Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Mercy Misunderstood
Talk about perversion. Few things in life are more perverted than what we have come to understand as mercy in the prevailing social construct, and sadly, it creeps into the church too.
What started me thinking this way was this post at Common Grounds Online by Leigh McLeroy.
But Al Mohler brings it into sharpest focus. He discusses abortion and Down Syndrome, quoting George Will
Let's extend this logic a bit. Can we consider the gospel, the good news, the fact that Jesus Christ died that our sins might be wiped away and we might live powerful transformed lives for just a moment? Under the logic we see here, it would have been more merciful for God to immediately kill us than to die for us. After all, he has left us to struggle for our entire lives to overcome the sin He died to erase. We have to fight through each day to try and be just the tiniest bit less sinful than we were yesterday. Most days we fail, if fact most days I take a step backwards. Is that mercy?
Indeed it is, for we live, and more, God's sacrifice did not end on the Cross, or even the resurrection, for each day He must exercise His patience with us, truly a burden. Each day He must give us His strength for our efforts - an energy cost to Him. God's mercy is evident in every sacrifice He makes for us every day.
So it is merciful when we sacrifice to help the other live; whether that be money to the poor or life to the diabled. Anything else is no mercy at all.
Related Tags: mercy, abortion, Down Syndrome, sacrifice
What started me thinking this way was this post at Common Grounds Online by Leigh McLeroy.
Pastor/poet George Herbert, in his collection of poems called The Temple, wrote these words "O what man would be, if he could himself misplace!" If we could misplace or lose ourselves, we would be found. Jesus said that. The Spirit calls us to that. The Father is glorified by that. But the world won't help dismantle my temple of me. It's too busy building more of its own.Yep, it's all about me. Which lead me to this incredibly powerful post from Joe Carter. In it, Joe examines the testimony of women who have had abortions. There are some startling revelations:
Just so you don't misunderstand, when she says "we weren't paying attention" she isn't referring to the fact that there may be something immoral about helping women kill what they would refer to as "my baby." No, what Keyes said the movement wasn't paying attention to was the fact that women were having painful feelings about what they were doing.It becomes clear that some people think mercy is sparing someone else their pain. But even that sounds more altruistic than it really is, because what it really says is that my avoidance of pain matters more than your birth, it just gets dressed up in "I'd be a lousy mother" clothing, an argument totally void of actual substance since giving birth does not necessarily lead to motherhood, there is the adoption alternative you know.
[...]
The end of the Glamour article closes with a feature called, "Women tell the true story of my abortion." Not surprisingly, the women represented are more concerned about their own anguish than they are regretful about their decision to kill another human:"I don't want this to affect the rest of my life." -- Carla, 23But the most revealing confession comes from thirty-five year old Micaela:
"There's a great quote from the essayist Katha Pollitt that comforts me. She said, 'A woman has about 30 years of potential fertile sex. That's a long time to go without a slipup.'" -- Lisa, 32
"When I finally confessed my abortion -- after 25 years -- I dreaded what kind of penance the priest would give me. He said, 'I want you to say one Our Father and one Hail Mary. Then I want you to go home and make a list of the good things you've also done in all those years. Until you see the past wasn't all bad, you can't move into the future.' I did, and it made all the difference in the world." -- Frances, 45
"There was never a doubt in my mind about [having the abortion]. ... I was financially, emotionally, and psychologically incapable of dealing with motherhood -- not to mention that I smoked a pack a day and my idea of breakfast was a KitKat." -- Donna, 38"This may sound strange, but I felt I knew the being I was carrying. I felt he was my son. I even called him Ernesto. And Ernesto was my reminder that my life was significant and that having an abortion was putting my life first. I know it was really about me, about promising myself that now I get to be super thoughtful about my life, super intentional -- and that's what the last five years since the abortion have been about."
But Al Mohler brings it into sharpest focus. He discusses abortion and Down Syndrome, quoting George Will
The ACOG guidelines are formally neutral concerning what decisions parents should make on the basis of the information offered. But what is antiseptically called "screening" for Down syndrome is, much more often than not, a search-and-destroy mission: At least 85 percent of pregnancies in which Down syndrome is diagnosed are ended by abortions.85%!!!! - that is a startling statistic. One must ask why? What property of mercy is exhibited by those abortions. Do Down Syndrome children find non-existence merciful? I doubt it, I've met too many extraordinarily happy ones. No, the mercy is to the parents that would have to work harder and the medical system that would have to work harder, in other words, it is mercy to self, not the other, and that is not mercy at all.
Let's extend this logic a bit. Can we consider the gospel, the good news, the fact that Jesus Christ died that our sins might be wiped away and we might live powerful transformed lives for just a moment? Under the logic we see here, it would have been more merciful for God to immediately kill us than to die for us. After all, he has left us to struggle for our entire lives to overcome the sin He died to erase. We have to fight through each day to try and be just the tiniest bit less sinful than we were yesterday. Most days we fail, if fact most days I take a step backwards. Is that mercy?
Indeed it is, for we live, and more, God's sacrifice did not end on the Cross, or even the resurrection, for each day He must exercise His patience with us, truly a burden. Each day He must give us His strength for our efforts - an energy cost to Him. God's mercy is evident in every sacrifice He makes for us every day.
So it is merciful when we sacrifice to help the other live; whether that be money to the poor or life to the diabled. Anything else is no mercy at all.
Related Tags: mercy, abortion, Down Syndrome, sacrifice
