Sunday, January 29, 2012

Touching Base! Part 155

Hot Topics - Part 3 – Abortion (Part 2)
“Sure… I can see where abortion might be wrong… but what about…?”

Guest posting by Carmen Gauvin-O’Donnell

(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Last week Mark opened the topic of abortion by delving into God’s word. There we saw (in Psalm 51:5) that what is in the womb matters, because the baby is a (sinful) person from the very beginning, even if he or she may go through different stages of development (zygote, fetus etc.). Only persons can be sinful.

I was also able to help Mark out by coming up and talking about the challenge that has been articulated by some people (i.e. “okay, so the fetus may be human, but it’s not a ‘person’…”). I explained that what does or does not define someone as a person is usually a very arbitrary, personal, list, and that such lists can be ultimately very dangerous:
  • They will tend to include things which should not be included (i.e. some radical animal rights groups have started suggesting that animals have the exact same rights as human beings)
  • At the other end of the spectrum, they will exclude things which should be on the list. As an example of the dangers of this idea, in the first service I mentioned that the Nazis had made lists of who should or should not live, and most genocides happen because one group decides another has no right to live.
I also provided the SLED acrostic that you can use, that will answer most peoples’ arguments about the unborn: Size, Level of Development, Environment and Degree of Dependency. See last week’s TB for more information on that.

Well as a result of that talk, Mark and I both got some questions which we thought we’d briefly respond to in this Touching Base (by the way, we LOVE that about the congregation at Bethel: no topics are too hot, no questions too difficult that we can’t all wrestle with them!)

a) What about the poor woman who has been raped? What about pregnancy in a young teenage girl?

I thought I would answer these two questions together.

As I explained last week, one of the most important things to be conscious of is that, while abortion is a very emotionally-charged issue, what we MUST remember, above all, is this:

If the unborn isn’t a human being, then no justification for abortion is necessary.
But if the unborn IS a human being, then no justification for abortion is adequate.

So as you can see, there is only one question to be answered: Wwhat is the unborn? We need to know the answer because we all agree that it’s wrong to kill an innocent human being.

So when the question of rape or the age of the mother is brought up, the question isn’t about the mother, as sympathetic as we might be with the sometimes-tragic circumstances. The question to be answered comes down to this: what has the baby, a human person, done that he deserves to lose his life?

The pro-abortion groups have pulled off a very neat trick here: they have taken the baby out of the equation completely and made it all about the mother, when the question is all and only about the baby. No matter how tragic the circumstances or how emotional the situation, we as Christians must remember that it’s all about an innocent child. What we will do with this most defenseless of God’s creations? That’s why outstanding organizations like the Kingston Pregnancy Care Centre exist, so they can provide alternatives to abortion.

b) What happens to a fetus who dies while she’s still in the womb?

Firstly, we can look at Romans 1. In it, Paul tells us that all men and women are without excuse before God because He reveals Himself as Creator in the awesome universe all around us (for you armchair theologians out there, this is called “General Revelation”). Since a fetus has never had the opportunity to see that general revelation, God’s mercy must rest upon her. I am also reminded of King David’s words when speaking of his dead infant son, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” (2 Sam 12:23) This can be understood to imply that the child is in heaven, where he will eventually be joined by David.

Also, again God’s grace must be present since this is a human being who will never get the choice to decide whether or not to follow Christ.

Finally, we can also rest in Genesis 18:25: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” We can concede that at times God’s plan is a mystery to us on this side of eternity. There are times when we must bow the knee and simply say, after Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (13:15). We know that God’s justice, mercy and grace are perfect and we know He will always do the right thing.

As an aside, some have said that, in that case, why not encourage abortion since then we’re guaranteeing that more people go to heaven? This is wrongful thinking for two reasons:
  • We are commanded not to murder (more on this below)
  • God ultimately gets to decide who lives and dies, from conception to natural death. Anything else means that we are playing God, which we are also commanded not to do.
c) Why does the New Testament appear silent on this issue?

This argument is actually put forward by some as an argument in favour of abortion (just as some say that since Jesus didn’t talk about homosexuality that had to mean he was in favour of it).

Firstly, there are a couple of reasons why there would be no problem with the silence:
  • Klusendorf (p.139) writes that a study of the Jewish culture and writings of that time shows it to be a profoundly anti-abortion one (among others, the historian Josephus wrote about the anti-abortion laws of the time; the Sybiline Oracles also pronounced as “wicked” those who had abortions)
  • In very early Christian history (mid to late 1st century), the Didache, a document published to guide the early church, specifically speaks of abortion in paragraph 2.2: “You shall not kill a child in the womb nor expose infants.”
So since the culture surrounding the writing of the New Testament was pro-life, there would be no reason to even bring it up when it was being written. It was obvious to everyone.

Secondly, the silence of the New Testament is not compelling to me personally, since Christians are people of the whole Bible: it seems to me that “You shall not murder” (Deut. 5:17) pretty much covers abortion, doesn’t it?

What do you think? Do these answers make sense? Do you agree or disagree? There are many more questions that could be asked and answered - don’t hesitate to contact us and ask! And if you can, take some time this week to talk with your group or other people about this vital issue for our times.

Finally, take some time to pray for all the defenseless in our midst that we, as followers of Christ,, would have the courage to stand and defend them.

Carmen
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com


RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING/TRAINING

The Didache, or The Teaching of the Lord Given to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles, can be read online, along with commentaries, at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (www.evangelicalfellowship.ca) “The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is the national association of evangelical Christians in Canada. It gathers Evangelicals together for impact, influence and identity in ministry and public witness” Their website has a page titled “Abortion/Fetal Rights” at http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/page.aspx?pid=365

Klusendorf, Scott. The Case for Life. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2009.

Life Training Institute (www.prolifetraining.com) “LTI was started by our president Scott Klusendorf in order to create a ministry that focused entirely on pro-life issues with the goal of maximizing its impact through single-minded dedication. Simply stated, our sole purpose is to train others to save lives. That's what we're all about.”

Stand to Reason (http://www.str.org): “Stand to Reason trains Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square.” Their website contains hundreds of pages of free resources and training material on many apologetics issues, including defending the pro-life position (search the website for “abortion”). Together, Greg Koukl and Scott Klusendorf have created the outstanding course, Making Abortion Unthinkable, which is available for purchase on the site.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Touching Base! Part 154

Hot Topics - Part 2 - Abortion
What’s In The Womb Matters!


(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Once again in Canadian politics the abortion issue seems to be gaining some momentum in terms of moving to the front of public debate. In a recent interview with Evan Solomon, host of CBC TV's “Power & Politics”, Stephen Woodworth (MP, Kitchener Centre), said the law defining a human being dates back to centuries-old English common law and Parliament has a responsibility to lead a debate on whether it's time to rewrite it. "Our definition of human being says that a child does not become a human being until the moment of complete birth," he said.

So we believe that every Christ-follower should be doubly-equipped…

… with the best of science to understand that what’s in the womb does matter. “Embryology textbooks uniformly state that new human life comes into existence upon completion of fertilization…” (Scott Klusendorf, The Case for Life, p. 49)

… AND with what Scripture has to say about what is in the womb. Often in our world, even as Christians, we only allow the scientific data to shape our worldview on the unborn. However, we must also dig into God’s word on this issue. We believe that when we do, God’s word will show us what it is that science clearly points to - that what’s in the womb matters.

In this Touching Base, I want to outline four statements from scripture that will help us to see this.

What’s in the womb is described with the language of personhood from conception.

Text: Psalm 51:1-6
Read through this text. The most salient verse for our purposes today is verse 5.

Note in v1-4- What was David’s sin? (adultery with Bathsheba) Who had he ultimately sinned against?

But notice v5- David says that he was sinful… only from birth? Not just birth, but conception.

Conception- Hebrew meaning hot - fertilization.

How can someone be guilty at birth if they haven’t done anything? How does verse 5b answer that question?

Our guilt is not rooted in behaviour alone but in our nature. We are sinful by nature, not just because of our actions. David is stating a biblical teaching which is not unique to his pen alone but which is found throughout scripture. If you are studying this in a group, you may want to search up other scriptures that talk about the sinful nature.
Here is my point: What is synonymous with a sinful nature? Do cells have a sinful nature…? Does “potential life” have a sinful nature…? Scripture makes it very clear that humanity, persons, have human nature. David is using the language of personhood, “sinful from conception” to describe what is in the womb at conception. What’s in the womb matters.

However, there are a number of pro-choice advocates who would say personhood does not come into being until later. Carmen spoke about the following two in particular:

  • Mary Anne Warren, an American writer and philosopher, asserted that a person “is a living entity with feelings, self-awareness, consciousness, and the ability to interact with his or her environment.” (Klusendorf, p.52) And so a human fetus can’t be a person with rights since it has none of these. One point to note is that, by that definition, any sleeping person can be killed since they fail the test as well. But the most important point to note here is that Ms. Warren is simply making an assertion (as opposed to providing evidence), without explaining why persons should be defined this way.
  • Another idea has been articulated by Paul D. Simmons, a university professor and minister. He “concedes that zygotes (early embryos) are biologically human but denies they are "complex" or "developed enough" to qualify as "persons" in a biblical or philosophical sense. ‘No one can deny the continuum from fertilization to maturity and adulthood,’ writes Simmons. ‘That does not mean, however, that every step on the continuum has the same value or constitutes the same entity.’” (Klusendorf, p.52) In other words, since these things only “develop” later, the zygotes aren’t persons.

Answers to these arguments are to be found at the end of the Touching Base, using the SLED Test.

What’s in the womb is morally accountable to God.

Text: Psalm 51:1-6

Notice another biblical truth about what is in the womb. Whenever someone sins there are two questions we often will ask- what and who? What did they do? (we are just nosey) and Who did they sin against? In David’s case in v.1-4 we know both the “what” the “who”. But notice verse 5. What is the what? And who is the who?

What - What did we do/sin? Lots, if you look at our lives since exiting the womb. But our actions are rooted in a sinful nature, not some kind of bad psychosis. A sinful nature inherited, passed down to us from Adam (Romans 5). Sin is not just an action but a state of being/nature.

Who - The context of Psalm 51 makes it pretty clear that the Who of our sin is ultimately God.
So get this, David is saying that we are accountable to God, not after birth or at the age of accountability as we sometimes talk about but our accountability starts at conception. We are liable before God at that “hot” moment. Again note that things, inanimate objects and even life do not share in this unique kind of accountability that humanity or persons do. What’s in the womb matters - he/she is accountable to God.

What’s in the womb is the focus of immeasurable love/value.

Key Text: Psalm 139

A. Seen in God’s involvement
v.13” inmost being”- actually it is the Hebrew word for kidneys. This is probably so because in dismembering an animal the kidneys are the last organ to be reached.

Knit - note the intimacy of this imagery as the wool or fabric passes through the hands of the Maker.

Then read v.14, 15 - an amazing statement that science would agree with. God’s involvement speaks of our incredible value. We are constructs of God. But note the following comment:

“For many on the academic and secular left, natural rights are nothing but an oppressive ideology because for them human nature is nothing but a fiction. ‘In the understanding of the post- modernists,’ writes Hadley Arkes, ‘there is no objective nature of human beings, and no settled truths that arise from that nature: What we call human nature is socially constructed from one place to another according to the vagaries of local culture.’” (Klusendorf, p.65)

A biblical worldview is not based on a social construct, but on a divine construct.

B. Seen in God’s healing and restorative work. (Back to Psalm 51)

The common “scar” we all share as persons is a sinful nature. A nature that has been damaged by sin. What is the full story behind that scar? For example we all have physical scars. What is the story behind some of your physical scars? Our shared scar is a sinful nature and the story behind it is one of incredible love, sacrifice, healing, and restoration. David experienced God’s healing from his sin but he looked forward to that day when Jesus would come - God’s medicine in a physical ”bottle.” Read Acts 2:22-28. Also read Galatians 5:16-26 about our new way to live. What’s in the womb? Not just cells, not just life - but a person - scarred, yet a scar that shows that they are the object of God’s love.

What’s in the womb has intrinsic, not functional, value.

“Intrinsic”: inherent, built-in
“Functional”: you have to earn it

We live in a world that often equates worth with performance, productivity, assets, education. But when David says, “sinful from conception” David is illustrating the incredible worth and value of each human being. The analogy of the sin nature as a scar speaks of value – an object of love, an object of intimate involvement by God. Without a word being spoken by that person in the womb, without a degree being earned, without a culturally-acknowledged achievement, without a bank account to boast of or a trophy pointing to success - with nothing functionally accomplished, that sinful-natured person, although morally accountable to God is the object of God’s immeasurable love, fearfully and wonderfully knit together. The God of the universe makes provision for salvation without that person lifting a finger or taking a single step:
“But God demonstrated His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners (even at conception) Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

That is the great mystery of the gospel, the good news: God’s love is not based on our maturity, performance or contribution but simply on God’s grace and mercy.

Now, some pro-choicers would disagree and say that our worth is based on functionality: size, level of development, environment and degree of dependency. Carmen referred to this as the SLED Test on the weekend. At the end of this TB you will find an extra document explaining what the SLED test is and how to answer those arguments.

Our prayer is that you would understand both the science and the theology of what’s in the womb and protect the person God loves.

If you or someone in your group has had an abortion, read the context of Psalm 51. Even in his sin, David experienced God’s forgiveness. Next week, in part 2 of this Hot Topic, the Kingston Pregnancy Care Center will be with us, as well as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who will be presenting in the morning services.

Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact markkotchapaw@gmail.com


SLED Test


RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING/TRAINING

Klusendorf, Scott. The Case for Life. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2009.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (www.evangelicalfellowship.ca) “The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is the national association of evangelical Christians in Canada. It gathers Evangelicals together for impact, influence and identity in ministry and public witness” Their website has a page titled “Abortion/Fetal Rights” at http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/page.aspx?pid=365

Life Training Institute (www.prolifetraining.com) “LTI was started by our president Scott Klusendorf in order to create a ministry that focused entirely on pro-life issues with the goal of maximizing its impact through single-minded dedication. Simply stated, our sole purpose is to train others to save lives. That's what we're all about.”

Stand to Reason (http://www.str.org): “Stand to Reason trains Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square.” Their website contains hundreds of pages of free resources and training material on many apologetics issues, including defending the pro-life position (search the website for “abortion”). Together, Greg Koukl and Scott Klusendorf have created the outstanding course, Making Abortion Unthinkable, which is available for purchase on the site.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Touching Base! Part 153

Update

(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Church Family:
I want to communicate with you about some things going on at Bethel as we move into the New Year. We deeply value people knowing what’s going on so they can pray about what’s going on, and have a say in what’s going on. Functioning in silos (no communication or coordination) can be costly to any team. It’s important that all the individual parts stay informed and engaged with what is happening.

First, in looking back for a second, I want to say thanks to the many who were responsible for the huge outpouring of generosity during the month of December. From food hampers (35) to shoe boxes (235), to the selling of poinsettias (fund raiser for Kingston Pregnancy Care Center), to generous and sacrificial giving to our General and Build funds and the generous Benevolent gift given to Martha’s table – THANKS! We then saw over $1000.00 come in on January 8th through the benevolent for the rent bank at the Salvation Army. Living biblically-measured lives (one of our marks of a disciple) means being good stewards with all that God has given us. Thanks for making it happen at Bethel.

Secondly, we are very excited about many of the things that are in the works for 2012. Our plans are not solely devised from the top down but from the body of Christ giving input and taking responsibility to lead, minister and make a difference. Some of the things we are looking forward to are:

A. Sending 24 people overseas in February and March to Honduras, our international focus this year. Short-term missions trips are a proven way to help people develop a global perspective of what God is doing, and a passion for missions.

B. Continued collaboration with the elders, staff, deacons, and membership/congregation of Bethel as we continue to flesh out the vision and identify key action steps over the next 3- 5 years.

C. Our new partnership with Ellel that kicks off next weekend (January 20-21). At this point there are over 40 registered for the training that will cover a 12-month span, one weekend per month. As we seek to be more prayerfully engaged, this training will help several of our people be equipped in this area. This is a city-wide event drawing people from a number of different churches.

D. Our Prayer Summit is on January 29th this year. We are excited to take this event off-site to the Salvation Army Community and Family Services location at 342 Patrick St. We believe that it is very important to bathe what we do in prayer. This will be an opportunity for the body to come together, be informed about some of our partnerships and pray about where God is leading. Stay informed, and plan to attend. Details are in the bulletin.

E. We are excited about assimilating new families and individuals into the ministry of Bethel. I get personally excited when talking to new people who say that one of the main drivers for coming to Bethel was the vision (responding to the heart of God, transforming the heart of the city, nation and world). We look forward to who God will raise up to help the church be powerful not just in its gathered times but, equally importantly, in its scattered expressions, 24/7! Team is one of our values and it is becoming increasingly one of our strengths.
A few more things to think about:

First, let us continue to be willing to walk with people in whatever place they may be. Some are at the peaks, looking out with renewed strength and experiencing days of great hope and enthusiasm. Others are in the valley, barely able to lift their head, wondering where God is, wondering if anyone cares. Welcome to the body of Christ! We are all in different seasons, we all have different issues, and we all are in need of God’s transforming work in our lives. Let us continue to be a body that cares, making God and people the centerpiece, not programs, and being a conduit for the power of God to touch hearts deeply.

Finally, I am grateful for the many leaders I get to work with who represent so many great teams at Bethel. This past week I had a great meeting with our Design Team, leaders who regularly meet to evaluate services and discuss ways to make our musical worship increasingly God-centered and life-changing. We also process any input we receive from the church about music-related issues. This is a great team of men and women who care about what happens on Sunday mornings. Later this past week I had a meeting with a group of folks who are helping us develop our leadership culture at Bethel. Again, I am so grateful for people who say the local church matters and who are willing to give their best energies and thoughts to what happens. I’ve also met with members of our teaching team to go over up-and-coming messages. We can gain valuable insights when we submit our teaching plans to gifted teachers, men and women in the church. On Wednesday our staff had a full-day retreat. We do this twice a year. The first half of our meeting was focused on long-term planning - we looked at the next 12 months and laid out events and tried to evaluate what is working and not working and how our vision informs us on what can be improved or even deleted. The second half of our day saw us engage in a team-building event. We were led by an outside consultant who helped us work through the Myers Briggs personality assessment tool. This is a great tool for understanding team members and dynamics.

So thanks for all you are doing! Realize that we are a church called by God to do something on this corner, 314 Johnson Street, not for our own glory, but for the glory of God.


“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine
or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but
by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!”
Ephesians 3:20-21 (The Message)
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact markkotchapaw@gmail.com