Abortion: A Pastoral Response

As a pastor I don’t encounter abortion as a political, legal or social issue. My encounters with abortion come through the deep anguish of women, couples, parents and families. They do not come with cavalier attitudes of throwing away an inconvenience to move on as quickly as possible. They come in the pain of a teen pregnancy, a rape, incest, an affair, seriously defective child, or threat to mother’s life and long-term health. “Just don’t do it” and “it’s your choice” are woefully inadequate pastoral responses.

I do not like the labels “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice,” as they imply crusading for causes rather than engaging with people in their pain. Make no mistake. I do not consider abortion a good thing. I do consider choice a good thing, but not in the sense of democratic, personal freedom, rather as an essential expression of Christian discipleship. We have decided to follow Jesus, as the song goes. In many areas I find that the legal status of something is almost irrelevant to Christian discipleship. In our secular, pluralistic society we who follow Jesus must learn “to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land.” (Psalm 137: 4) Since the time of Jesus, it has ever been so. The residual trappings of Christendom in culture do not nourish discipleship and may even be counterproductive to it.

I do care about the role of government in our lives as a nation and as a community of faith. However, I do not see the government’s role as enforcing, regulating or even encouraging decisions and behaviors that grow out of Christian discipleship. Rather taking my cue from Psalm 72 and Deuteronomy 17:14-21, I see the biblical role of government as to provide protection, justice and prosperity in which all share, especially the weakest, poorest, outcast, vulnerable: widows, orphans, lame, blind, aliens, foreigners. On that theological basis, I believe government has a legitimate role in protecting unborn children who are utterly defenseless. Our debates over the human status of the fertilized ovum, zygote, embryo, fetus that arise from modern science and political presuppositions were unknown to the writers of the Bible. That doesn’t make them irrelevant. Psalm 139:13-15 speaks eloquently to the wonder of our formation in the womb. But when women seek my pastoral guidance about a crisis pregnancy, they are not thinking about biology. They are seeking a way forward in their pain. I would contend that God’s compassion for the weak expressed in the Bible extends not only to her unborn child but also to a pregnant woman in crisis and to her family.

Sometimes the crisis pregnancy is the result of irresponsible even sinful behavior. Sometimes it is the result of being abused or sinned against in some way. Sometimes it comes in the course of life as broken human beings through no fault of our own. But a crisis pregnancy is almost always accompanied by shame, guilt and regret. People (not just the woman but her family and sometimes her relational network) do not need scolding and condemnation. They are already heaping that on themselves and each other. What they need is Christ’s grace and faith to appropriate it when none of the options seem satisfactory.

As a pastor, for me to tell them what they must do or can’t do is often counterproductive. They may just resist and write off not only my relationship but also God’s grace and compassion. Also, sometimes they want the pastor to tell them what to do, and when it gets difficult or catastrophic, they blame the pastor. Much better, I think, to elicit from them their competing internal voices and help them sort out which ones come from the Holy Spirit. Those who are not particularly biblically literate may need some guidance on Scriptures to consider. As the conversations unfold, I try to guide them to ask, “What course forward best helps you live in Christ’s grace? What course forward best rises out of faith in God and God’s love for you?” I have followed this pattern in any number of personal crisis situations, not just pregnancies.

As I said at the beginning, I am concerned with Christian discipleship, not just in helping people in times of crisis but all along life’s journey. Certainly some women face crisis pregnancies because they or someone else has strayed from the path of Christian discipleship. I certainly do not want to say or even imply that having detoured they can never return to their journey with Jesus. In fact, my pastoral goal is to encourage, guide and accompany them on the return to this journey. Sometimes even those who have been seriously intentional about following Jesus get side tracked. I want to give them hope that Jesus welcomes them back by his side. Sometimes those who have never known, trusted or followed Jesus seek pastoral guidance in a time of crisis. I hope I can extend Jesus’ invitation to walk with him. One of the amazing things about grace (if that’s not too cliché) is that the wounds and scars, burdens and regrets of the past are transformed into private and public signs of grace. By accompanying people for the long-haul of their journeys, I sometimes get to help them recognize this a long time later (sometimes years).

Yes, sometimes people do not choose as I hope they would, but I do not abandon them but do everything I can to sustain a positive pastoral relationship. Sometimes they want to come back and work through the regrets of the decisions they have made and actions they have taken. This approach doesn’t mean I don’t express my own convictions, but I do that as input for their consideration rather than directives to follow. I know some of my friends and colleagues will say that I should use my pastoral authority to proclaim “thus saith the Lord.” Perhaps if I believed prophecy was one of my spiritual gifts I would do that, but I believe my approach grows out of my spiritual gifts as a pastor-teacher.

I do not write as an expert in this field nor as one who has had an abundance of experience, but I have had some. The recent political upheaval over the tapes of Planned Parenthood conversations on the use of “fetal tissue” has put this issue front and center on the political stage, which was already quite volatile. I am specifically not addressing that. Nor am I suggesting a way around it. Neither am I intending to instruct others in their pastoral practices. Rather, I find that writing and letting others see what I have written helps me clarify my own thinking and hopefully improve my pastoral ministry.