My friend Andy, one of my fellow Fire in the Night interns, has posted a good summary of the situation in America today and the reason why the Call Nashville is urgent:

Andy Blake at IHOP: The Church in America, Abortion and The Call Nashville

I'm going to piggy-back off of him and write up something that I've been intending to do for a while, which is why I'm convinced that we have a Biblical mandate to oppose abortion, even if it means "getting weird" or becoming a "single issue voter."

This post is addressed to Christians who profess to take the Bible seriously. I'm not worried about convincing anyone else at this point.

1. The Bible is absolutely authoritative

Psalm 119:128
 128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things
         I consider to be right;
         I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:160
 160 The entirety of Your word is truth,
         And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

2. The Bible says that human life is sacred

Genesis 9:5-6 (God speaking to Noah after the Flood)
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.

6 " Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.

3. The Bible says that unborn infants are human beings

Psalm 139:13-15
 13 For You formed my inward parts;
         You covered me in my mother's womb.
 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
         Marvelous are Your works,
         And that my soul knows very well.
 15 My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,

         And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

(Note that the idea that human beings are a "tabula rasa" - a blank slate at birth whose experiences determine all aspects of personality - is also denied by this passage.)

4. The Bible says that murder of human beings pollutes an entire country

Numbers 35:33 (the context here is about pre-meditated murder)
33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

5. The Bible says that God will judge a nation that murders children

2 Kings 17:16-18
16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

("Making a child pass through the fire to Molech" was a practice of murdering infants by placing them on a red-hot metal idol and allowing them to burn to death.)

I am convinced that while there may be many other issues on which some Pro-Life politicians (e.g. George W. Bush) may be on the wrong side of Biblical justice, the Biblical mandate regarding the murder of children is one which a disciple of Christ can not ignore.

But I'm not primarily interested in trying to convince people of how to vote. How we use our votes or our dollars is important, but utterly insufficient to bring the change that we need in this nation. We need God, not human effort.

Thus, The Call in Nashville – fasting, prayer, repentance. What we need is 2 Chronicles 7:14:

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

(Note that this is addressed to the people of God, not to those who are God's enemies.)

Before I close, I'm going to address a few possible objections:

1. What if the life of the mother is at stake?

These kinds of extreme-case situational ethics examples are frequently brought up to defend many kinds of immorality and unrighteous behavior. I have three comments:

1. How often is the mother's life really at stake with modern medical technology? Between C-sections and intensive care for pre-mature infants (who have been saved as much as 3 months premature or more), I have to believe that this is an extremely rare scenario.
   
2. If we accept the Biblical doctrine that the unborn child is actually a human being made in God's image, then this is identical to a situation in which the life of two adults hangs in the balance. There may come a moment (e.g. for firefighters) in which a life-and-death decisions must be made, but this decision is never made casually. Biblically, every effort must be made to save both lives first.
   
3. As disciples of Christ, we have a resource that is completely unavailable to others – the Gospel. The blood of Jesus has purchased healing for us, and inaugurated a Kingdom in which supernatural healing is not only possible, but can be asked for expectantly. The idea that a Christian's only recourse in an extreme situation like this is to murder a child, when we have been promised divine healing from the very mouth of Jesus (Mark 16:18) is simply unacceptable.
   

2. What about cases of rape and incest?

I recognize that this is extremely sensitive ground to tread, especially as a man, so I want to say the following as carefully as I can.

My answer is essentially my last point in the above. We have the Gospel. Jesus purchased healing for us on the cross. That includes healing of our bodies, healing of our emotions, renewing of our minds, and healing of our memories.

It really is possible for a rape victim to be healed from the scars of the horrible wickedness which has been committed against her. I have heard testimonies of women who have experienced precisely that. It is not easy, and it is not quick, but it is possible. The Gospel really is that powerful.

The idea that abortion is a "solution" to an experience of rape or incest is diabolically deceptive. Having an abortion is a traumatic experience in itself, which leaves its own scars years later. Convincing a wounded, shame-filled, traumatized woman to have an abortion in order to deal with her trauma is like suggesting that a veteran suffering from PTSD take up hallucinogenic drugs to get a better grip on reality.

3. Doesn't a woman have a right to do what she wants with her own body?

No. This sound-bite is simply ridiculous, and the fact that it's still continually used is a sign of the delusion of our culture and the self-deception and secrecy that shrouds the abortion industry.

Consider the implication of the statement "I have the right to do what I want with my own body." Does that include the right to fill my body with alcohol and drive my body home? Does that include the right to put my fist (a part of my body) in the nose of a police officer? Does that include the right to strap explosives to my body and blow my body up in the middle of a crowded restaurant?

My right to do what I want with my body ends where the body of another (or the law of the land) begins.

What is really meant by this kind of statement is that the unborn child is part of a woman's body, not a separate human being, and therefore, he has no rights as concerning how his mother treats him. As I've noted above, however, Biblically, this is simply false. A woman has no more right to murder the child living inside her than she does to murder the child living next door.

The Need for Compassion

While I have been rather stern in all of the above, I feel the need to end on a different note.

The sad fact is that the reason that most women have abortions is not really "convenience", but fear. Fear of lack of finances. Fear of a terrible life for the child. Fear of reprisal by family members. Fear, simply, of the unknown.

Women who are facing crisis pregnancies do not need to be rebuked. They need help. They need to know that there is another option. They need to know that there is a God who loves them, who is "slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness", and who has made a way for them to have hope and healing and a future.

A ministry that I know of that does this work well is Care Net.

But again, ultimately, the burden is on the Church. The reason why God calls the Church to humble ourselves, repent, and pray is because we are the ones who He holds responsible. The Church has the answer. Sinners in the world can only be expected to behave as sinners. They have no answer – only despair upon despair. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer. We need to believe the Gospel, live the Gospel, and preach the Gospel to our nation. And the only way that is going to happen is if we accept that we are utterly insufficient and have no resources in ourselves to live up to our calling.

And thus, we end up where we began. We need God!