As I am writing this, it is four days before Christmas Day.
Arguably the most celebrated day in history - whether the celebrators are Christians or not - is the day of the most vital birth of all time; the birth of Jesus Christ.
It would be beneficial, in some ways, to discuss the context, date, and timing of the Messiah’s birth, but that must wait for another time. Pondering the incarnation of Christ has brought me to many conclusions and theological applications about how I should close out one of the most difficult years of my life. One of the things that has been weighing on my heart is the increasing discussion of life that has occurred this year. Be it the murderous fall of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the politically charged fight for health safety and the abolition of COVID-19, or the increasing prevalence of single-issue voting for the pro-life stance, the substance itself, life, has become the forefront of conversation in the United States of America.
The thought that lives could be treasured inside and outside of the womb has become a point of controversy. This has, unfortunately, become a political issue. Everything pertaining to black lives and 400 years of black history in America has become a political ploy to either bring about change for the better, or to gain leverage and favor by the civil majority.
In the course of 9 months in 2020, we have experienced racism in true form. The reaction of the public has been monstrous. In a small tangent, I must say that the way people of all ethnicities have handled the death of George Floyd is chaotic. The riots, protests (peaceful or otherwise), and movements have brought much change, but such change has not come without sacrifice. Many police officers - whose lives matter as well - have been sacrificed on the altar of racial retaliation. Stores have been looted. Small businesses (whose “lives” have been fought for more than ever this year) have been burned. Monuments have been torn down. And for what? Injustice carried out in the name of justice. Taking lives in the fight for life.
It is important to stress a few things concerning the fight for life in 2020 and in years afterward. Firstly, we must define the word life. Life, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is defined as “The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” With an academic definition of life, there is not much room for theological application or philosophical reason. There, of course, arise many philosophical examinations for why one lives and breathes and moves and dies. Naturalists say that life is what we have here on earth until we die; nothing follows death, so make your own knowledgeable purpose until then. Supernaturalists argue that there is in fact some sort of afterlife, and come to many conclusions about how to live in the present with that in mind. A Biblical definition of life, however, provides for the reader purpose before, within, and beyond the human lifespan. It gives the person ethics, a certain way to live: “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). It provides intended societal morals, a way that we as God’s Creation should live: “that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). It provides us with emotions and feelings: “My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken. Listen to the weeping of my people, it can be heard all across the land” (Jer. 8:18-19). It gives the human a divine purpose that will never be quenched by grief or dismay: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord; praise the Lord!” (Ps. 150:6).
Apply this Biblical definition of life, in its exhaustive applications, to the year 2020, the year of woes, and be encouraged by a good God. Yes, a good God (Ex. 34:6). The blurred lines of what really matters in America today and in this lifetime become clearer still, as the struggle to love the human, and more importantly, the human’s soul, becomes a single issue.
To those who used single-issue voting as their approach to the 2020 Election, it is time I ruffle your ideological feathers a little bit. This comes from a place of love and compassion. By single-issue voting, I mean that approach to voting in which one determines who she casts her ballot for based on one singular political issue. This year, that singular issue for many Christians has been the issue of abortion. The pro-life candidate could be arrogant, stubborn, racist, have poor policies, or anything else, and the deciding factor would still be that he or she is pro-life. The pro-choice candidate could have phenomenal policies, radiate compassion and care for people, and even be in the same political party as the voter, but the deciding factor would be that one thing: the pro-choice stance.
With that definition of single-issue voting, I would like to propose that as a concept, a way of being, a timeframe for one’s decisions, life itself is a single issue. I might add that not all issues such as the pro-life tactic for voting are simple or black and white. There are always grey areas. Life is multifaceted. People are multifaceted. And so, by default, the fight for life and for people is a layered construction.
The Christian is dauntingly tasked with the responsibility of fighting for, loving, and caring for the whole of life. Our God is an environmental God (Gen. 1:11-12). He is the King of Kingdom Animalia (Matt. 6:26). He is the “Father to the Fatherless, the Defender of Widows” (Ps. 68:5). As believers in a relationship with such a good, caring God, we are called to do the same. What is that age-old sign of salvation? Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink...” This confuses the righteous whom God called, compelling them to recall that they never saw Jesus hungry, thirsty, or without clothing. Jesus replies with the diagnosis of the soul, “as you did to the least of these my brothers, you did to me” (Matt. 25:35-40).
The weight of this command, to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39), and to “visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (Jas 1:27) has not been lifted from the shoulders of the saints. It has, rather, dug deeper into our shoulders as time has progressed.
For one to claim that unborn lives matter, he must also claim that unborn black lives matter. He must claim the worth of children, the value of teenagers, the significance of the elderly. Life, as it were, is that journey from conception in a mother’s womb to the return of dust into the womb of the earth. But it extends far beyond that. The dichotomy of the person leaves the body in its place to rot, never moved again by its own will. But the soul lives on, either in torment or glory.
This is the goal of the Christian. That God would “bring many sons (and daughters) to glory” (Heb. 2:10). The fight for life in the womb, outside of the womb, and approaching the tomb is one that can only be managed and brought to completion by the power of God. The reason bloodshed has become the response of hurting people toward racism is because they are fighting for what they believe in, not from what they believe in. They are fighting sin with sin. Injustice with injustice. Hate with hate. This is the life of the unrepentant sinner (Ti. 3:3). We as Christians must do everything out of, stemming from, belief in God. If I try to fight abortion without God, the battle will be lost and it will look the same as everything else on the news.
So, what do I do? What do you do?
Fight for life. Be pro-life. Pro every life. Black lives matter. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. Immigrant lives matter. LGBTQ lives matter. Unborn lives matter. Elderly lives matter. Mentally ill lives matter. You and I have been given the task of loving all of them.We are to stand for the oppressed, for those who can’t stand. To love those who hate us (Lk. 6:27-28). To speak the Truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Many times, the message we speak requires specificity. “All lives matter” doesn’t always cut it.
The responsibility is overwhelming. The weight of striving for justice and equity and true salvation among people may feel as if it was exchanged for a two-ton boulder. But know this: our God is a miracle-working, death-defeating, weight-bearing God. He will use you to do great things for the Kingdom of God, if you have faith in Him and know Him deeply.
So, see life as a single, multifaceted issue. See political and ethical issues as the result of sin and let the result of your salvation be the works intended to change them.
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