Faith without abolition is dead?

[Toasty]

There is an organization called Abolish Human Abortion and it claims that fulfilling the Great Commission entails fighting abortion. How would you respond to this?

Here are some quotes from the site:

But if we are faithful to examine the Scriptures, we will find that just as faith without works is dead, so also a “Great Commission” without the work of abolition is dead.

The Great Commission certainly includes the work of evangelism, as well as discipleship. But this discipleship entails teaching the evangelized to obey all that Christ has commanded. And what has Christ commanded? Christ has commanded a number of things, but if we were to begin somewhere, we should probably look at what Christ called the two greatest commandments, upon which depend all the Law and the Prophets:

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:34-40, ESV)

Certainly, if Jesus has anything in mind in the Great Commission, regarding which commandments should be taught, He has these in mind. After all, these are the greatest! And not just here, but throughout the Gospels, we see that our obligation to love our neighbor was of the main emphases of Christ’s teaching ministry (Matt. 7:12, Luke 10:25-37, John 15:12-14, Matt. 25:31-46). So, if in the Great Commission, Christ commands that these commandments be taught, the question then arises: what do these commandments entail?

If you love your neighbor as yourself, will you stand idly by while he is legally dismembered, and torn limb from limb, even though he has committed no crime, and done no one any wrong? Will you stand idly by while two of your neighbors in this country are so butchered every minute? While 3500 are ripped apart every day? Or will you simply be content with token expressions of opposition to this great evil?

Here is the link to the website: Abolitionism and the Great Commission | Abolish Human Abortion

 

[Toasty]

I think what they are trying to say is that we as Christians must do something to prevent people from getting an abortion, not just believe that abortion is sinful.

 

[Tim]

Will you stand idly by while two of your neighbors in this country are so butchered every minute? While 3500 are ripped apart every day? Or will you simply be content with token expressions of opposition to this great evil?

The abortion issue is very important. However, I grow tired of exhortations worded in this way that, when taken to their logical conclusion, suggest that every Christian must be actively working in every issue, at all times. This can also come in the form of, "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem".

Individual Christians can only do so much. If they decide to put lots of time into one issue, this necessarily comes at the expense of another important issue. We are finite.