Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. So, God made man; in the image of God, He made him; male and female He made them. Then God blessed them; and God said to them; “Be fruitful, and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, and over every living thing that moves on earth.” Genesis 1:26
Christians love life. Christians protect every human life. We love people because all people are persons: persons who have rights worthy of equal protection, and equal justice under the law.
We are all human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, and thus any attacks upon a human image-bearer of God (born or unborn), is an attack upon God Himself. In a sense, it is a self-attack on the birth mother by herself, for in choosing to destroy the unborn child she is bearing, she in effect is destroying herself as co-creator, along with the birth father, and ultimately seeking to destroy God, the One who knits together this new human life in the womb.
Therefore, we stand FOR love and life, in opposition to hate and death. Therefore, we stand FOR protection, in opposition to everyone seeking to kill and destroy. This is why we stand FOR mercy, so that in a world of pain and suffering we can be agents of healing and compassion instead of those who peddle and promote death and destruction for profit.
You see, we lead with love. We must stand for love. This is what we are for. We love God, and we love people. To love people is to love God, and to love God is to love people, for the Creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights, namely: life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness.
Often pastors and churches are afraid of taking a strong stand against abortion, and against infanticide, and against euthanasia. They are fearful because of the blowback of being against things; fearful of people being upset and leaving; of offending women; of decreasing tithes and the resultant financial strain on the church; fearful because the pastor might lose his job if he preaches too much truth, or the wrong kind.
Allow me to make a suggestion. Instead of focusing on what we are against, turn it around and lead with love, proclaim the positive, and pastors truthfully tell the world what we stand for. In love, let us be people of light in a dark—and ever-darkening—world filled with confusion, despair, and fear. Pastor: do not be afraid of preaching ‘against abortion,’ but also don’t forget to confidently tell the world what we are for, to affirm Genesis chapter one and the biblical ideas expressed in it; they are true, beautiful, and good. For they are indeed very good things, because they are God things.
“Church, are you ready for a challenge?” In simple and meaningful ways, remind the world that what we stand on is what we stand for. Let us be known for what we are for, for what we truly love: people—human persons made in the image and likeness of God. Every race, creed, color and nationality in every circumstance, every situation and in every need from the moment life begins at conception to the cessation of life at natural death.