In response to President Kieschnick’s March article regarding the Missouri Synod’s position on “Right to Life,” I would like to share some of the discussion from a recent Sunday morning Bible class.
The question was posed:
If the California mother of 14 children were a member of our church family, how would we respond?
Initial remarks ranged from “we would help her even if she wasn’t a member” to “she wouldn’t want to be a member” to “that’s what excommunication is for!”
The “bigger picture” question before us was this: Does God test the Church, as well as the individual Christian, by placing in our midst those difficult to forgive, to love, to help, to accept?
- Would we have given her counsel, financial aid, food, child care?
- What does “Right to Life” really mean to me as a Lutheran?
- Who is to “blame” for these births?
- Is God still the Giver of Life even when it begins outside the womb?
- What if God has special plans for that 11th child, as he did for musician Johann Christian Bach or artist Albrecht Durer, who was one of 18?
- Where would LCMS be today without birth control?
- Are these children “my neighbor” and therefore my responsibility as a follower of Christ?
Food for thought at the Table of the Lord.
Linda Varnes
Nampa, Idaho
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