“O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless. With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.”
Psalm 60:11-12, NRSV
One of the more troubling but deeply revealing emails I received while serving at the center of the pro-life movement was from a dear mom whom I’ll call Sarah. Choosing “Our daughter” as her subject line, she wrote:
“Dear Rev. Greg,
Our adult daughter (married… and a wonderful young woman) and her husband recently told us that they have given up on the church and are now atheists and staunch evolutionists. My daughter is a Nurse Practitioner and is going back to school to become a Doctor of Nurse Practitioners. But the fact that they are not Christians anymore isn’t even the worst of it. My daughter found a part-time job–at Planned Parenthood. We as a family are just crushed. She is not performing or helping with abortions, but is doing exams and checkups, etc. She has a heart for women’s health, and really feels she is helping in this way, and learning a lot.
How do we deal with this? We as pro-lifers address the abortion side of these clinics almost exclusively. But how do we address this side of it? And how do we as parents try to make her see that even if she is helping in some ways, the premise of what they are doing there is so wrong? I guess I’m also trying to look at the bigger picture here. I’m not just asking for advice for ourselves, but is this something that needs to be addressed as we go forward? There truly are many, many workers at these clinics who believe they are helping.
Sorry to bother you, but I wondered if you had any writings or thoughts that might be helpful.
In Christ,
Sarah”
I’ll share my response below but after doing so I want to go deeper on why her email was so “troubling but deeply revealing.”
“Hi Sarah,
As a father of three adult children, my heart goes out to you and your husband. Further, my prayers go out for your whole family even as I write this.
Certainly, Planned Parenthood does some good things and, I’m sure, some wonderful, caring people are associated with some of their work.
My encouragement is to love your daughter and her husband. My main prayer is that God removes blindness from their eyes and gives them a heart for him. 2 Tim. 2:24-26 would inform my efforts. There is no greater goal for Christian parents than to pass on a heart for God to our kids. The hurt you feel reflects the priority you and your husband place on what God values. Seen in this light, Planned Parenthood and even one’s view of science are not our main enemies.
Here are a few articles that may help and represent what has helped me…
May God encourage you and your husband, give you patience, grace, and help you love well.
In Christ, your brother,
Greg”
Maybe you already noticed it, but here is the “troubling” and deeply revealing” part of Sarah’s email: “But the fact that they are not Christians anymore isn’t even the worst of it. My daughter found a part-time job–at Planned Parenthood.” The real soul-crusher for Sarah and her husband wasn’t, surprisingly, their daughter’s and son-in-law’s deconversion and turn toward atheism, but rather that their daughter now worked at Planned Parenthood. Let that soak in a minute. Sarah’s perspective here goes beyond the syncretism of Christian Nationalism where right-wing conservativism is blended with Christianity. Indeed, for Sarah, politics and beliefs about abortion had moved into a priority position even above faith!
Misplaced priorities like this are deeply problematic, leading to all kinds of errors including—in Sarah and her husband’s case—pursuing the wrong enemies. Notice in my response to Sarah how I gently tried to point this out: “There is no greater goal… than to pass on a heart for God… Seen in this light, Planned Parenthood and even one’s view of science are not our main enemies.”
But what I said to Sarah is a tough sell in our day. Many love the idea in Psalm 60 above of God treading down their foes but fail to recognize this fundamental truth:
“Christians who are not limited to one theocratic nation, recognize that God’s process of conquering the Gentiles is through the witness of faithful believers (cf. Matt. 28:18-20).”
ESV Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 1009.
Or to say it differently and even more directly, God’s process of “conquering” no longer comes through one “flesh and blood” nation like Israel. It comes through faithful believers from “every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation” who place God above all other allegiances, prioritize love over hate, and never forget they’re in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12) that requires heart-change. Reflecting again on Psalm 60, the late Old Testament scholar Marvin Tate helps us course correct:
“I hardly need to say that these are bold prayers which arise from strong faith. They are not for the weak and half-committed, but belong to the meek who will inherit the earth, those who are of little stature by worldly standards but who have the power of prayer.”
Marvin E. Tate, Word Biblical Commentary: Psalm 51-100 (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990), 108.
Prayer not politics is God’s power source for faithful believers who follow Christ by prioritizing the Great Commandments and Great Commission. But giving precedence to prayer (1 Tim 2:1-8) is not a retreat into cultural disengagement where meekness is misogynisticly viewed as a “feminine” virtue and weakness. No, lest we forget, meekness is one of the signature marks of following Jesus (Matt. 5:5). Its primary meaning is to not arrogantly throw one’s weight around. It reorients us to the example of Christ and, as David French wrote this week, reminds us that:
When he conquered death and hell and rose from the grave, he didn’t come back for vengeance. He spoke to his small band of followers, then ascended again, leaving them to revolutionize the hearts of men, not conquer the kingdoms of the earth.
He left behind an upside-down faith. In Christ’s kingdom, the last are first. You love your enemies. You pray for those who persecute you. His teachings consistently contradict our will to power. They frustrate our very human desire for vengeance. They channel religious devotion into compassion, not ferocity, and compassion should define our lives.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/opinion/donald-trump-dune-savior.html