Many conservative Christians are upset about the Republican Party Platform softening its stance on abortion and sexual depravity. Some even have vowed not to vote in this year’s presidential election because they see no candidate that upholds the sanctity of life and marriage between a man and a woman. As Christians, are we so wrapped around the political axel, that we forget who we are in Christ and our responsibility as his disciples? What defines us? Are we defined by political stances or spiritual truths? Where do we put our faith? Is our faith in a political party or some candidate, or is it in Christ? These are pertinent questions to ask when it comes to the moral issues with which we are faced as a society.
America seems to be a lot like the Roman Empire. In ancient Roman civilization, child sacrifice to the gods was not practiced and was considered barbaric. Infanticide, however, was not only legal, but encouraged. Fathers were allowed to kill their offspring without reprisal. In “The Rise of Christianity” Rodney Stark writes: “Not only was the exposure of infants a very common practice, it was justified by law and advocated by philosophers.” Table IV of the Twelve Tables of Roman Law—the basis of the Roman Constitution—stated “an obviously deformed child must be put to death.” This law justified the killing of any baby that was unwanted, especially females when Romans wanted perhaps only one daughter and many sons.
Apologist Christopher Price points out in his paper “Pagans, Christianity, and Infanticide” that if not for Christians, infanticide would have continued as common practice in Roman society. Price writes that early Christian documents such as the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas expressly prohibited infanticide and abortion as murder. It was Christians in ancient Rome who converted pagans one heart at a time and changed the world’s perspective on abortion and infanticide. Even though infanticide was legal in Roman society, Christians worked to end it. How? They converted pagans one heart at a time. In other words, they held accountability to God’s law not to Roman law. In contemporary America, Christians are still a substantial majority. Yet a large part of Christianity and the “Church” have embraced the world on moral issues.
Neither abortion nor sexual depravity would be an issue if the “Church” and Christians were holding accountability—even just to ourselves as a majority. The mess with abortion and sexual depravity began when the “Church” acquiesced its authority to the body politic rather than leading, teaching and holding accountability to the precepts of God. And now we are angry when a politician doesn’t meet our specific expectations. 1 Peter 4:17-18 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Yes, this is a hard message. It’s not meant to offend, but to exhort. We have a lot of work to do and we need to choose leaders that best reflect our values.
