My Thoughts On Sharing - Part 1
Heads-up: This is long. You’re welcome.
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“Not feeling loved and not being loved are not the same. Jesus loved all people well. And many did not like the way he loved them. …. Emotional blackmail happens when a person equates his or her emotional pain with another person’s failure to love. They aren’t the same. A person may love well and the beloved still feel hurt, and use the hurt to blackmail the lover into admitting guilt he or she does not have. Emotional blackmail says, ‘If I feel hurt by you, you are guilty.’ There is no defense. The hurt person has become God. His emotion has become judge and jury. Truth does not matter. All that matters is the sovereign suffering of the aggrieved. It is above question. This emotional device is a great evil. I have seen it often in my three decades of ministry and I am eager to defend people who are being wrongly indicted by it.” – John Piper
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/gospeldrivenchurch/2015/03/23/piper-on-emotional-blackmail-in-the-church/
I think this is such a key issue in current events today. People in the church are being held hostage by this fear of hurting other peoples’ feelings when speaking the truth. For instance, the Planned Parenthood horror show going on right now: the truth is that thousands of babies are being killed every day in the name of “choice”, in what is an utterly and completely barbaric practice. However, people don’t want to talk about it in very public settings (namely online, even in some churches) because of the anger or hurt feelings that might be stirred up. Some reasons for keeping silent online that I've heard/seen:
“I have people in my life that I’m trying to reach and this would just make them so angry and it would damage my witness.” That is emotional black mail on *their* part; please don’t let yourself be blackmailed. We have a responsibility to speak out, to speak truth and love, and to do so publicly. Allowing others’ negative reactions to decide what we can and can’t talk about is setting ourselves up for not being able to talk about anything. Do you speak up for biblical marriage? That makes people angry, better not do that. Do you speak up about raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord? That makes people angry, too. But chances are you *do* speak up for things that make some people that you know angry. So why, *why*, are you drawing the line here? Where MILLIONS of babies are being killed. Of all the places to draw this line, this is not it. And if you can show me someplace in the bible where we are exempted from speaking truth because it will “damage our witness” I want to see it because I think that speaking out, and publicly defending those that cannot defend themselves, is *part* of our witness. Our witness cannot be damaged by itself unless it is being done poorly; then we repent of our wrong attitudes and start witnessing with the right attitudes.
“But I talk to people in my own circle of friends about it; people know what I believe.” That’s really great, and we should all be doing that, keep up the good work! But I want to pose the questions: What about the people who don’t even know that this atrocity has been named/filmed/and released to the public? Or the people who *do* know about it, but are only hearing about it from pro-choice people? What about the people who will never see the TRUTH about this problem if it’s not shared publicly by even *one* pro-life person in their social circles? I think we have a social responsibility to share things widely and publicly in order to reach them.
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade
Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there
was no one left to speak for me.”
I would like to interject, before the end, “Then they came for the
unborn, and I did not speak out—Because I was already born.”*
We do need to talk about this. A lot! Right now we have a *huge* advantage in that we can easily, quickly, and repeatedly show people what an awful terrible thing is taking place all over the country. I think we can change the tide of popular opinion with the Truth but the Truth must be seen. I know that the posts that come out about this issue can seem harsh; killing innocents is a harsh subject. And some articles are un-necessarily harsh since we do want to be a beacon of God’s mercy for people who have suffered from the horrible lie that killing a child will make their life easier. However, being silent is not being part of the solution. If you feel that too many people are sharing in anger or harshness then you should be out there sharing in love! Seeing a thing done poorly is never an excuse to not do the thing well, yourself.
“And I want to offer a specific plea to the many who are against abortion but reluctant to add your voice. I know where you are coming from. Loud angry fundamentalism is so obnoxious and ugly, this debate is replete with fundamentalists on each side, and you don’t want to be identified with it. I understand, but this is an issue that needs every voice. Awkwardness is the newest cross to bear within our culture, and I’m asking you to embrace it in the name of justice. When a baby’s face is being cut open so that his brains can be extracted, we don’t have time for trendy social relevance. Please, if only for this cause, please be awkward with us.”
- Tates Creek Church
Obviously we don’t share everything we read but we can and should share wisely. We can absolutely speak the truth in love, all the time. Please, let me encourage you to show and speak the truth courageously, kindly, in love, boldly, and often. A quote from the second link posted below (written by a post-abortive woman), “I say this to my fellow pro-life friends publishing these videos and disseminating them through media. First I say, “Don’t stop and keep going! Next I say, please take a moment each time you share these videos to also share hope. There are post abortive women watching these, and reeling from them. They are hurting… badly. I cannot stress enough these videos are pouring salt on a seeping, gaping wound that hasn’t healed.”
I know that is seems easy for me, someone who has little to no personal experience with this, to call for more talk of it. But it’s not just me! The people who have been-there-done-these-things and repented, or experienced abortion and lived to tell about it are also using their voices to ask more people to share. Abby Johnson, a former abortion clinic worker, has a Facebook page that she uses to speak out about this evil and with every post she asks people to share more! Gianna Jessen, a woman who survived a saline abortion has gone on record asking people to share the truth (the videos and blog posts) with people. Women are writing blog posts about their experiences and *asking more people to share their stories*. These women know what they’re talking about; are you listening to them?
Some truthful, grace-centered articles, you can share:
http://allthingsdittmeier.com/2015/07/15/a-heart-laid-bare/
http://candlemom.blogspot.com/2015/08/missing-compassion-component.html
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/08/15441/
http://prolifephysicians.org/app/?p=59
http://www.tobyjsumpter.com/an-open-letter-to-women-whove-had-abortions/
http://fiercemarriage.com/her-story-gods-redemption-after-abortion
An article about men and women who survived being aborted:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/babies-who-survived-abortions-and-are-now-adults-time-for-our-voice-to-be-heard/
An article on the cost of avoidance:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-kass-planned-parenthood-folo-met-0805-20150805-column.html
Tates Creek Church Post:
http://tcpca.org/2015/08/21/please-dont-let-this-die/
Gianna Jessen’s FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/gianna.jessen?fref=nf&pnref=story
Abby Johnson’s FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/abbyjohnsonprolife?fref=ts
*
We do need to talk about this. A lot! Right now we have a *huge* advantage in that we can easily, quickly, and repeatedly show people what an awful terrible thing is taking place all over the country. I think we can change the tide of popular opinion with the Truth but the Truth must be seen. I know that the posts that come out about this issue can seem harsh; killing innocents is a harsh subject. And some articles are un-necessarily harsh since we do want to be a beacon of God’s mercy for people who have suffered from the horrible lie that killing a child will make their life easier. However, being silent is not being part of the solution. If you feel that too many people are sharing in anger or harshness then you should be out there sharing in love! Seeing a thing done poorly is never an excuse to not do the thing well, yourself.
“And I want to offer a specific plea to the many who are against abortion but reluctant to add your voice. I know where you are coming from. Loud angry fundamentalism is so obnoxious and ugly, this debate is replete with fundamentalists on each side, and you don’t want to be identified with it. I understand, but this is an issue that needs every voice. Awkwardness is the newest cross to bear within our culture, and I’m asking you to embrace it in the name of justice. When a baby’s face is being cut open so that his brains can be extracted, we don’t have time for trendy social relevance. Please, if only for this cause, please be awkward with us.”
- Tates Creek Church
Obviously we don’t share everything we read but we can and should share wisely. We can absolutely speak the truth in love, all the time. Please, let me encourage you to show and speak the truth courageously, kindly, in love, boldly, and often. A quote from the second link posted below (written by a post-abortive woman), “I say this to my fellow pro-life friends publishing these videos and disseminating them through media. First I say, “Don’t stop and keep going! Next I say, please take a moment each time you share these videos to also share hope. There are post abortive women watching these, and reeling from them. They are hurting… badly. I cannot stress enough these videos are pouring salt on a seeping, gaping wound that hasn’t healed.”
I know that is seems easy for me, someone who has little to no personal experience with this, to call for more talk of it. But it’s not just me! The people who have been-there-done-these-things and repented, or experienced abortion and lived to tell about it are also using their voices to ask more people to share. Abby Johnson, a former abortion clinic worker, has a Facebook page that she uses to speak out about this evil and with every post she asks people to share more! Gianna Jessen, a woman who survived a saline abortion has gone on record asking people to share the truth (the videos and blog posts) with people. Women are writing blog posts about their experiences and *asking more people to share their stories*. These women know what they’re talking about; are you listening to them?
Some truthful, grace-centered articles, you can share:
http://allthingsdittmeier.com/2015/07/15/a-heart-laid-bare/
http://candlemom.blogspot.com/2015/08/missing-compassion-component.html
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/08/15441/
http://prolifephysicians.org/app/?p=59
http://www.tobyjsumpter.com/an-open-letter-to-women-whove-had-abortions/
http://fiercemarriage.com/her-story-gods-redemption-after-abortion
An article about men and women who survived being aborted:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/babies-who-survived-abortions-and-are-now-adults-time-for-our-voice-to-be-heard/
An article on the cost of avoidance:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-kass-planned-parenthood-folo-met-0805-20150805-column.html
Tates Creek Church Post:
http://tcpca.org/2015/08/21/please-dont-let-this-die/
Gianna Jessen’s FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/gianna.jessen?fref=nf&pnref=story
Abby Johnson’s FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/abbyjohnsonprolife?fref=ts
*
