kyriakides.wordpress.com

Many have already made up their minds concerning next months election. But, those of you who have your minds made up, no matter what side you are on, I would ask you consider this thought. Why are you voting for who you are voting for? This question made me quite curious, so I began to poll many people about their reasons for who they were voting for. Many cited the economy, the war, but the overwhelming majority citied “values” as their number one reason. When asked more deeply about these values, most stated the two biggest issues in relation to their values were abortion and gay marriage.

As a Christian I would like to unpack these issues that so singlehandedly sway the vote of so many. I will address these issues in two separate posts. Today I will address the issue of abortion. First off, I want to be very clear, as a Christian I uphold the truth of God’s word pertaining to the sanctity of human life. I believe any practice, which devalues, dehumanizes, and selfishly takes human life is not at all what God intends.

A common verse used to support this is Psalm 139:13-16 which states,

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”

These are powerful word words about a Creators love for his children, which I wholeheartedly embrace. But I have to ask the question; does this verse only apply to babies?  Or perhaps, is there a bigger picture? I believe one must ask the question, why is abortion wrong? The answer is not because the Church says so, nor is it because babies never had a chance? The answer to this question is that abortion is contrary to the will of God because all life created by God is sacred. ALL LIFE. This means that every human being created by God is sacred, from an unborn baby to someone who would fly a plane into a building. All created by God, all sacred.  Which should cause us to ask the question, can we as Christians, in clear conscience, support a candidate solely on the fact they value unborn babies. Or is there a bigger picture concerning God’s view of the sanctity of life.

A 2006 study done by Johns Hopkins University puts the death toll of Iraqi’s since the US-led invasion at somewhere around 655,000, although, some figures put the number well above 900,000. This may seem like just a number but to give some perspective. This is more than the population of Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, Flint, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek, COMBINED!  I don’t know about you, but to me, that is a lot of sacred life.

So what does all this mean? How should we react to this as Christians?  I would say this. Abortion is a horrible atrocity that claims over a million unborn babies every year and as Christians we must evaluate such a practice with great discernment.  In the same breath, war is a horrible atrocity that has taken in between a half a million to a million people in the country of Iraq over the past 5 years and as Christians we must evaluate such a conflict with great discernment.

There is not one answer or candidate that honors “Christian Values” and one who does not pertaining to this issue. The issue is much larger than abortion. The issue is about the sanctity of human life and as Christians we must understand that by voting against abortion while supporting the taking of human life in the conflict in the Middle East we are not upholding our values. In the same way, voting for a candidate that will end the war that supports abortion in certain cases does not fully honor “Christian Values”. 

At this point you may be asking the question, “Well then as a Christian who should I vote for?” I will leave that up to you. It is not my intention to sway anyone or to tell anyone who to vote for. My intention is to open the eyes of Christians to evaluate why we believe the things we do and hopefully to begin a conversation that will lead to growth in your life and a furthering of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.