To be clear from the start, the blog you are reading now is not about partisan politics. My intention is rather to share a theological observation about the human heart. Many of us know that the prophet Jeremiah revealed by the Holy Spirit that the “heart is deceitful” — no, wait — that “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Part of our human sickness is that we don’t want to hear about it. In my pride, I don’t want it to be true that my heart is just as deceitful as Jeremiah said.
The only remedy to our sickness is to displace it with pure truth. Addressing yours and my problem, i.e., our diagnosis, Jesus said, “I Am The Truth” (John 14:6). All who receive “The Truth” are graciously given “the right” to become children of God (John 1:12). If I may shrink the gospel message into a poignant point, please allow me to say that the choice we have, each one of us, is this: Thanks to God’s love expressed in The Father sacrificially sending His Only Begotten Son to die for us (John 3:16), we can choose to be full of The Truth, not full of deceit. Shockingly, The Truth is A Person, The Living Lord, Jesus Christ, Whose Holy Spirit miraculously fills us.
Regarding abortion laws, the issue, as I see it, is that Roe v. Wade was not overturned by way of a national act of repentance. We, as a nation, have not assembled together to ask God for forgiveness for devaluing our own offspring to the point of taking their lives, nipping their lives in the bud. As a large group, we are not sorry. Our hearts are still sick.
Apart from The Remedy, we cannot get well (Acts 4:12). The reason why abortion laws in states such as New York, Illinois, and California have expanded to the extent of “until viability” is because we changed the law, not human hearts. Granted, it is remarkable and quite a positive feat that 14 states so far have outlawed abortion. Certainly there is a culture change that honors the unborn and protects mothers and fathers from the agonizing pain of post-abortion regret. There is much to celebrate regarding this correction in the law.
Yet some states, post-reversal of Roe v. Wade, have swung further away from protecting life. My observation is that when people’s hearts aren’t changed, they rebel against the moral law of life.
Lawyers, legislators, and judges can do lots to help save human lives. But we need prophets, theologians, preachers, disciplemakers to do the real work of transformation. Until the hearts of the people are changed, society can’t get well. Unless the hearts of “the fathers” turn back to the “children”, we cannot “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
We need moral leaders with moral authority. That’s why we are offering a graduate level course on Moral Authority. That course starts in January 2024. (We encourage you to register by Wednesday, December 13 to get a $50 tuition discount). At the most fundamental level, we need ordinary people to find moral courage to act with integrity as Christ followers. Right On Mission is here to help by teaching believers how to live on mission.
Many of you reading this blog have the spiritual gift of prophecy or evangelism or pastoring or teaching or of apostolically starting a new ministry in Christ. We are here to train you at a doable graduate level, so you can have the know-how to go about doing your part. If you have the gift of wisdom or discernment or service or helps or knowledge, exhortation, or hospitality, it is equally important for you to be equipped.
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If enough moral leaders rise up with moral authority, using their spiritual gifts, the Spirit of God might use us to spark a movement for moral courage, even in the form of a national revival that heals the hearts of people across the land.