Ala. Megachurch Pastor David Platt: I Once Avoided Talking About Abortion, but It Was a God Issue Long Before Being Political
Pastor and author David Platt said he once avoided speaking out about abortion. Now he warns Christians who are silent on the issue that they do not have the option of picking and choosing which social issues to support.
In his latest book, Counter Culture: A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Homosexuality, Racism, Sex Slavery and other Social Issues, Platt admits that for a time he avoided speaking up about abortion because of its status as a wedge issue.
But the Bible helped him realize that "Before it's ever a political issue, this is a God issue." Now he says when it comes to the unborn, "What we believe about who God is and how God creates doesn't leave room for political or moral neutrality on abortion."
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Although Platt has learned his lesson, he says many Christ followers have not.
"I look out at the Christian landscape and our culture today and I'm encouraged on one hand when I see Christians addressing some of these issues like poverty or sex trafficking. These are issues we need to address in our culture and our culture will applaud us for addressing [them] but I'm concerned when I see the same Christians or church leaders who are passionate about those issues are passive when it comes to issues like abortion or so called same-sex marriage, issues that will bring us into much greater contention in our culture."
"It's like we've chosen which social issues we're going to address and which one's we're going to ignore based on what's most comfortable or least costly to us."
The Alabama pastor said that Christ followers are commanded to "put feet to our faith" when there is gospel evidence that a particular issue is of particular importance to God.
When it comes to selectively choosing which societal ills to champion as a church, Platt said, "We don't have that option if the same Gospel that compels us to combat poverty compels us to defend marriage and the same Gospel that compels us to war against sex trafficking compels us to address sexual immorality in all its forms."
In Counter Culture, he writes that of all the social issues he addresses, abortion "poses the most clear and present danger to the most people daily."
He urged Christians to be proactive about the issue. "The Bible compels us to think through, OK these are the lives of babies and the lives of women," said Platt. "So this must compel us to address very core life issues to say how can we work to help these children live and that involves coming alongside women who are struggling with, wondering how can I have this baby, and to serve them, to show them there's options. Either to help them deliver and raise this baby or to put this baby up for adoption so that children can live, woman can thrive."
