two on suffering

first courtesy of Vitamin Z we get this comforting bit that we will never be able to fully explain the problem of evil but that we can trust God anyway:

So how do Christians explain the problem of evil?

The reality is, we can’t provide an exhaustive theodicy or explanation of the existence of evil.  Our minds cannot fully fathom “why.”

But, in his recommended book, Return to Reason, Kelly Clark, explains why Christians need not feel intellectually compromised if they cannot explain the existence of evil.  Here is how he concludes the discussion.

The Christian theist need not be troubled by is his ignorance of a theodicy.  This ignorance is not insincere, questionable or obscurantist.  Rather, it is quite consistent with his theistic beliefs.  The Christian theist will believe that God has a good reason for allowing evil, although  he does not know what it is or know it in any detail.  He believes that God has a good reason because of God’s redemptive incarnational revelation.  It is not rationally incumbent upon the theist to produce a successful theodicy; the theist, in order to be rational, must simply believe that God has a good reason for allowing evil.  A God who shares in our pain, who redeems our sorrows and our shortcomings, who wipes away ever tear, is surely a good God. (page 89).

and then Halim Suh is making plans. He is thinking about what he wants his friends to tell him when suffering comes in his life. It is so very helpful to have right theology and right thinking about suffering firmly in place in your mind before the suffering hits. before the cancer diagnosis, before the layoff, before the horrible accident etc. etc. Here are some of Halim’s prospective advices to himself. Go read the rest.

Yesterday in our book group, we were discussing suffering. Honestly, I haven’t endured a lot of suffering, yet, in this life. Especially not the tragic, life-changes-in-a-moment kind of suffering. But, only the Lord knows if it is coming. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would want people to tell me if I do go through a crisis – and these are things that I think I would need to hear:

Tell me that there is a God in heaven, who made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Remind me that my crisis, my suffering, is not a surprise to Him, and that it has not happened outside of His control. Tell me that my God has a purpose in everything – my suffering included. Remind me that He is the God who sees everything – not one thing has ever escaped His attention. He sees me now.
….
Tell me that there is a Savior that suffered – a lot more than I can ever imagine. No matter how much suffering I am enduring, remind me that Jesus suffered so much more, infinitely more. Tell me that He can comfort me because He knows my pain. He knows my suffering. Tell me that my Jesus is there.

Tell me that God loves me with a fierce love – the kind that rips open seas, that drowns armies, that throws hailstones from heaven, that shuts up lions’ mouths, that saves from consuming fires, that heals the lame, that feeds the hungry and that conquers death. Remind me that my God loves me like that. And that this God doesn’t change, nor does His love for me change. So, if He has ordained suffering in my life, He is still loving me – although I may not see it or understand it.

Halim is one of the staff at Austin Stone Community Church.

II Timothy 3:12

II Timothy 3:12 says “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all means all and that persecution really means persecution? Really?

here is a John Piper quote from Vitamin Z:

“Obedience in missions and social justice has always been costly, and always will be. In the village of Miango, Nigeria, there is an SIM guest house and a small church called Kirk Chapel. Behind the chapel is a small cemetery with 56 graves. Thirty-three of them hold the bodies of missionary children. Some of the stones read: ‘Ethyl Armold: September 1, 1928-September 2, 1928.’ ‘Barbara J. Swanson: 1946-1952.’ ‘Eileen Louise Whitmoyer: May 6, 1952-July 3, 1955.’ For many families this was the cost of taking the Gospel to Nigeria. Charles White told his story about visiting this little graveyard and ended it with a tremendously powerful sentence. He said, ‘the only way we can understand the graveyard at Miango is to remember that god also buried his Son on the mission field.’

And when God raised Him from the dead, He called the church to follow Him into the same dangerous field called ‘all the world’ (Mark 16:15). But are we willing to follow? In Ermelo, Holland, Brother Andrew told the story of sitting in Budapest, Hungary, with a dozen pastors of that city, teaching them from the Bible. In walked an old friend, a pastor from Romania who had recently been released from prison. Brother Andrew said that he stopped teaching and knew that it was time to listen.

After a long pause the Romanian pastor said, ‘Andrew, are there any pastors in prison in Holland?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘Why not?’ the pastor asked. Brother Andrew thought for a moment and said, ‘I think it must be because we do not take advantage of all the opportunities God gives us.’ Then came the most difficult question. ‘Andrew, what do you do with 2 Timothy 3:12?’ Brother Andrew opened his Bible and turned to the test and read aloud, ‘All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’ He closed the Bible slowly and said, ‘Brother, please forgive me. We do nothing with that verse.’

We have, I fear, domesticated the concept of godliness into such inoffensive, middle-class morality and law-keeping that 2 Timothy 3:12 has become unintelligible to us. I think many of us are not prepared to suffer for the gospel. We do not grasp the truth that God has purposes of future grace that he intends to give his people through suffering. We can speak of purposes of suffering because it is clearly God’s purpose that we at times suffer for righteousness’ sake and for the sake of the Gospel. For example, ‘Let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.’ (1 Peter 4:19, 3:17 and Hebrews 12:4-11).

To live by faith in future grace we must see that the suffering of Gods people is the instrument of grace in their lives.”

– John Piper, Future Grace

emphasis added.

law/gospel

iMonk goes on a rant about law preaching versus gospel preaching that is both entertaining and informative. take a look.

In other words, it’s an unmitigated disaster unless the Gospel is heard louder, longer and much clearer than anything else.
I’d really like to apologize to anyone- and there are a lot of these people- who ever showed up at church and heard the “good news” that if they would take their talent and use it for the Lord, they’d be blessed. Or if they surrender their all to Jesus, they’ll be happy no matter what happens. Or if they will stop making excuses and get serious about following Jesus, they can please God.

Really, I apologize. We’ve got better news than that.

We’ve got the news that if everything sucks, asteroids hit the earth, you die, the economy tanks, no one at work likes you, Christians are jailed, your computer breaks and your kid turns out to be a lawyer, you still can’t stop the Good News of what God has done for you.
We’ve got the news that God has declared religion out of business. We’ve got the news that the church has nothing to offer or say except the Gospel, so that should simplify your search for a church. We’ve got the news that at the end of the world, there’s going to be a party for you and me, where we’re going to be embraced, loved and taken to the new heaven and the new earth completely on the free grace of God in Jesus.

Hat tip to Vitamin Z.

New Piper book, free pdf

zach points out that the new John Piper book with missionary stories is available free for download.

DG Blog:

John Piper’s new book Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ is now available for download. Get it for free.

Read an interview by JT with John Piper concerning this book.

here is the direct link to 128 pages of goodness.

and here is the book information page

oh, I’m much worse than that

I love this bit of self-deprecation and reliance on grace from Martin Luther as updated by Carl Trueman. This is some good stuff.

…..it has been brought to my attention over the last years that I am the hapless lackey of right-wing Christian America, the ruthless dismantler of everything good and virtuous at Westminster Theological Seminary (both the right and the left have advocated that one), a communist apologist for Islamic terrorism, a fundamentalist, a liar, a liberal (political and theological), an inveterate street fighter, a spineless girlyman, and a symptom of the crisis in American higher education whose very existence explains why so many young people leave college ill-equipped to deal with real life.

…..
Now, I have to confess that, in the early days, the web insults that were forwarded to me did hurt a bit. I suspect that anyone who says that such things do not hurt is a liar. I may have had my blood replaced with ice water when I took the job of Academic Dean; and I can confirm the rumours that I do not have a shadow or cast a reflection in the mirrored glass in Machen Hall; but, despite the hearsay, I do remember getting a lump in my throat at the end of Bambi when I was child; and I can enjoy the occasional episode of Dancing with the Stars as much as the next man. Yes, I am human and I have the feelings too.

….
Look, to repeat: the web is bandit country. Let the wild and the whacky compete with the sane and the measured, the incoherent and rambling with the logical and well-argued, the extreme with the moderate. If people believe you are really a lizard from the Planet Iguanadon who has assumed human form and infiltrated a church or a seminary to make it the base for an Iguanaman takeover of the entire Christian church, then let them do so. Nothing you can say to the contrary will do anything other than convince them of the depth and sophistication of the extraterrestrial reptilian conspiracy. Their emotional and psychological needs are clearly more serious than your own; and if you respond to such nonsense, you give it credibility and allow the parasitic nature of the attack to succeed. Ignore it and it may not go away, but sane people will see it for what it is and walk by, slightly embarrassed, on the other side of the virtual information highway.

There is, however, a spiritual dimension to blog attacks which is, ironically, conducive to spiritual health and growth. Here I have learned much (as elsewhere) from the master theologian, churchman, public figure, and normal Christian believer, Martin Luther. It is well-known that in his writings in table conversation Luther would often refer to visits from the Devil, how the Devil would come to him and whisper in his ear, accusing him of all manner of filthy sin: “Martin, you are a liar, greedy, lecherous, a blasphemer, a hypocrite. You cannot stand before God.” To which Luther would respond: “Well, yes, I am. And, indeed, Satan, you do not know the half of it. I have done much worse than that and if you care to give me your full list, I can no doubt add to it and help make it more complete. But you know what? My Saviour has died for all my sins – those you mention, those I could add and, indeed, those I have committed but am so wicked that I am unaware of having done so. It does not change the fact that Christ has died for all of them; his blood is sufficient; and on the Day of Judgment I shall be exonerated because he has taken all my sins on himself and clothed me in his own perfect righteousness.‘

go read the whole thing. Hat tip to vitamin z.

self-righteousness is no respecter of persons

courtesy of vitamin z, I ran across Tullian Tchividjian’s excellent post on the double reach of the disease of self-righteousness. good stuff.

Now, it’s very interesting that in the Bible it’s always the immoral person that gets the Gospel before the moral person. It’s the prostitute who understands grace; it’s the Pharisee who doesn’t. It’s the unrighteous younger brother who gets it before the self-righteous older brother. Tim’s book points this out well.

There is, however, another (perhaps more subtle) side to self-righteousness that younger brother types need to be careful of. There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plagues the unconventional, the liberal, and the non-religious types. We anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean?

It’s simple: we can become self-righteous against those who are self-righteous. Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” which screams, ”That’s right, I know I don’t have it all together and you think you do; I know I’m not good and you think you are. That makes me better than you.” See the irony?

go read the rest to see the cure.

Zach is thankful for Mark Driscoll

Zach of Vitamin Z is thankful for Mark Driscoll.

Most people know that Mark is known for his strong push for men to act like Biblical men. Sometimes I feel that this crosses the line and could give people the impression that he believes a real man has to be a fist pounding, beer drinking, UFC loving, likes to fight kind of guy. I know this is not Mark’s intention, (which he explicitly stated last night) but I fear that it could be heard that way by some.

But… I know why Mark stresses these things with such intensity and I completely agree that it is a huge need in our Christian culture. As he says, “You get the men, you win the war”. I know this is true and I am thankful for Mark leading so many broken men in Seattle and beyond into loving their wives well, loving and teaching their kids well, and stepping up to lead in the church well.

Go check out the rest at the link above.

In other words, Mark Driscoll is the opposite (masculine) influence to the dominant Christian culture as reflected in The Shack (completely feminine).

I am thankful for Mark Driscoll as well.

Emerging Church: RIP?

C. Michael Patton has written an obituary for the emerging church after 15 years.

It got some cries out, made some very good points, called for changed [sic], and then died. Its leaders are disappearing or have disassociated themselves from the movement. Publishers won’t even entertain books with this title. Those, like myself, who were very well acquainted with the “movement” get nauseous when the topic is even brought up. In fact, I am nauseous now.

Patton gives four reasons for the death, but I found number 4 to be particularly true.

4. Heretical Tolerance Theory: Oh, and then there was that. The Emerging church refused to stand up for anything. As the old song goes, “You have to stand for something or you will fall for anything.” The Emerging Church fell. It ran out of fuel. It called on everyone to leave their base and fly with them. Many of us came along for the ride. The problem is they never did land anywhere. They just flew and flew. They wanted to wait five or ten years to decide who they were. In the meantime, the fuel ran out. They did land and it was (mostly) not on friendly ground. From there they definitively cried out against Evangelical orthodoxy kicking us in the most sensitive areas: Abortion, Atonement, Justification, Assurance – and then there was the attempted burial of our belief that homosexuality was a sin. Oh, did I mention the attacks on Hell and the Exclusivity of Christ? They quickly moved from an insightful teen who might have some good things to say to crowd of disconnected enemies on the attack.

fascinating stuff from someone who thought of themselves as emerging.

Hat tip to Vitamin Z, who adds:

I think I just have a hard time taking seriously a movement that just seems to be a recycled version of early 20th century liberalism. We all know where that led us. If it has something new to offer, it will probably last the test of time and at that point let’s take it seriously and talk about it.

All I can add is that when one of your leaders rejects foundational doctrines like Original Sin and openly embraces heretics like Pelagius without any pretense, then your movement is going nowhere fast. When your followers snarkily encourage critics to “let the Bible speak for itself” while they call its language with which they disagree “extreme imagery,” then you know the movement is in a seriously incoherent state and probably not long for this world as a cohesive force of anything.

mute math

Vitamin Z has posted Mute Math’s new video “Spotlight.” Z also has a quote about how it was made. Pretty cool.

and of course, my favorite Mute Math is “Typical.”

that Newsweek cover story

Newsweek has a cover story on “the End of Christian America.” here is an optimistic bit from the article:

Let’s be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being less Christian does not necessarily mean that America is post-Christian. A third of Americans say they are born again; this figure, along with the decline of politically moderate-to liberal mainline Protestants, led the ARIS authors to note that “these trends … suggest a movement towards more conservative beliefs and particularly to a more ‘evangelical’ outlook among Christians.” With rising numbers of Hispanic immigrants bolstering the Roman Catholic Church in America, and given the popularity of Pentecostalism, a rapidly growing Christian milieu in the United States and globally, there is no doubt that the nation remains vibrantly religious—far more so, for instance, than Europe.

Al Mohler’s somber response is here and concludes:

I appreciate the care, respect, and insight that mark this essay by Jon Meacham. I also appreciated our conversation about an issue that concerns us both. Still, I hope I did not reflect too much gloom in my analysis. This much I know — Jesus Christ is Lord, and His kingdom is forever. Our proper Christian response to this new challenge is not gloom, but concern. And our first concern must be to see that the Gospel is preached as Good News to the perishing — including all those in post-Christian America.

Here is Dan Kimball’s response which includes this:

So I think maybe there is a decline of a certain shape and sub-culture(s) of “Christian America” as the article states. But at the same time, there is a rising and surging of missional church leaders, church planters, and Christians who have already recognized that we are in a “post-Christian” America as the article states. But that recognition has simply fueled creativity, prayer and passion for mission and because God is God, people are coming to a saving faith in Jesus. Churches may die out in geographic places, but the Spirit is alive and powerful and changing lives, even though certain local churches may close their doors or types of churches lose their effectiveness. So it is ironically quite an exciting time period in the midst of this gloomy title and cover. It feels as though some expressions of church and Christianity maybe is fading out. But at the same time there is excitement and energy and hope as churches who have already recognized what this article says about being in a “post-Christian” country – and have made changes to become churches on mission.

courtesy of Vitamin Z

related statistic from page 89 of Skye Jethani’s book The Divine Commodity via Vitamin Z:

Today, half of all churchgoers in the United States attend the largest 10 percent of churches. What often goes unoticed, however, are the fifty smaller churches that close their doors every week.

what is happening around us? what does it mean for the future of our country? what can we do about it, if anything?

church

Mike Leuken wonders about our default approach to thinking about our church.

“I am dissatisfied” was identified as a barrier to spiritual growth. Of those surveyed, 17 percent expressed some degree of dissatisfaction with their church; over half of these came from the most advanced stages of maturity. The greatest source of dissatisfaction was the church’s weekend services. The authors imply that if we overcome this barrier, we can keep people from leaving the church.

However, I remain unconvinced that the right question is, “What’s the most important thing you want from your church?” This emphasis on an individual’s expectations and preferences reveals a core problem in American Christianity—the unchallenged assumption that people can accurately evaluate their church based on whether or not it meets their needs. How does this prevailing attitude alter the biblical purpose of the Church in the world? We are a culture of Christ-followers who pay far too much attention to whether or not our needs are being satisfied. And we have become a culture of church leaders who spend far too much time orienting our ministries around the ever-changing preferences of our people.

hat tip to Vitamin Z

listening

listening is a skill that must be consciously cultivated. Like Vitamin Z says, listening well displays humility and is essential for leadership.

luckily, Gavin Ortlund has posted 20 qualities of good listeners to provide some guidance to us as we seek to develop this skill.

here are some of them to give you the flavor:

2) Good listeners are not hasty in making judgments. They are willing to think about something for a while. They don’t have to categorize everyone and everything immediately. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).

3) Good listeners pay careful attention to words. They don’t assume that an idea they are hearing is identical to an idea they are already familiar with simply because it has similarities. They respect the complexity of reality and are willing to make fine distinctions and treat each person, each statement, each idea on its own terms.

4) Good listeners ask questions. Not to embarrass or attack, but to clarify and distill.
….
11) Good listeners do not unreasonably question the motives of the speaker. They make a good faith assumption that, all other factors being equal, the speaker is trying to communicate clearly and truthfully.

12) Good listeners don’t equate listening with agreeing. Good listeners understand that careful listening equips you to disagree well, because by listening you understand more clearly what it is that you disagree with.

13) Good listeners are not simply waiting to talk again when someone else is speaking. They actually value the contributions of other people.

Go check them out.

hard to face but real

Ok, there is an event that occurred that has to be faced even though it is horrible. Benjamin linked to the news story in his comment to this post.

The quick summary is that a woman went to have an abortion of a 23 week old baby. The clinic messed up. A live baby girl was born. A live baby girl was summarily disposed of by being thrown into a “biohazard” bag.

Vitamin Z posted a link to an interview with the baby girl’s mother.

Here is that interview. you have to go read it, but it isn’t easy to read.

here is the worst part. here is the part that has to be seen by people like Jesurgislac who commented at length in response to this post defending a woman’s right of complete control over her uterus as if there wasn’t a baby in there. Who told me that calling a fetus a “baby” fatally weakens my pro-life argument.

Make yourself read this:

Williams recalls grabbing the armrests of her chair and elevating herself to a squatting position, heels at the edges of her seat. The receptionist and staff kept telling her to sit down and close her legs, but she couldn’t comply. “There was just no stopping it,” she said.

Williams said she delivered her baby, Shanice, onto the recliner almost immediately after squatting. First amniotic fluid spilled out, then the baby dropped onto the cushion.

“When I saw that happen, I jumped off the chair and turned away, facing the wall,” Williams said.

Shanice’s body slid on the blood and amniotic fluids into the rear corner of the recliner because she was still attached to Williams by the umbilical cord. “When I jumped off I pulled her like into the back of the chair because she was still attached,” she said.

According to Williams and the lawsuit, the receptionist and the staff began screaming and rushing, trying to figure out what to do. Williams said she stood against the wall, glancing in horror at her newborn baby. “She wasn’t moving much. Twitching, gasping for air. She wasn’t crying though, just hissing. Hissing sounds only.”

The sight of a fully formed baby was a complete surprise to Williams.

“I thought it would be a blob thing, but bigger, not a baby,” she said. “She looked like a Water Baby. Like those dolls you fill up with water. She was really little, like this,” she said, holding her hands about 12 inches apart.

(Water Babies are sold in stores such as Toys ”R” Us. A product description on the Toys ”R” Us online store reads, “Water Babies are water-filled dolls that replicate the warmth, weight and feel of a real baby.”)

According to the lawsuit and Williams’ recollection, Gonzalez, the clinic’s owner, who has no health care licensing, came into the waiting room, cut the umbilical cord, and scooped Shanice’s body into a red biohazard bag, sealed it and tossed it into a trash can.

emphasis added.

Now take a look at another “fetus” who survived an attempt on her life by her own mother.

part II

public v. private

Carl Trueman has some some thoughts on the economic trouble that Playboy is in and why this might not be the good news you would think it would be. very interesting. here is a tease:

The mainstreaming of pornography, and the rise of amateur web pornography, witnesses not simply to the insatiability of the fallen human appetite for sexual pleasure; it is also an (albeit extreme) piece of evidence that the whole idea of what is public and what is private is being radically reconfigured in our society; indeed, the distinction may, just possibly, be about to be abolished in its entirety. When `reality TV shows’ top the viewing polls, when the internet allows anyone to observe my town, my street, my house, by satellite cam, when anybody can post video of themselves doing anything — from the mundane to the obscene — online, then the distinction of the public and the private — and the concomitant notions of decency and decorum upon which the distinction depends– is rendered meaningless. What is left is little more than a hedonistic wasteland inhabited by exhibitionists and voyeurs, where the tawdry and the trivial must inevitably triumph.

go read the rest. hat tip to vitamin z.

BTW, if you are struggling with pornography, then do yourself a favor and read the free pdf book linked to in this post.

Will and Power

like I said, when you refuse to submit to God’s way, what you are left with is will and power. What do I want and how do I find a way to get it. Check this out. I love it when the implicit gets made explicit. At least then we all know where we are.

hat tip to Vitamin Z

Performance v. Grace

Here is a diagnostic test from Tim Chester to use in order to determine if your community is based on performance or grace:

Is your community a community of performance or a community of grace? Try these diagnostic tests …

Communities of Performance                          Communities of Grace
the leaders appear sorted                                the leaders are vulnerable

the community appears respectable              the community is messy

meetings must be a polished performance   meetings are just one part of                                                                                         community life

identity is found in ministry                              identity is found in Christ

failure is devastating                                         failure is disappointing, but not                                                                                     devastating

actions are driven by duty                               actions are driven by joy

conflict is suppressed or ignored                  conflict is addressed in the open

the focus is on orthodoxy and behaviour     the focus is on the affections of                                                                                     the heart                                        (allowing people to think they’re sorted)     (with a strong view of sin and                                                                                        grace)

In performance-oriented churches people pretend to be okay because their standing within the church depends on it. A ‘sorted’ person is seen as the standard or the norm, and anyone who is struggling is seen as sub-standard or sub-Christian. In this kind of environment to acknowledge that you’re struggling with sin is difficult and distressing.

Well, which is it for you? I have been a part of a Performance community for a long time. I tried within that structure to create a community of Grace and there was a culture clash.

What about you?

again, hat tip to Vitamin Z.

John Piper on abortion

Here are Piper’s top ten reasons on why it is wrong to take the lives of unborn children:

1. God commanded, “Thou shalt not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
2. The destruction of conceived human life — whether embryonic, fetal, or viable — is an assault on the unique person-forming work of God.
3. Aborting unborn humans falls under the repeated Biblical ban against “shedding innocent blood.”
4. The Bible frequently expresses the high priority God puts on the protection and provision and vindication of the weakest and most helpless and most victimized members of the community.
5. By judging difficult and even tragic human life as a worse evil than taking life, abortionists contradict the widespread Biblical teaching that God loves to show his gracious power through suffering and not just by helping people avoid suffering.
6. It is a sin of presumption to justify abortion by taking comfort in the fact that all these little children will go to heaven or even be given full adult life in the resurrection.
7. The Bible commands us to rescue our neighbor who is being unjustly led away to death.
8. Aborting unborn children falls under Jesus’ rebuke of those who spurned children as inconvenient and unworthy of the Savior’s attention.
9. It is the right of God the Maker to give and to take human life. It is not our individual right to make this choice.
10. Finally, saving faith in Jesus Christ brings forgiveness of sins and cleansing of conscience and help through life and hope for eternity. Surrounded by such omnipotent love, every follower of Jesus is free from the greed and fear that might lure a person to forsake these truths in order to gain money or avoid reproach.

go read the article for his exposition of each of the points above. Very good stuff.

hat tip to Vitamin Z.

Al Mohler on the babies

here is Al Mohler’s take on the babies. Go read all of it.

I can understand the fatigue and the sense of frustration. On the other hand, we have witnessed a growing respect for life as ultrasound technologies have opened the womb to view. We have seen the Supreme Court allow that some abortion procedures can be ruled outside the law. We see pro-life convictions growing among the young. This is a moral conflict that might take a century or more to run its course.

I can understand the desire to reset the equation, to transcend the tired divisions. I can even understand the desire to move on, to go on to other issues of great and grave concern. I can sense excitement about a candidate who represents generational hope, and whose election could do so much to heal racial lines of division.

But I just cannot get past one crucial, irreducible, and central issue — the moral status of those unborn lives. They are not mine to negotiate. If abortion were a matter of concern for anything less than this, I would gladly negotiate. But abortion is a matter of life and death, and how can we negotiate with death? What moral sense does it make to settle for death as “safe, legal, and rare?” How safe? How rare?

Our considerations of these questions will reveal what we really think of those millions of unborn lives. Do we consider the battle for their lives permanently lost?

Those fighting for the abolition of slavery pressed on against obstacles and set backs worse than these because, after all, these were human lives they were defending. What if they had listened to those who, after Dred Scott and the Missouri Compromise, said that the battle was “permanently” lost? What if they had been intimidated by critics accusing them of “single-issue” voting?

If every single fetus is an unborn child made in the image of God, there is no moral justification for settling for a vague hope of some reduction in the number of fetal homicides. If the abortion fight is “permanently lost,” it will be lost first among those who claim to be defenders of life — those who tell us that the argument is merely changing.

emphasis added.

Hat tip to Vitamin Z.