatic stress syndrome, personality fragmentation, grief responses, child abuse and neglect, and increase in alcohol and drug abuse. An Elliot Institute study indicates that women who abort are five times more likely to abuse drugs. The study was authored by the Institute director, Dr. David Reardon, and Dr. Philip Ney, a psychiatrist who specializes in postabortion counseling: According to the authors, while the connection between abortion and substance abuse has never been widely publicized, this is at least the 16th published study connecting a history of abortion to subsequent drug or alcohol abuse…. According to Reardon, the increase in accidental or homicide-related deaths among post-abortive women is most likely due to risk-taking behavior that is an expression of self-destructive or suicidal tendencies.

Both the pain that comes to these babies and their parents, as well as the manner in which persons created in the image of God are being commodified, should lead Christians, and especially pastors who lead Christians, to do what they can to oppose abortion for the sake of loving their neighbors (no matter the stage of their neighbor's life). Those of us who live in Nebraska have an opportunity to do just this over the next few months in at least the following three ways. First, there is a petition drive to put on the November ballot this potential pro-abortion amendment to the Nebraska constitution:

“All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. Fetal viability means the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient’s treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’ sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical procedures.”

Christians should not only refrain from signing this petition, but if it makes it on the ballot, vote against it and use our circles of influence to encourage others to do the same. Second, pastors should not only vote against it but inform their congregations

why

they should as well, and that doing so is a God-honoring, people-loving entailment of the gospel. Materials to help in this can be found at: nebraskarighttolife.org. Third, pastors and churches should use their God-given platform and circle of influence to help to circulate a second petition, one that would put on the November ballot a pro-life amendment to the Nebraska constitution that would preserve the current abortion limitations and prohibitions and would give the opportunity through legislation to restrict abortion even more in the future. The wording of this second potential amendment is as follows:

“Except when a woman seeks an abortion necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimester.”

In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus teaches that kingdom people are good neighbors and help those in need. This compels us to ask a question as Nebraskans:

Will we identify with the “Good Samaritan” or will we be more like the uncaring Jewish leaders who pass by on the other side of the road?

Thousands of pastors (and Christians) in our country “pass by” when they stay out of such issues and argue that they are avoiding political, partisan debates and are instead serving Jesus.

But Jesus is the one who said that making disciples involves teaching people to observe all that he commanded (Mt. 28:19), and that includes the exhortation in Luke 10:25-37 to get involved, to love, and help those in need.

Without doing this, we are pointing people to a false Jesus and not confessing the real Savior. After all, Jesus himself is the ultimate “Good Samaritan” (see 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:1-11) who transforms followers into the same kind of good neighbors themselves. The 16

^th

century reformer, Martin Luther, was right when he insightfully wrote:

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however, boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

Christians (from pastors to laymen), be a good neighbor, don’t pass by on the other side, help those who are being hurt, take a stand against abortion and for the sanctity of human life, and in so doing courageously confess your Savior!

Notes

Scripture quotations are taken from the

Holy Bible, New Living Translation

, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Randy Alcorn,

Pro-life Answers To Pro-choice Arguments

(New York: Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, 2000, repr.

), 193. See his book for more on this subject. Quoted by Francis Schaeffer,

The God Who Is There

(Wheaton: Crossway, 1982, repr.), 11.