As I travel around the nation training teams for Sidewalk Outreach ministry, there is a common discouragement voiced repeatedly. It boils down to: where is the church?
All of us in Sidewalk Outreach struggle with trying to find volunteers to cover all the hours the Abortion centers are open. It is very discouraging to think that no one but us cares about the abortion crisis. We assume that people don’t care because they are not out there with us fighting for the unborn lives until the last moment.
It Is a Discouragement
This is a discouragement sent by Satan. It is also not true that the church is ignoring what God would have it do. The church is overwhelmingly the entity responsible for responding to natural disasters and adopting the children that no one else wants to adopt. The church is fostering children, providing help and resources to the poor, and interceding in all kinds of crisis assistance ministries.
Not only does it discourage us to think we are all alone in caring about the unborn, but it discourages our teammates.
Self-Righteous Attitude?
Additionally, I will add an even more serious concern. I think that sometimes this question reflects a self-righteous attitude creeping in. Because this is our calling, our passion, we believe it is the only calling and the only passion and that anyone who doesn’t share it is somehow ignoring God.
This is wrong and I know it from a personal level. For years, this is how I felt. For years, I would ask the same question. Where is the church? I was smugly sure that I was doing what everyone should be doing. I left little grace that others might be called to different ministries and purpose.
The Church is Actually Doing a Lot
First, remember the church is not a building. The church is the body of believers! And many in that body are busy doing God’s work! The church is running Pregnancy Resource centers which I deeply depend upon in ministering to abortion-determined women. The church is starting incredible programs for single pregnant women, whose lives are changed through those programs. One such program is Grace house here in Charlotte. Pregnant women can live at Grace House free, not only during the pregnancy, but for two years following the birth of the baby. The church is providing food pantries, beds, christmas boxes, water and wells in drought-stricken areas. The church is fostering, adopting, and providing relief to overwhelmed parents in all kinds of church ministries. The church shows up to rebuild following disastrous floods or earthquakes or hurricanes. The church is donating to pro-life causes. The church is fighting on the political front to bring about equal protection under the law for unborn children. The church is not absent. All these other things that the church is doing besides Sidewalk Outreach help us to be able to more effectively minister to these women and place them where their lives can be transformed.
Perhaps most importantly in my mind, the church is becoming a house of refuge for women affected by abortion. I believe the Love Life model of training and equipping churches to more effectively reach abortion-minded or abortion-impacted families is crucial. I do believe it would be incredibly beneficial for every church to be a house of refuge. I am sure that there are some churches that are slackers in doing what God is calling them to do.
However, there are many churches that are doing what God has commissioned them to do. They are preaching the gospel, which is the only thing that will change a heart inclined to kill her own child. They are teaching, loving, and discipling.
Focus on OUR Part
It is very important that we NOT focus on what everyone else is doing or not doing. We need to focus on what God has called us to do and then do it to the absolute best of our ability. God will work on other peoples’ hearts. The Bible warns us that we cannot know the mind of God. You can only know what God has told you to do. Do it and rejoice in your calling.
”And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.“
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