I admit I often demonize abortion supporters in my mind. The ones I usually deal with are the hard core industry or political types, and they can indeed come across beyond cold and calloused.
Nevertheless, having been convicted through Scripture, I’ve been trying (although admittedly failing as often as I succeed – but I’m getting better, truly!) to more even-handedly communicate with them.
This week I read Romans 15:15-16 and took the passage our direction. The pertinent sentence:
I’m doing this because God gave me the gift to be a servant of Christ Jesus to people who are not Jewish.
I applied that sentence to me and my mission:
I’m doing this because God gave me the gift to be a servant of Christ Jesus to people who are not pro-life.
St. Paul’s mission was to try to share the Good News with a people group that was completely unaware and lost. Alongside stopping abortion, that is our mission, too. We cannot really stop abortion if people’s hearts aren’t changed.
On a related note, I’m currently reading Mark Crutcher’s book On Message with my Wilberforce Leadership Fellowship mentee Rachel Bush, and this passage really struck me:
There are no unimportant discussions about abortion…. Even among abortion clinic employees, there is a creeping sense of doubt about what they are doing. Morale is low, turnover rates are astronomical, discouragement is rampant, and while they would never admit it, every rational pro-life argument they hear amplifies their doubts….
The final reason to take every discussion on abortion seriously what I call the “Note in a Bottle” phenomenon. Imagine that you are stranded on a desert island. You find a bottle, put a note in it and toss it in the ocean hoping that someone will find it and rescue you. With the realization that what is written on that note may be your only hope for survival, you are probably going to write a pretty thorough and compelling message.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
That same attitude should be your guiding principle anytime you are discussing abortion. Always assume that the words you are using will one day be repeated to a pregnant woman who is considering abortion. It may not happen for years, and you may never know about it, but there is a reasonable probability of this happening. When it does, the message you gave may be the only hope that baby has for survival.
How much truer this is for those of us involved in online pro-life work. Our messages are never in a bottle. They’re there for any and all to read, and who knows who is reading what at which particular point in their lives?
So I’m curious to know how you view and communicate with abortion supporters? What is your experience? What are your thoughts?
LifeNews.com Note: Jill Stanek fought to stop “live birth abortions” after witnessing one as an RN at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. That led to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act legislation, signed by President Bush, that would ensure that proper medical care be given to unborn children who survive botched abortion attempts.
