Inoffensively Offensive





I took my sign, then walked up the sidewalk to the busy West County intersection in St. Louis, Mo. As I rounded the corner, my heart began to pound, my mind race about the various scenarios that could unfold.

My pastor's words still ringing in my head, "inoffensively offensive, inoffensively offensive," I felt both vulnerable and motivated, both anxious and relaxed.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, I stood alongside my Christian brothers and sisters in my church's annual Life Chain, an hour-long protest against abortion and rally cry for the unborn child's right to life.

That's me!

Thanks to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, Roe vs. Wade, a medical procedure once confined to the dark experimentation rooms of Nazi Germany's concentration camps, is now legally permitted in a country which, at its founding, was to be a beacon of civilizational light to other nations.

America, so repulsed by these medicinal horrors, along with countless other gross offenses, went to war to free those on whom the procedure was perfected.

During that hour we witnessed more than a few middle fingers and "f-bombs." In fact, a few cars even buzzed the curbside while well exceeding the speed limit so as to scare us back off of the sidewalk. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous.



There was what seemed like long spans of silence. I can't speak for others but I found myself reflecting on the world, particularly America, and how dark we have become -- touting evil as good and good as evil. At one time, myself included.

How we fight for a woman's right to murder her unborn child in the name of "women's health," while in the same breath denying a helpless soul's right to life. That this high-tech barbaric surgery has somehow been deemed "progress" in a so-called civil society is baffling to me.

How can we claim to care about human rights when we're denying the most innocent among us the most basic right? Engaging in shallow debates of whether life begins at conception or implantation, reducing a baby to no more than a "blob of cells" (that which science has proven to contain all DNA elements of a living, breathing human being) -- proves just how spiritually depraved we are.

What is especially frustrating is when lukewarm Christians champion these same "pro-choice" arguments, while accusing their pro-life counterparts of intolerance for fighting to preserve the sanctity of life. Many "Christians" have lost their way, no longer rooted in truth, but rather promoting a world system rooted in darkness, death and a complete lack of self-control.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before your were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

"This is what the Lord says -- He who made you, who formed you in the womb." Isaiah 44:2

"You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to Me and sacrificed them . . . You slaughtered my children." Ezekiel 16:20, 21.

"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman, and she gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined . . . if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life." Exodus 21:22, 23

Embedded within the American spirit was the imprint of God's laws for life and order of conduct -- also known as civil society. I would argue that America is losing her natural instinct of God's moral laws and with it -- her freedom.

Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the (Old Testament) law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17

Jeremiah 31:33: "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

The "inoffensive offensive" protest concluded with a prayer on the front entrance steps of my church, where it was reiterated that in the midst of darkness there is always light. That light is Jesus and His forgiveness for those who put their trust in Him. There is no sin too big that he won't forgive -- even abortion. This is the gospel, God's promise to a fallen world, if accepted. Take hold of that promise. Promote that promise. Live that promise.

With the exception of a few instances, my observation was that many more people supported our cause than opposed it.

We received innumerable "honks of support," thumbs up and cheerful waves. The positive outweighed the negative -- by far -- that day, which renewed my hope in America's moral consciousness as well as our respect for God's most precious gift . . . life.