Pastor Tim Takes a Stand on Abortion

Pastor Tim led a small but wealthy United Methodist Church for almost twenty years. He used to tell his congregation the following story every few months: “When pro-lifers stand in front of abortion clinics and shout at women who go to have abortions, they aren’t showing the love of Christ. Until you’ve walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, you have no right judge. That’s not what God wants.”

I’ve been involved in the pro-life movement for about a decade. I’ve never seen pro-lifers standing outside an abortion clinic shouting at women who are either going in to have an abortion or leaving the clinic after having one. But let’s assume that Pastor Tim is correct in suggesting that this kind of thing actually happens. Some obvious questions follow:

1. There are several thousand abortions performed per day in America. Are there also several thousand women getting shouted down (specifically for having an abortion) per day in America?

2. Is it worse to a) dismember a baby or b) shout at a woman who just paid to have her baby dismembered? (Feel free to assume that both are wrong but, please, answer the question anyway).

3. Given that Pastor Tim talks about civil rights from time to time, shouldn’t he also mention the disproportionate impact of abortion on the black community?

4. Blacks are 12% of the population but 37% of all abortions. Isn’t that a bigger problem than isolated instances of shouting outside of abortion clinics?

5. Do pro choicers ever shout at pro-lifers peaceably assembling outside of abortion clinics? Do they ever try to throw urine, fecal matter, and used tampons on their political opponents?

6. Which is worse: a) getting yelled at for having an abortion, or b) getting hit with a bloody tampon simply for opposing abortion?

The list of questions could go on and on. But I think it would be productive (no pun intended) to stop and ask why Pastor Tim’s rare comments on abortion are always directed toward criticizing pro-life activism instead of abortion itself. Two possibilities follow:

1. Pastor Tim feels uncomfortable as a registered Republican leading a liberal congregation. Telling stories about screaming pro-lifers lets people know he is not “that kind of Republican.” Letting liberal parishioners know he’s not judging them if they have had (or pressured a girlfriend or daughter into having) an abortion is his way of asking not to be judged for his nominally pro-life beliefs. Knowing he’s not being judged is good for Pastor Tim’s self-esteem.

2. Pastor Tim’s congregation provided him with a beautiful and spacious waterfront home for the duration of his tenure as their pastor. Their generous giving also kept the church running smoothly with a budget that remained constantly in the black. Tim had to tread lightly on the abortion issue in order to keep the wealthy liberals in the congregation happy and to keep the offering plates full so he wouldn’t have to live like a Democrat on public assistance.

One Sunday, shortly after Pastor Tim decried the screaming pro-lifers, his associate pastor, an older and wiser man, delivered a stirring message. It was about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. As Pastor Tim listened to the sermon, he must have been wondering what he would have done had he been a preacher during the Nazi Holocaust.

But unashamed pro-lifers already know what Pastor Tim would have done. He would have smiled and told the opposing party exactly what they wanted to hear.

Of course, we’re now in the midst of a Holocaust that has taken the lives of 55 million innocent human beings. If your congregation is led by a pastor like Tim then, please, send him this column. And tell him you’re bypassing the offering plate until he finds the courage to defend the unborn. The more we reward cowardice and hypocrisy, the more viable it becomes outside of the pulpit.

I grew up in the Methodist church, but dropped out in the mid-1970’s when it began its drift to the Left.

Recently, I started receiving correspondence from my old hometown church. The explanation provided was that they were “updating” the address registry of all church members. Bear in mind that I haven’t had any dealings with this church since 1976 and have had about six different addresses since that time.

Asked my folks if they gave my current address to them and was told “No.” Was also told that the old hometown church was in desperate financial straits, having run-off all of the real Christians.

This sort of situation has happened before—a minister of the Word treading lightly upon the toes of his congregation lest he offend one with the truth.

After all, Isaiah 30:10 which says “Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” is pretty clear that when you speak only “smooth” things it is a deceit.

In the end, every man must give account unto God, and for leading others astray this man will be reprimanded. If only in truth this man would see that infanticide is murder!

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