What the loud silence of the church on abortion really costs

(Pregnancy Help News) I have attended several churches over the past decade. In my experience, only two have been willing to approach the subject of abortion not tentatively or apologetically – but with Biblical honesty and Christlike compassion.

It strikes me that these church leaders were more concerned with faithfulness to God than with my approval, even as they followed the teachings of Scripture into contentious waters.

And that’s exactly why I trusted these leaders - because truthfulness is trustworthy, even when the truth may be unpopular.

In many churches, though, the social etiquette required for popular approval has seeped in, and abortion has become a topic too controversial to address.

But the church is not called to the politeness of silence.

“I don’t talk about abortion because I’m not going to discuss politics in the pulpit,” the pastor says.

The fact that abortion is debated politically does not mean it is inherently a political issue. The church did not follow abortion into politics; politicians intruded into our space, turning a profound moral issue into a political one.

The moral and spiritual question of abortion is preeminent: Does one person have the right to end the innocent life of a preborn human being? And the Bible guides us to the heart of God: God creates human life in His image and life is valuable even before birth.

Yet many churches will not publicly address this question at all.

"Silence on abortion is acceptance,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International. “A church that is silent on the matter of abortion repeats the sinful silence of Adam in the garden when Eve was tempted. Eve was deceived, while Adam was a passive bystander.”

When churches avoid the topic of abortion because of its political implications, they teach us to compartmentalize our lives - to separate our political voice from our call to follow Christ.

Pastors, how can we do that and still walk by the Spirit? How can we submit our lives to Christ, yet treat our civic responsibilities as off limits to His lordship?

Several states will be voting on abortion this Fall. Here in Virginia, we will be asked to approve an amendment to enshrine abortion as a right in our state.

Yet as church members across the state decide how they will vote, many churches will say nothing about abortion, even as thousands of unborn children lose their lives in Virginia each year.

But pastor I need you to do something different. Scripture calls on you to actively lead from the front – because God knows you are aware.

“Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?” 
Proverbs 24:11-12

May your concern over my sin be greater than your concern about offending me.

“Beg them not to abort their babies,” a woman told me over 10 years ago. She had been raped several years earlier and was pushed to have an abortion, because her family thought it would be “best” for her. But years later the tears flowed freely. “I got over the rape, but I never got over the abortion,” she told me.

The “politically safe” silence provides little comfort for the ongoing heartache of an abortion she can’t undo.

“But I don’t want to make our members mad – they’ll leave the church,” the pastor says.

Avoiding unnecessary divisions for the sake of unity is a Biblical goal. But preserving unity for the sake of attendance is not the paramount goal of the church – and there are times when the cost of unity is the sacrifice of truth.

Jesus did not alter truth to accommodate an angry or offended crowd. Even as the crowd dwindled to a smaller band of followers, He did not soften His message to keep the masses.

As imitators of Christ, we are called to holiness, not ambiguity. Refusing to address abortion may keep members in the pews, but it leads us to compromise with the world.

If truth is not taught from the pulpit, what’s the purpose of preaching?

“I’ve got people in the church who greatly grieve an abortion in their past, and speaking on abortion from the pulpit would hurt them – I won’t do that,” the pastor says.

Silence on abortion leads some into sin, but it also cuts another way: leaving those already wounded by a past abortion to believe their sin is unspeakable.

Forgiveness has no meaning where sin is never named.

And thus, the silent church functions in a painful paradox: the silence intended to protect becomes the barrier to healing.

Scripture speaks directly to this:

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long…then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalms 32:3, 5)

Silence increased the weight of David’s sin. Acknowledging sin was the pathway to experiencing the fullness of forgiveness.

“I had an abortion 30 years ago and I didn’t think anyone could help me,” a woman whispered to me on the phone several years ago. She’d heard our pregnancy center offered post-abortion healing. For years, she felt the heavy burden of shame and regret – and no one led her to the cross.

Even sitting in church every week.

The blood of Christ is bold – pastors lead us so that our proclamation of it is equally bold.

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim 4:2-4)

There is a call to gentleness and compassion – but those characteristics should be in the context of speaking truth, not in place of truth.

“The church needs to actively champion the wonder and beauty of every child by weighing into the mission field created by abortion," said Godsey. 

The question is not whether abortion is difficult to address. It is whether the church will be faithful enough to address it anyway.

Pastors, we need you to lead us. We need you to tell us the truth, even when it is unpopular, uncomfortable, or costly. May your concern for our holiness be greater than your concern for our approval.