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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Poole and Gary Schick.
Ben Poole
So, like I said, we're gonna continue in our discussion. We have a few questions that we'd like to cover, but I'm just gonna start with this next question. "We use the term, sanctity of life. What does that mean? Is it right to use this term? And if so, where does this sanctity come from?" So Gary, what are your thoughts on that?
Gary Schick
Well, you know, it's a great question. And sanctity is one of those, you know, 50 cent, well, I guess we live in an inflated world, $300 words. But you know, it's a kind of a pricey word that we're not sure really what it means. Basically it means, to be holy, to be set apart, to be sacred, these are all ways of translating the basic meaning of that. And so what we're saying is, that human life is very precious in the eyes of God. We are, as the scripture tells us, Genesis chapter one, "In the image of God, He created them, male and female. He created them." So we are created by God in God's image. And of all the rest of creation, go back and read to Genesis chapter one. It's a beautiful chapter, great place to start the year. As we enter this new year, all life, all creation is precious, God made it. And we should have a care for it, but above all human life is unique in that we reflect the image of God. And so that's why there's such a priority on life, and with sanctity of life Sunday, this is something that has come about. Since the advent of Roe v. Wade, bringing attention of Christians to the sacredness and the specialness of life, right from conception, right from the womb. We talked a little bit about scripture on that you know, "You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb," Psalm 139. In Job, it actually talks about how Job reflects on how God actually caused his conception. So yes, there's a physical process involved, but there are no human mistakes. You know what? I've talked to people, I spoke with somebody this week, just basically said, "You know what, all my life, I felt like I was a mistake." And I don't think they were even referring to conception, it's just the way this world treated them. And you know what good news it is when we discover that the Bible tells us the truth about ourselves, it doesn't deny sin or evil. These are real, I've heard people to deny that too. No, these are real, but you are still precious in God's sight. Jesus died for your sin, Jesus died to save you. And so, right from conception, life is precious. We need to protect it we need to honor it, we need to treat it as sacred. We need to make ready for it to come into the world, but at the same time, you know, I'm just gonna touch on this real lightly, cause I don't want any fuses blowing. But unfortunately this has become a kind of a politicized issue, and you know, there are basically two parties out there. I don't have to know what they say or say what they are. One of them, at least in its platform stands for life, and the other one seems not to. I just wanna caution us all, that when we say we're pro-life biblically, that means womb to tomb. And unfortunately one side is really good at saying, "We need to protect life in the womb." And the other side is actually better at saying, "And we want to care for that life once it's out of the womb." And as Christians, we need to speak to both parties, we need to say to the one, "Yes, thank you. This is precious from conception, but guess what, what is it that's pushing people toward those hard decisions? How can we help them care for this life once in the world?" The other side, "Thank you for your care for the life that's in the world, by the way, it's in the world even when it's in mama's tummy."
Ben Poole
Yeah, a hundred percent!
Gary Schick
And so that's as far as I wanna go with that. And I think whatever, and I do know Christians of both political persuasions, whatever party you're in, stand for all sides of life within it, stand for the biblical concept of life.
Ben Poole
That is such a powerful statement you made. And I know we don't wanna, you know, pop a cork with anybody, or blow a fuse. But that's speaking truth, plain and simple. And I was thinking about the sanctity of life and why, which actually, kind of coincides with the last question. Why do we seem to place more value in the life of animals than we do on humans? And man, we see that, honestly, I've thought about that even in movies, you know, the dog dies and everybody's, you know, crying, but a person dies and it's like, well, maybe they had it coming, you know. And we just have this kind of a twisted view in the world, but why do we consider human life a sanctity? And I think it goes back to that Genesis one in creation, that we were created in the image of God, but even later at the crucifixion. Jesus didn't come to live this perfect sinless life to become sin for animals. Animals don't sin, they are just animals. We are the ones in need of being saved, because we sin and we mess up and it's because of what God had done. And sending His Son Jesus to save us is really what I think sanctifies us. In life and why we believe life is so precious, and you know, I've really struggled with, you know, people talking about, babies in the womb are not alive and I can't grasp it. My wife is pregnant right now, she's due in March and so right about now is really when, you can really start feeling the baby move. And just the other day my wife said, "Come here, come here," and I mean, she was just kicking and punching and I mean, you could feel her moving and alive and active. And I personally just, I don't grasp how you can say that is not a living human.
Gary Schick
Well, and the reason that you would have to say that, is because if you were in the position of aborting, there's no anesthesia given to that child. There's brainwaves there, there's a heartbeat there, they feel, they even dream, they suck their thumb. And unfortunately, you know, we live in a world where people can abort right to the point of delivery. If it's still in the womb, we can still kill it as long as it's in there and cut it apart in the womb. Again, this might be a little graphic for some, but abortion is brutal. I mean, yes, they'll give maybe the mom, some anesthesia, but they treat the baby as if it was a non entity. With no feeling and just a clump of cells. I mean, even you talk about, you know, do we love our animals more? If we have to put our dog down, it's a horrible day, but we're gonna make that as painless for the puppy as possible. And yet here are lives that some of them are to term, and I think a lot of people would have a problem with that. It gets harder when you can't see it doesn't look like a baby yet, but where in that process, do you suddenly magically, you know, wave a wand over it and it becomes a person? You're there, your soul is there. And even the ancients believe this, I don't have them with me today, but I have some quotes from the earliest Christians saying that, "You know, all life is human from conception." Christians have just understood it because of what God's word says about this right from the beginning.
Ben Poole
Yeah. So with this, I just was thinking, maybe you're hearing this and you're like, you are struggling with this decision or, you know somebody that is, "Okay, what do we do about that? Where do we go? What are the resources? We don't really wanna send them to the hospital." Or you know, you've heard things about certain organizations like planned parenthood, which I don't think we have one real close by here, I'm not sure. But in town here, we do have a Christian pregnancy center, it's called Options Pregnancy Center.
Gary Schick
That's the place to go.
Ben Poole
Here in Western Nebraska, it's a Christian organization. They're, I'm just gonna throw this out there, 1308 avenue B, suite B. They're on avenue B next to, I believe it's Nexus Mechanical Shop. If that is a resource, you need, seek them out. They are there for you and want to help you and just love you through this time.
Gary Schick
And you know, for those who find themselves in a pregnancy situation, and they're just saying, "But I can't raise this child." I just want you to know my family is so grateful to two families out there that we don't even know, that we adopted our children very, very young from, one of them a little older, one of them just a few months old. And I'll tell you what, we honor those moms and those biological fathers. We pray for them and we're grateful for them because our family would be incomplete without all of our children, adopted and otherwise.
Ben Poole
Absolutely. Both of our older girls are adopted, and so I know that there are so many families that would gladly support you in that decision, if that's what you chose. But I want to jump in, in just the last few minutes because a lot of times I think a lot of, young ladies especially, feel like, "I've made this decision, now everybody's looking down on me." Or, "I don't know if God can forgive me." And so one of the questions that came in was, is abortion the unpardonable sin? And you know what, there's probably some people that would say yes to that. And I'm gonna go ahead and say no.
Gary Schick
And the Bible says no.
Ben Poole
And the Bible says, no, too.
Gary Schick
We support you in that.
Ben Poole
So, we are here for you, but I just want to just maybe close with this thought. That whether you've had an abortion or are thinking of it or feel like maybe that's your only way out, God absolutely still loves you. And you are never so far from His grace that you can't come to God. And He is there to receive you and to welcome you into His arms, which is way better than anything in this world can offer. What are your thoughts on that, Gary?
Gary Schick
Well, you know, I mean, yeah, for those who are at a crossroads, I just beg you to call one of us, call Options, and find out your options. But for those, for whom the moment has passed and you're looking back at it and saying, "You know what? It was a hard moment in life, but I took a life and now what do I do for the rest of my life?" That is hard. It is not the unforgivable sin. Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the place where this comes up is, the Pharisees were basically saying Jesus in the miracles He performed had an unclean spirit. And He's like, "You know what? You can be forgiven any sin, including blasphemy against me," Jesus said. You know, against Jesus. But He said, "Whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven." What was the holy spirit? He was giving testimony that Jesus is the Christ. And so if you turn against the witness of the spirit, you are rejecting Jesus. And as long as you reject Jesus, you can't have salvation, cause Jesus is salvation. So as long as you reject the witness of the spirit, that Jesus is the savior, that's where you get forgiveness. As soon as you come to Jesus, all sin is forgiven, and it is really as simple as that. Does that mean that there are no consequences? Well, of course not, there's always consequences. And so, you know, again, for those who may be considering abortion and you're in a tough place, realize that you will get past this day of your life, you will get through this. But if you take that life, you can never undo that, and so forgiveness absolutely. Consequences to your life and even your potential ability to have future children, it can mess up a womb when you do this. You might be cutting off all life from your womb, and so I just wanna caution people about that. That, yeah there's forgiveness, but we don't walk into it and say, "Well, I'm gonna go ahead and do this and be forgiven and it's all okay." There's still some things to carry from that. And again, for those who are on the other side of it, well then it's a question, "Okay, so now how do we go on from here?" But never walk into a situation saying, "Well, I'm gonna do what I know is wrong and I'll be forgiven anyway." But yes, forgiveness is there.