Have We Done Enough?

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" James 1:27

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17

"If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" James 2:15-16

"You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless." Exodus 22:21-24

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’" Deuteronomy 27:19

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing."Deuteronomy 10:18

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:5-6

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4

The Old Testament refers to "orphans" and "fatherless" forty-one times. These are only a small sampling on God's heart for these lovely creations, ones who have been forgotten, stepped on, and exploited by many.

There are so many ways I could go on with this, but I think I mainly want to focus on two issues that really stirred my heart, especially because I don't see the American church doing much about them.

The first is foster care in the United States. I personally know of two foster families. Two, out of all the Christian families I know. There are about 400,000 kids in the foster care system with more than 100,000 kids waiting for adoption... and a few of these homes are not the most ideal. These kids have gone through abuse, loss of parents, neglect, drugs, physical and mental disabilities... and end up traveling around a foster care system, trying to find someone to love them. 8,000 of these kids a year will either die or run away, probably into prostitution and gangs. What would Jesus do? What is he calling us to do? Jesus said "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven to those who are like these children" -Matthew 19:14 There is a family for every child who needs to be adopted, the question is, have you opened your heart? Most of us fear the pain of a child having to leave our home, sometimes going back to the very people the child was pulled away from. It hurts. But is selfishly avoiding pain we say we can handle through Christ worth more than loving our neighbor, one of God's greatest commandments? These kids are in the system. That's a fact. The variable is whether these kids are placed in Christian, loving families- ones we can provide- or are they placed in something less ideal? The body of Christ can provide safe, stable families- but are we? And do our peers, our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, supporting the foster families around us?
"For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn't take Me in; I was naked and you didn't clothe Me... Whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for Me" Matthew 25:42-43, 45.

With my other focus... hear me out, and don't shove me out of the church yet.

Are you really pro-life, or are you just anti-abortion?

Do we act as though life begins at conception and ends at death- or simply ends at birth? 
"We fight and fight for the unborn but do relatively little for children who are dying every day from lack of clean water, food, or proper shelter."

As a church, have we provided the support single, low income, or scared women need to truly choose life? What about those mothers who are told their children will have disabilities- does she feel supported? Is the sin of premarital sex and shame over pregnancy, shame the church gives, truly more important than supporting a life? Are some women truly left with an option, or has the church abandoned supporting life for an anti-death stance? If I want a life to be saved, am I actually providing the support and the means for that life? How many mothers would have made a different choice if they truly felt they would have the support in that choice? Is the choice really a choice if a mother feels like she has no other option? I think so many mothers are on this path not because they "wanted to murder", but because they felt they had no other option.

Am I saying abortion is okay? No. It is a sin. I acknowledge it is wrong. But we are human beings with free will. We are allowed to make a choice. It isn't in my right as a Christian to take away free will, especially one the ruling government has already allowed. No, I wouldn't make the same choice, but I'm also not in her life and circumstances. As a church, I don't see us providing support to many of the girls who end up in these situations. We condemn the sin, which in most cases (of any sin) simply leads to more sin. Honestly... it would have been tough for me. Do I risk the shame and condemnation for premarital sex and getting pregnant, or do I hide it and have an abortion? I question the support the church should, as a Christ-like body, provide. I honestly wondered if I would have continued to be loved and accepted, welcomed in the church. I am not saying we condone the sin of premarital sex. I'm asking that we show love, as Jesus showed love, and justice, as Jesus showed justice. If we truly say we are prolife, we must be loving and caring for every pregnant woman, regardless of marital status. We must love and care for the child, regardless of physical and psychological challenges that child may run into.

Honestly, I wonder what I would have done. The "right" choice? Keep the baby. I know. I agree. But how much does the church cheer over this decision, or am I still left without support, dealing with the shame the next 9 months, even though Christ has forgiven me? Some say supporting me would communicate that sin isn't taken seriously and all young people should go have sex. But I question, at what cost? A baby's life, or death, is on the line!

 Do we accept the girl who had an abortion before she came to know Christ, or do our pro-life messages of murder and sin have her feeling condemned, shamed, and unloved? Does she risk not being accepted if she searches for the help she needs to overcome this trauma? She has repented- just as the rest of us have from our "better" sins of lying, stealing, drugs, and whatever else... because none of us are perfect.

Am I really in the right when I judge those who support abortion, calling them names, threatening them, bombings and shootings happening? Does that honestly reflect the desire of God's heart? Two wrongs do not make a right!

Are we really making a difference picketing in front of abortion clinics, "raining down God's judgement", or would we make more of a difference if we made a greater statement, one of action, on the sanctity of life. This does go back to foster care and adoption- if we take life seriously, getting every adoptable child out of foster care and into a loving family will always speak greater than me standing on the sidewalk with a sign of condemnation.

These women are our neighbors. The abortion doctors, our neighbors. The planned parenthood people? Oh, yeh, they're our neighbors too. God calls us to love them.

I apologize for my ranting, but I hope I have given you something to think about. Ask God yourself what he really wants you to do and feel. What is right in these types of situations? Seek God's heart and desire, I promise you will find it (Matthew 7:8)

Further reading, and what truly started my heart stirring, is a book by Johnny Carr called Orphan Justice. He tackles more of these two topics, as well as orphans and racism, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, orphanages, poverty, spiritual warfare, as well as orphans and the church. (Side note: we spend millions on buildings and mortgages in American churches... yet let the orphan girl starve because she couldn't afford the $250 surgery to repair her cleft lip and open palate. Where are our priorities, again?)

Honestly? I don't blame the church. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) We haven't been made aware of these issues. So I ask you, educate yourself, and be obedient to what Christ is asking you to do. Jesus loves you!