Standing Out In The Cold: Further Confessions of a Christian Pro-Life Activist

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“Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
and digged down thine altars;
and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

But what saith the answer of God unto him?
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men,
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.”
- Romans 11:3-4

We know from God’s answer and from other Scripture, that Elias was in fact not alone – but that God had reserved to himself a remnant of believers in addition to Elias. This is a comforting fact for the Christian believer in general, and the pro-life activist in specific.

I recently posted an article on the “who, what, and why” of Christian pro-life activism, and the calling it has on the believer’s life. In this post, I’d like to speak just a little about what that looks like in practice, and in particular how it feels to step out on this issue of “life” — explaining how pro-life activists, though we feel like Elias, are encouraged that we are not alone, but that God hath reserved to himself workers for the field.

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Darkness Within The Gates

“The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” – Proverbs 4:19

Remember as a child, stepping out into the darkness of night, and feeling a chill run down your spine? Darkness itself has a way of producing fear within us. But add into that darkness – evil, and you will have a reason for the chill down your spine. That is getting close to what it feels like to pray in front of an abortion clinic. I recently told a friend that it may be one of the ‘darkest’ places on earth. Imagine how it feels standing outside of Auschwitz in Germany, the World Trade Center in New York, or a Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. Knowing that human beings have lost their lives in those places, you can not help but have a feeling of somberness roll over you. But those are still places of the past. These clinics are not. Oftentimes they are in the very process of killing children as you stand, in prayer, only a few yards away – past the wall, the parking lot, and the boundary fence. You are actually in the presence of death. Few experiences could even come close to preparing you for it. To see a women with life on her face go into the clinic, and then exit a few hours later with a look of death is heart rending, gut wrenching, and unforgettable. You see the darkness and feel that familiar, but never welcome, chill.

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Hated By More Than Many, Loved By Less Than A Few

“But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.” – Psalm 22:6-7,9

Few causes can bring more vitriolic hatred upon you, from both believers and unbelievers, as the pro-life cause. You can imagine the tone of unbelievers intent on protecting their “right to kill”; but I would wager that many of you would be surprised at the number of Christians who speak out against pro-life activism. I guess it may be that our Americanized Christianity has lost its stomach for controversial demonstrations such as praying in front of an abortion clinic, but I am still troubled by its root cause. The same Christian that will speed on the way to church is the oftentimes the one who will so ardently confess that “roe v. wade is the law of the land” so it needs to be respected. For the most part, Pro-Choicers are quite vocal about their displeasure with us being on site at these clinics: mix in a few curse words, a couple of ‘highway salutes’, and the occasional flying coat hanger or handful of firecrackers and you begin to get a picture of the kind of things thrown at these Christians as they stand and pray. Thankfully the believer’s actions are not as abrasive, but even if the Christian’s feeling towards pro-life activism is not full-blown hatred, all too often it is a willing neglect and disdain for ‘things like that’ (i.e. public gatherings of prayer at abortion clinics). Rather than pray for these activists and their cause, many Christians are more likely to lament that “those folks can’t find something better to do with their time”.

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Alone, At The Devil’s Doorstep

“On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.” – Psalm 22:10-11

One of the most striking aspects of what we do is the close proximity of it to the Enemy, and the absence of “help”. I don’t think that God is any less “there” in the abortion clinic, than he is in the Sunday morning sanctuary — however, I do believe that God will give over sinful places, locations, and even entire nations to their sin and the power of the prince of this world. We saw it in pre-judgment Sodom and Gomorrah, and Romans 1:28 for example: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient”. At all times, we are attacked by Satanic forces. The last place the devil wants Christians to be is his stronghold in the city — so he “brings it” when you pray at the clinic — and too often, it pays off. The vast majority of potential activists are turned away by temptation before they even arrive. Satan works on their flesh, “What will people think of you?”, “What would your parents say?”, “Will anyone you know, see you out there?”. If that doesn’t work, he’ll question and under-mind the end of your faithfulness, “What difference can you make anyway?” — or produce a last ditch effort to get you to compromise or procrastinate your burden, “I’ll just pray for a few minutes at home, or maybe later on”. But what he accomplishes through his work is vastly destructive to the cause; and leaves only a handful of workers. He has effectively removed the only people who are a threat to his kingdom: praying people of God. He has cunningly sealed the abortion clinic off from the presence of ministers of the Gospel. His plan is clear. And it is deadly.

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By Grace, Interceding For Grace

“Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.” – Ezekiel 7:23

“Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.” – Numbers 21:7

As Christian pro-life activists, in addition to the human element, we intercede on behalf of the clinic, the city, and the nation as a whole. We understand that it is only for the grace of God in the blood of Jesus Christ that America, Louisville, and we as a people are not judged for our continual, and unabashed “shedding of innocent blood”. Our city, is indeed “full of bloody crimes”. If not for the bins of “medical waste” at the EMW Women’s Surgical Clinic on Market St., the sidewalks would run red with blood on abortion days. And we must understand that, like the blood of Abel, these children’s blood cries out to God for justice.

Think about it…‘BH

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