Promise Keepers - Abortion Not A Gospel Issue

Promise Keepers - Abortion Not A Gospel Issue

We gather as Americans this next week to honor and celebrate this nation's founding. July 4th has always been a day to celebrate the great liberties we as Americans enjoy. Yet in our celebration have we forgotten the very principles of liberty we celebrate? Have we forgotten the cost and sacrifice by which these freedoms were purchased?

The great declaration we celebrate with picnics, parades and fireworks is etched with words similar to these; we hold these truths to be self evident, that we as men are endowed by our Creator with rights, among these being the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Lest we forget, our fathers, the fathers of liberty who signed this Declaration those many years ago, were willing to forsake all to see these liberties established. They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. In their signature they signed their own death warrant, and often that of their family, if they failed.

I fear that today we have become lesser men whose major goals are so much diminished from the dreams of liberty that our founding fathers pursued.

Recently Rescue Rochester sought to place an information table for men attending a Promise Keepers gathering in Rochester, NY. We were willing to invest the needed fees required to set up the table. The national office of Promise Keepers called and informed us that they would never allow a "political issue" to be presented to the men attending. It was, "too controversial." We were told, "Promise Keepers was pro-life, and they agreed with us, but their goal was to get men into the rallies to hear the message." To have a pro-life table there was too controversial a message and would diminish the effectiveness of the rally. I asked if they ever had a pro-life information table at their rallies. They said, "We are not into politics. We don't want to offend new attendees." I asked, " What if we were a Crisis Pregnancy Center?" They again said, "The message stirs too much controversy. We can't allow it. It is against our policies."

Standing for the defense of life is a kingdom issue. It is at the center of the gospel. The declaration "Jesus is Lord" is a challenge to the rulers and institutions of this age! It is a declaration that we, as men, must make. It is a declaration that we, as Christians, must make with our mouths and actions. Will we, on this July 4th, remember that our founding fathers that bought our liberty were willing to be controversial in defense of the truth? Will we remember that the call of the Gospel, the call of establishing His kingdom, requires as much as the establishing of our nation? Will we, as men, rise to the true challenge and be willing to risk "Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our sacred honor in this worthy pursuit? Or will we seek to walk the broad road of modern reason and compromise, as many of our evangelical leaders and ministries such as Promise Keepers encourage us; looking to win many while risking nothing? Is it possible to win in this manner? I think not!

Mike Warren
Director of Rescue Rochester