Christians talk a lot about sexual purity. We talk a lot about being pro-life. Yet we’ve ignored the chasm of understanding between these two issues—issues that are integrally connected not just in reality, but in our spiritual lives. We brandish our “pro-life” monikers as if it’s a given—we’re Christians, after all!—yet fail to understand what sanctity of life looks like day-to-day.
The truth is this: “Pro-life” is not just a political viewpoint. It is a lifestyle.
And the other truth is this: You can’t be truly pro-life and engaged in sexual sin.
How can we claim to uphold the sanctity of life when we simultaneously defile our lives and others’ with our eyes and bodies? How can we claim to be “pro-life” when we engage daily in spiritual death?
We can’t.
If we believe in the sanctity of life—that every human being is an image bearer of God—we have to embrace the connection between the intrinsic value of the unborn and the intrinsic value of the porn star. Both were created in the image of God. Both have sanctity of life. When Christians engage in sexual sin as a habit, they’ve relegated their “pro-life-ness” to a world outside themselves, never letting it influence their walk with God.
As I said in an article last week:
The babies being aborted in this nation are largely conceived in extramarital sex. Before we, as Christians, argue about pro-life issues on social media, we need to ask ourselves: “Am I so pro-life that I am honoring the sanctity of my own life, including the sanctity of my sexuality?” It is hypocritical to condemn women for pursuing abortions while simultaneously living in sexual sin. Yes, abortion is wrong because it ends a sacred life. Yet ALL sin is wrong because is dishonors a sacred life and separates us from God.
Your purity preaches the gospel louder than anything you say or type. Honor God with your body. Uphold his design for sexuality. Then love those who have transgressed it, and love the babies born from it, with the same grace that Jesus offers to all of us.
This applies to more than unrepentant pornography use. It applies to those disregarding purity in their dating relationships. It applies to those who allow sexual sin to characterize their lifestyle. It applies to self-indulgent believers, “dead even as they live” (1 Tim. 5:6). These lives are white-washed tombs: monuments to the social values of life, freedom and godliness—yet filled with skeletons instead of the Spirit of God (Matt. 23:29).
Our purity preaches the gospel. We can tell our Facebook friends just how “pro-life” we are; we can march, protest, comment and argue, but unless our lives reveal the very sanctity we claim to defend, who are we to talk about being “pro-life”? Some might say God can use our words no matter what our lives look like. Certainly, God can redeem even hypocrisy for His glory. But more often than not, hypocrisy unnecessarily hinders the gospel’s advance.
This is not just a political issue. This is not just a government issue. This is a personal, spiritual issue, and it affects every one of us. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I more concerned with being on the right side of the political arena than in aligning my mind with God’s priorities?” Ultimately, we do become better citizens and wiser voters when we align ourselves with the wisdom of God. But governments come and go, laws are passed and struck down, and the Law- and Life-Giver remains. We best defend life when we walk in step with the Source of it.
Thus, being pro-life starts with being pro-Jesus, pro-surrender and pro-sanctity as defined by God. Because without submission to His ultimate standard, there IS no ultimate standard.