"Out of the mouths of children and babies Thou hast ordained praise...." (Psalm 8:2)
Family
Crumbles?
Imagine yourself on a battlefield. For the sake of this illustration, we will imagine that each army is composed of only one individual. The one side is you. The other side is your enemy. There you stand, ready for the fight. Your enemy raises a sword and starts toward you. You respond by quickly taking your sword, raising it in the air above your enemy's sword, and knocking the sword out of his hand. Did you win the battle? No. Your enemy is still there. Now your enemy grabs a gun. He shoots at you. As you are dodging the bullets, you shoot back at each bullet that comes toward you. Are you winning? No. He is still shooting. Finally, you manage to knock the gun out of his hands. Have you won? No, he is still there. He picks the sword up again. Again, you knock the sword on the ground. Is the battle over yet? No. He gets a slingshot. Now your goal is to avoid the stones he is hurling at you and to grab the slingshot from him. You manage to get the slingshot on the ground. But is the battle done? Of course not. As long as the enemy is there, he can keep picking back up his sword, his gun, or his slingshot and going at it again.
Let's think about this. Is the sword your enemy? No. Is the gun your enemy? No. Is the slingshot your enemy? No. Who is your enemy? The man who is carrying all of these, right? He is the root of the problem. If you could conquer him, then his sword, gun, and slingshot would cease to be a problem. Just shooting at the bullets that fly out of his gun will not accomplish anything. Just knocking the sword out of his hand will not bring about victory. If that is the way you engage in battle, you will be a loser.
We face many problems in our culture. One huge problem that our nation is facing is the problem of abortion. There are many pro-life anti-abortion campaigns and ministries. The sad thing is that too many times abortion is approached as though it is the only problem in and of itself. The truth is that abortion is the result of other problems. If we merely seek to combat abortion on its own, without realizing and addressing the problems it stems from, we are like a man on a battlefield who doesn't take any strikes at his enemy, but just keeps trying to knock the sword out of his enemy's hand.
Here is an illustration depicting a foundation of strong Biblical family life. Let's consider this illustration, keeping in mind that "a nation can only be as strong as its families", and ponder what a different nation we would live in if everyone understood and embraced Biblical family values.
"The tabernacle of the upright shall flourish." (Proverbs 14:11)
"I am come that they might have life, and they they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
In this illustration (which has the color scheme of green, depicting life, growth, and flourishing), we see the positive qualities, perspectives, lifestyles, and values that spring from a foundation of Biblical Family.
For one thing, life is not just about self, but about a vision for others, and not only for others in the here-and-now, but for others in the future too. This is what is called a multi-generational vision. A beautiful example of multi-generational vision is given in Psalm 78:4-7, where we read, "We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Almighty, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born: who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in their Creator, and not forget the works of the Almighty, but keep His commandments."
As life is not merely about self, each generation in this Biblical ideal recognizes then that they need the wisdom and guidance of those who have gone before them. Thus comes about a respect for parents and preceding generations. "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which thy Creator giveth thee." (Exodus 20:12) "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy Creator." (Leviticus 19:32)
In this vision of Biblical family, there is a standard of accountability and purity as well, which of course includes pre-marital abstinence. "Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Almighty out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22) "For this is the will of the Almighty, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication" (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
With an understanding of thinking of others, holding on to the wisdom of our forefathers, and maintaining purity, there comes also the blessing of strong marriages as described in the Bible. "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." (Ephesians 5:31)
As we honour the Biblical standard in all of these areas, it is only natural that we would honour the Biblical standard regarding the lives of the unborn as well. Jeremiah 1:5 gives us a peek into the Heavenly Father's heart towards the unborn. In this verse, the Almighty is talking to the prophet Jeremiah, telling him, "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee" (Jeremiah 1:5) In the Creator's eyes, a human being is a valuable life from the moment of conception. As soon as they are conceived, before they are even formed in the womb, He knows them. If we embrace the Biblical standard for life and family, we will respect life at every stage and stand up for the life of future generations. The sad commentary is that Biblical family life is not upheld in our culture. Rather, the family is crumbling, which is what we see in this next illustration (the color scheme of which is red, depicting death).
"The house of the wicked shall be overthrown. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:11-12)
As a result of the departure of families from the Bible's standards, and the crumbling state of the family in our culture, we see the beautiful values and virtues of the Bible being neglected, thrown down, and trampled on as a general rule.
Instead of multi-generational vision, people are geared to focus on self, to be individualistic, and to have an independent mentality. Whereas the Bible says, "It is not good that the man should be alone..." (Genesis 2:18) and "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1), our culture tells us that people should be alone. Rather than being an integral part of a family unit, thriving and flourishing under the guidance and love of their parents, and being blessed by daily interaction and friendship with brothers and sisters, young people who are not married are labeled as "single" and urged to be their own person, and get out there alone and unprotected in apartments and college dorms.
There is a generation gap in our culture. Psalm 78 presents a beautiful picture where the older generation is intimately involved with the younger generations, but in our society of age segregation, the older generation does not understand (or want to understand) the younger generation, and vice versa. Teen rebellion is considered the norm, and children and young people are discouraged from having close friendships with their parents and their elders. Such a young person is written of in Proverbs 2:17 - "Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her Creator." That sounds bad enough, but it sounds even worse when we hear the warning in the next verse: "For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead." (Proverbs 2:18)
Ignoring the values of previous generations, we raise up new generations who have no concept of purity or Biblical family life. Our schools and our media push for promiscuity, and is it any wonder that pre-marital sex is rampant? "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you..." (1 Corinthians 5:1)
What can such promiscuity lead to except for single parenting? Whether single parenting comes about because of babies born to people who never got married, or because of marriages falling apart after young people form habits prior to marriage of non-commitment and being intimate with one person after another, either way we have a huge epidemic of single moms and single dads. The Bible extols marriage, reading, "Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of thy youth." (Proverbs 5:18) In our society though, people are actually discouraged from getting married, encouraged to have sex outside of marriage, and encouraged to back out on and dissolve marriages that have taken place.
There is one other thing that our society of rampant promiscuity can lead to besides single parenting, and that is none other than abortion. Remember the grave warning in Proverbs 2:18 - "Her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead." See, this is what we need to realize: THE PROBLEM DOES NOT START WITH ABORTION. Abortion, the killing of our sons and daughters, is the climax of the problems that stem from a culture that abandons Biblical Family. We are raising up a generation that thinks primarily of self. We are raising up a generation that has no regard for preceding generations. We are raising up a generation that has no regard for commitment, purity, or marriage. Why then should this generation have any regard for the sanctity of life? We have broken down the Biblical foundations of life's value. We have taught our children that life is merely about gratifying self's passions and desires and individualistic goals. Why would a generation thus conditioned have any value for the life of future generations? "Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters... and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters.... and the land was polluted with blood." (Psalm 106:38) This is a very accurate description of our society. And a very appropriate warning for our nation is found in Deuteronomy 27:25 - "Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person."
Is abortion a problem? Most certainly, yes. Is abortion THE problem? No. We can spend all day trying to knock the sword out of the enemy's hand, but if we don't go further than that and address the root problem, we will merely find ourselves exhausted, making no progress. It is the mission of Love The Unborn Babies to encourage a return to Biblical family life and values and an understanding of and appreciation for the sanctity and value of life at every stage. Won't you stand with us?
Love The Unborn Babies (on facebook)