February 1, 2024
Dear EMC/CompassCare,
German pastor and humanitarian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, bravely spoke out against the Nazis. He once said, “Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and…with its plea for the weak.”
Bonhoeffer believed standing with Christ meant standing with the oppressed.
Was he right?
While not explicitly mentioning abortion, God through scripture teaches the principle of protecting even the preborn boy and girl from harm.
There are penalties for anyone who even accidentally causes a woman to miscarry. If the pre-born baby is harmed by ACCIDENT, “you shall appoint as a penalty life for life” (Ex. 21:23). This means that God sees preborn boys and girls as fully human, and that their vulnerable condition requires greater protection than any other class of human, not less.
Abortion is the intentional destruction of a preborn baby. With an estimated 73 million deaths per year worldwide, it represents the greatest crime against humanity in history. Serving the poor and oppressed of society is directly related to the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we recognize that we were the poor, the weak, the vulnerable—beaten and left for dead. As Christians, Jesus became our Good Samaritan, sacrificing Himself to give us our lives back so that we should go and do likewise (Lk. 10: 30-37). So it is that service to the poor and oppressed is part and parcel to the Gospel (Gal. 2:10). “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (Ja. 2:14).
Serving those in need is a hallmark of the faithful. That service is a confession of faith. God gives us faith that Jesus’ death and resurrection paid our infinite sin debt, providing our eternal redemption, not just a get-out-of-hell-free card. He saves us to join Him in seeking and saving the lost. In our service, we underscore the truth about who God is and who we are in Him; the crown of creation in need of a Savior.
Stephen, the first martyr of the faith, was killed while standing for those who had no social standing at the time: widows. Of course, Stephen was preaching the Gospel, but to whom? And why did they hate him for it? Stephen was found arguing with the Jewish leaders in the Synagogue (Acts 6:9). After all, they would be the ones responsible for ensuring the protection of all widows within the Jewish social system, to which even confessing Christian widows would belong.
Convincing the Jewish leaders of this fact, Stephen would have had to argue that being a Hellenistic and Christ-confessing Jewish widow does not disqualify them for protection. So, he kept on arguing (Acts 6:9) that believing in Jesus is a fulfillment of all the law and prophets, not a deviation (Acts 7:1-50). He even went so far as to insist that those who refuse to acknowledge this fact are outside of true orthodoxy and therefore fellowship with God (Acts 7:51-53), a slap in the face for leaders.
The powers-that-be could not refute him (Acts 6:10). Instead of taking the risk of losing their power over the people, they falsely accused Stephen to get him out of the way (Acts 6:11-15).
As CompassCare, like Stephen, continues to insist that preborn boys and girls are fully human and ought to be protected from abortion here in the abortion capital of America, New York, it is the Gospel that compels us.
The Gospel of Jesus shows us the truth about what it means to be human under God. Through the incarnation, Jesus further dignifies mankind (Col. 1:15ff), underscoring the truth that man is made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and the need to be remade in the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
Through the inestimable value of His shed blood on the cross, He shows us the incalculable value He places on each of us and His desire to save and protect us from destruction. Our redemption comes with the gift of sight and through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to walk in the footsteps of Jesus—speaking for the voiceless, leveraging our resources for those who have none, and sacrificing our lives on behalf of our fellow man; rebuking the ruthless to protect the oppressed.
Stephen boldly stood in solidarity with Christ as a voice for the voiceless. When you stand as a voice for preborn boys and girls, aborted every day, you stand in solidarity with Christ too.
In Christ,
Rev. Jim Harden, M.Div.
CompassCare CEO
EMC Frontline President