OPINION: Moral debates bring out worst in Christianity

Sometimes the tools we use to defend our Christian faith bring out the worst in us.

I have seen what we learn in church on Sunday mornings vanish in an instant the minute we step out of the church and get onto Facebook. Even if our intentions are good, we use words and tactics so hurtful and unhelpful in the heat of anger — which we are taught to be slow to — that it is often hard to distinguish ourselves from the people we ought to be ministering to.

When those we are trying to minister to see this, they lose incentive to take anything we have to say seriously. This seems to be even more noticeable in recent days following the news of a recent abortion law passed in New York, and some of these fits of anger are from among those I personally might have expected to know better.

Before someone makes the gross misrepresentation that I support abortion, let me clear — absolutely nothing is farther from the truth. I find myself stating this point so strongly because I have noticed that many Christians are implying on social media that those who do not visibly respond immediately to this issue with a certain level of anger must be heartless, immoral individuals who could not possibly have salvation.

You would be wrong there, and I have found myself arguing with a few people in vain on this. I also want to make clear that I think those opposed to the abortion law should take advantage of their right to speak out, but I also believe the right approach is to not be so quick to anger because I know it does a disservice in seeking a solution to the underlying problem.

Instead, we ought to be ministering in a way that actually has a chance of addressing the issue — and in a manner people would be willing to listen to.

To give specific examples, I saw someone I know is well-respected in ministry imply on Facebook that those who are not downright outraged do not have a heart or soul. I tried to point out, because I thought there was a chance this person might be willing to listen, that simply ranting on Facebook is not enough to address this issue. She responded by acting as if she misunderstood my point – or as if that she thought I was disrespecting her right to speak out.

Another person I know posted something in opposition to the law, citing his Christian faith in doing so. Someone else posed the questions of how the issue of abortion might apply to cases of rape, or how his opinion on abortion might impact his views on the death penalty. When this happened, that would have been a perfect opportunity to pull out a Bible or use some other tool to calmly lay on the table what Christ might have to say on the matter.

Instead, he immediately jumped this person — accusing him of being a sick and twisted individual living in a rabbit hole. The person posing these questions tried to explain where he was coming from, still seeking answers.

The other party finally gave up, I am guessing, because he found himself unable to get through. Given that this behavior flies in the face of what Christians are usually taught, I am not so sure I blame him.

Instead of eliminating any possibility of ministering to someone by immediately resorting to calling them heartless, how about we pray for their hearts instead? When someone, who for all we know may be a lost person on the verge of coming to Christ, asks a hypothetical question, how about we pull out scripture and use God’s wisdom to back up what we believe rather than rely on our unreliable wisdom and raw emotions?

In the case of abortion in particular, there are resource centers even in southwest Georgia reaching out to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Maybe more of us can use our scriptural foundations to minister to these women — among them very young mothers who are quite likely scared and uneducated — to decrease the demand for abortions in the first place. The last thing we need is to respond with anger right off the bat and risk driving these women closer to an abortion clinic because of perceived hypocrisy in the church.

I think this is a challenge worthy of any church. If we are not willing to take these things under consideration, can we really justify drawing a line between ourselves and those who do not know Christ?

If not, we are already doomed to fail in our calling.

Email Jennifer Parks at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ABH_Parks.