The End of Roe v Wade

Praise God that the legal, political, and moral horror of Roe v Wade is no more.

  • Roe v Wade was a legal horror, for it made up a fictional right found nowhere in the constitution, presented as facts falsehoods about the history of abortion jurisprudence, and thereby distorted subsequent legal decisions for the past several decades.
  • Roe v Wade was a political horror for it was a raw assertion of judicial legislative power (as noted in today’s opinion; see, for example, p. 10), rescinding laws then in existence passed by dozens of state legislatures, removing most questions concerning abortion from state legislatures and assigning them to the courts. By so doing, Roe v Wade played a central role in the politicization of the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court.
  • Roe v Wade was a moral horror, treating unborn children early in pregnancy as no more important than an appendix, and propagating the view that we as individuals are autonomous, having the right to do what we wish with our bodies.

Millions have prayed, marched, and organized over these last decades to bring about today’s decision. It has been my privilege to participate in some events – particularly given that, at age 20, I advocated for a theoretical abortion and thus incurred guilt (as discussed in this sermon: text, audio).

We rightly stand amazed at the array of people God used to overturn this monstrosity:

  • On the legal side: The Federalist Society has been instrumental in supporting and raising up justices who try to interpret the constitution as written.
  • Political leaders: George W Bush, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump all played vital roles in bringing about today’s ruling. As imperfect as all three are, and with as many disagreements as they have among themselves, God used all three to answer our prayers.
  • Teachers and preachers: God used Roman Catholics, evangelicals, and secular scholars to make the case against Roe v Wade. In our circles, John Piper’s twenty-five sermons on abortion were particularly powerful, as were Scott Klusendorf’s books and seminars.
  • Workers of compassion: The movement to create Pregnancy Resource Centers around the country began more than forty years ago. Now there are thousands of centers where women can receive tests, ultrasounds, and counseling at no cost to them – and often can hear of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior. We have had the privilege over the years to support such centers in Charlotte – today, the Queen City Pregnancy Resource Center.

While we praise God for the end of Roe, much work remains.

  • Pregnancy Resource Centers may well see a substantial increase in clients. They will need more finances, more personnel, more spiritual support – and protection. A number of such centers have been vandalized by abortion advocates in the last few months, including one in Asheville.
  • Today’s opinion returns decisions about abortion to state legislatures. There will be heated debates in many states, including North Carolina. There may also be attempts to have state Supreme Courts find a right to abortion in state constitutions. Thus we must vote wisely – for state legislators and for judges.
  • Many of our most populous states will see no decline in abortions because their state legislatures have already passed laws that ensure abortion access. Indeed, it is likely that some will travel to such states to have abortions. So the need to teach and to advocate for the unborn continues.
  • Most of all, the worldviews and consequent attitudes that lead to abortion continue to exert strong influence in our society. Challenge those worldviews; question those attitudes. Know and communicate the storyline of the Bible – highlighting our rebellion, our inability to think straight, and God’s compassion and grace through Jesus. Remember that we are not autonomous – we are created for a purpose, to glorify God. We thus do not have a right to do what we want with our bodies. But we find freedom, joy, and fulfillment not in looking inside ourselves and “discovering” who we are, but in following Jesus. Abundant, true life is found only in Him (John 10:10, Mark 8:34-36).

But the most important task remaining is to continue in prayer – prayer for the unborn, prayer for confused, scared, pregnant women, prayer for legislators and leaders, prayer for compassion and witness, prayer for those who may seem like enemies, prayer for our light to so shine among people that they see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Roe v Wade is no more. Praise God for answering so many prayers and using so many people. Today may be an important inflection point in the history of our country. But work remains. May we continue in the work of prayer, the work of love, the work of witness – and so hasten Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:11-12), playing our role in completing the task of filling the earth with the knowledge of God’s glory as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

Donald Trump and the Nature of Sin

January, 1977, western Kenya. Twenty-year-old Coty Pinckney arrives to begin teaching secondary school days after Jimmy Carter has been inaugurated president.

Students gather around to discuss the American election. One asks: “Why did Gerald Ford leave office?”

“Because he lost the election.”

“We know he lost the election. But why did he leave office?”

Thirteen years after Kenya’s independence, with their first president still in power, these students had never witnessed a peaceful transition between presidents of opposing parties. Indeed, the great majority of Kenyans had much more faith in a party or a leader than they had in the democratic system. When informed that 99 percent of Ford’s supporters would have abandoned him if he had tried to remain in office, the students were astounded.

Over the last 44 years many in the US have lost faith in that system. I have no idea what percentage of Trump voters would support his staying in office despite the election results, but it is surely several multiples of one percent. Similarly, had President Obama tried to remain in office in 2016, citing the dangers of a Trump presidency, several multiples of one percent of his voters would have supported him.

One of the primary strengths of the US constitution is its recognition of man’s sinful nature and the corrupting effect of power. Through constitutional checks and balances and, with the 22nd amendment, a limit on a president’s time in office, we weaken the authority vested in one man and encourage greater faith in the system for those holding opposing political views.

But over the last century, as the power of the presidency and the impact of the national government on our lives have grown, we have placed relatively more of our faith in political parties and particular leaders, and less in the democratic system. Thus the trends cited above.

Of all people, Christians should be especially wary of such trends. For we know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We know that “there is no one righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). We know that “man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:20). We know that our Lord Jesus says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  And yet many professing Christians saw Donald Trump as something of a savior – just as, eight years earlier, many professing Christians of a different political bent saw Barack Obama as something of a savior.

Scripture is clear: “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation…. Blessed is he … whose hope is in the LORD his God” (from Psalm 146:3-5).

These last few days provide us with a valuable spiritual lesson in this regard. Consider: What does Donald Trump love? His supporters believe he loves this country. Most recognize that he loves his children. His opponents say he loves power, and (to use biblical language) he loves magnifying his own name.

But in the weeks leading up to the assault on the Capitol, and especially in his speech to the protesters, what did he accomplish? He harmed his country. He seriously damaged his legacy. He effectively destroyed any chance of his receiving the Republican nomination for president in four years (unless the party splits and he’s nominated by the Trump rump for a quixotic final campaign). Compared to a week ago, today his family members are much less likely to hold future political office.

That is: Donald Trump harmed what he loved most.

Some are deeply disappointed in the man. Others point to these events, saying, “He acted as I always knew he would! He is evil and dangerous!”

But, friends, these last days just give us a very public example of what all of us sinners do. We harm what we love most. We think that sin will lead to joy and fulfillment – but it always, always leads to the destruction of joy, and, left unchecked, to the loss of what we love most.

For me that became apparent when I almost destroyed my marriage five years after my students asked about Gerald Ford, during my second period of residency in Kenya. As a confident and accomplished PhD student in my mid-twenties, I was forced to acknowledge that sin was not just breaking a few rules. Sin was a deep part of me, affecting the core of who I was. Furthermore, my wife Beth was similarly stained. Our marriage had no hope if it depended on either of us. We both wanted this marriage, we both loved this marriage – and we were both destroying it.

God graciously saved our marriage and redeemed us by the blood of His Son – the only possible way to redeem the mess we had made. Here we are, happily married 38 years later.

The point: What is true of me, what is true of Donald Trump, is true of everyone, and thus of every political leader. One way or another, in obvious ways or not (1 Timothy 5:24), every one of us sinners harms what we love most.

So don’t put your trust in Biden or Harris or Pence or Haley or the next charismatic politician. Don’t put your trust in the Republicans or the Democrats. Put more trust in the democratic system than in individuals or parties. Help others to do the same.

But even that system will fail one day – maybe soon. We can and should love our country and work for its improvement – but in God’s providential plan it will not endure. Along with all of this creation, it will be shaken and removed (Hebrews 12:27). Yet in Christ we are “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28). He is the only source of eternal joy; His is the only Kingdom that will endure; He is the only remedy for the destructiveness of our sin.

Thus, in light of a public sin by our president and the subsequent harm to what he loves most, may we ask God with David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24).

Christian Responsibility and the Inauguration

At noon today Donald Trump took the oath of office and became president of the United States. Barack Obama greeted and applauded the new president. Among those present were past presidents Carter, Clinton, and Bush. Each of those past presidents opposed the candidacy of Donald Trump; all honored his inauguration.

Forty years ago, I came to understand how unusual and how precious that is.

In November 1976, Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford in a close election (Ford would have won had he received about 11,000 additional votes in Ohio and 15,000 additional votes in Mississippi). Two months later, I traveled to western Kenya to teach secondary school. My students were particularly interested in the recent inauguration. After one of my first classes, a group stayed afterwards to discuss American politics. They asked me:

“Why did Gerald Ford leave office?”

That seemed a strange question. I replied, matter-of-factly, “Because he lost the election.”

“Yes, we know he lost the election. But why did he leave office?”

That is: Why did the man holding the most powerful office in the world, the commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world, voluntarily step down from power rather than wielding that power to remain in office?

Kenya, a scant thirteen years after independence, had never experienced a change of presidents. There was no history of peaceful transition of power among presidents in Kenya – or anywhere else in Africa. Indeed, there was little faith in Kenya’s constitution, little of the faith on display at the Capitol today: The faith in the democratic system of government. We Americans have more faith in Democracy than we have in our preferred parties and candidates. We believe that even if our preferred candidate loses, even if the winner advocates ideas we abhor, we should not try to subvert the election process. We believe we are better off fighting back in the next election.

My Kenyan students didn’t understand that; they did not realize that had Ford tried to remain in power despite the election results, 99 percent of those who voted for him would have opposed him.

So, two exhortations:

First: No matter whom you supported in the primaries or the general election, no matter whether you think Donald Trump is a great hope for our country or a great danger, thank God that you live in a country where such peaceful transitions take place. Thank God that past presidents of both parties publicly welcomed the new president. Thank God for His mercy in allowing this country to continue these democratic traditions despite our many sins and failures.

Second: Remember these words of the Apostle Paul, quoted today at the inauguration by Franklin Graham:

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:1-6a).

Paul urges us to pray for those in high positions of civil authority. Why? So that instead of having life and livelihood threatened daily by government officials or marauding bands, we might live peaceful lives of witness to the truth of our Lord Jesus, proclaiming His redemption and living out His love.

Remember: Paul wrote these words when Nero was emperor of Rome. He prayed for the emperor and commanded others to pray for the emperor not out of political support, but out of Christian obligation.

So regardless of your politics, pray for President Trump. Pray for the Vice President, for cabinet officials, for others of high position. Pray for wisdom. Pray for repentance. Pray for humility. Pray for peace in our land and effectiveness in bringing peace around the world.

And pray that in this peace, the Gospel might go forth as a testimony to all nations, so that the end may then come (Matthew 24:14), and our Lord might return, ushering in His eternal Kingdom of righteousness and peace – the ultimate, once-and-for-all transition of power. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

 

Manasseh, Trump, and Clinton

Which king of Israel or Judah had the longest reign?

Not David. Not Solomon. Neither Jehoshaphat nor Hezekiah.

The longest reigning king was Manasseh. He reigned for 55 years – the equivalent of 1961 until today. And yet he was a wicked, evil king:

Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: . . .  I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies (from 2 Kings 21:11-14).

Why did God leave His people for such a long time under the authority of a bad man – such a bad man that, according to Jewish tradition, he had the prophet Isaiah sawn in two? Why did the people have to suffer? Why did God subject His people to injustice, to being led even further astray from Him?

The passage tells us. It is not only Manasseh who is evil. The people also are guilty. The king influences them, but they are responsible for “sin with his idols.” And so they must bear with an evil king for all these decades.

And make no mistake: God is the one who allows Manasseh to remain in power. For “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:17, 25, 32).

God’s final judgment is yet to come, but is fully determined: He will send His people into exile. He will use the Babylonians to destroy the very temple dedicated to His Name. As 2 Kings 21 makes clear, Manasseh’s sins, and the sins of the people under him, lead to this horrible judgment of God (see especially Lamentations 2 for a description of some of the horrors).

But the judgment of God does not fall during Manasseh’s reign, nor during the reign of evil Amon, his son, nor during the reign of good Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson. Why the delay?

Perhaps in part because in his old age, near the end of his reign, Manasseh repents:

[The Assyrians] captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.   And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.   (2 Chronicles 33:11-13)

As the Apostle Paul states in another context: “Note then the kindness and the severity of God” (Romans 11:22). Kindness and mercy toward one of the most evil of all the Judean kings; severity toward the rebellious people; kindness and mercy to their descendants, in bringing them back from exile.

We can continue the thought: Kindness and mercy to all those today from every tribe and tongue and nation who repent, who turn, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved; severity to those from every tribe and tongue and nation who continue in rebellion, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18), who reject their rightful King and only possible Savior.

Like the people of Judah, we the people of the United States do not deserve even a modicum of God’s mercy, and so we do not deserve an honest, good, principled leader of our government. At this point, it certainly does not look like we will get one this year. But if God could bring Manasseh to repentance, He can bring to repentance any American president; if God could destroy His own temple and bring down the kingdom called by His Name, He can bring down in judgment the United States of America; and if God could restore His people, showing mercy that they did not deserve, and raise up from a descendant of this very Manasseh the Savior of the world, then God can bring a sinful and rebellious nation today to repentance, and use it for His good and wise purposes to bring about the final culmination of His great  plan.

Father, in Your mercy, would you would grant such repentance?

Who Will I Vote For?

In this country, we citizens have the great and – considering the history of the world – the unusual privilege of having a role in choosing who will govern us. As Christians, we are foreigners, exiles, strangers in this world. We are ambassadors from our home country, serving our rightful King (2 Corinthians 5:20). Our hope is in Him, not in any political figure or movement. However, during this period of our exile, God commands us, like the ancient Israelites in Babylon, as foreigners and strangers to  “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). One way we work for the welfare of our city and country is through this privilege of voting. Surely we are to vote wisely, prayerfully, and responsibly.

If you spend any time at all on social media, you’ve come across many statements recently, saying, “I will never vote for so-and-so.” A number of you have asked me who I intend to vote for when the candidates are so disappointing. Here is my answer:

  • I will gladly vote for judges in North Carolina who will uphold the law as written and make decisions with wisdom and equity.
  • I will gladly vote for legislators who will represent their constituents faithfully, and will make laws that will improve our country and state.
  • I will gladly vote for school board members and town council members who will help our town to serve its community – especially its children – well.

“But, Coty,” you say, “I want to know which presidential candidate you’ll vote for.” That’s my point. Way too much of the discussion has been about the presidential candidates – whether that discussion has been supporting one candidate or another, or bemoaning the choices we have. There are fine men and women running for office! Find them and support them! And these other offices – collectively if not individually – have more impact on our day-to-day lives than the president of the United States.

We are not electing as president a king with absolute authority. We are electing a man or woman whose role is governed by a constitution and limited both by other branches of government and by state and local governments. So, if you’re dissatisfied with the presidential candidates, take that much more seriously your responsibility to vote for candidates for other offices. Then joyfully support those who will do an excellent job.

In North Carolina, we have a primary election June 7. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump will be on the ballot. Vote! Especially consider carefully those running for the position of judge on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

As for president: We have almost six months to go before the November election. While we should not vote for a presidential candidate based on his or her stand on one issue, that stand on a single issue can disqualify a candidate from the office (see this post, written during the 2008 campaign). Perhaps both major party candidates in the end will show themselves to be disqualified. Perhaps one candidate or another will grow and change over the next few months and become much more acceptable. Perhaps one or both conventions will give us a surprise. Or, perhaps there will be a viable third party candidate. (Indeed, if in the next few months a pollster asks me who I would vote for if the election were today, I will give the name of whatever third party candidate is most likely to achieve the 15% support required to gain entrance to the presidential debates. In my view, our country would be much better off if there were a third voice in those debates.)

So, in my opinion, it’s much too early to make declarations about who you will never vote for. Pray. Find candidates you can gladly, enthusiastically support. Vote. Seek the welfare of this country of our exile.

 

How Should I Think About Muslims?

Donald Trump has called for the US to block all Muslims from entering the US for a period of time in order to keep US citizens safe from terrorists. Franklin Graham says he was the first to call for such a policy.

Let me respond to those calls first by highlighting some facts and inferences relevant for US policy, and, second, by suggesting how we should act given Scripture’s injunctions concerning Christians’ attitudes toward those who do not know Christ.

Some facts and inferences relevant to US policy:

Fact: Islam is highly variegated, as is Christianity. Think of all those who have some sort of roots in Christian tradition; not only Baptists, Methodists, and Roman Catholics – with wide differences even within those groups – but also Russian Orthodox, Egyptian Copts, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and cults like Westboro Baptist, the Branch Davidians, the followers of Jim Jones, and the leaders of the 19th century Taiping rebellion. Those having roots in Islamic tradition are similarly diverse.

Inference: It makes no more sense to lump all Muslims together than it does to lump all of those “Christians” together. Many, many Muslims have no more sympathy for ISIS or Al-Qaeda than you and I have for Jim Jones.

Fact: War is raging within Islam. Indeed, the army that has fought ISIS most effectively – the Peshmerga – is made up of Muslims. Muslim leaders such as Egypt’s President el-Sisi have called for a repudiation of terrorism, and a revolution within Islam. See also this recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by an American Muslim, calling for Muslims to act against radicalism.

Inference: It makes no sense to implement a policy that would exclude our allies in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism from entering the US – and a policy which excluded all Muslims would do exactly that.

Fact: A high percentage of Muslims in some countries hold positions which are contrary to basic American values. For example, survey results from the Pew Research Center indicate that more than half of the Muslims in Malaysia, Pakistan, and Egypt think Muslims who convert to other religions should be put to death. (Highlighting the variegation within Islam, only two percent of Muslims in Turkey agree).

Fact: No foreign national has a right to enter any country. I have been granted a temporary right – a visa – to enter India any time in the next four years. But the Indian government can cancel that right at any time for any reason. They need give no explanation. And I would have no legal recourse. The Indian government did just that 30 years ago to a friend of mine (for no reason he could ever discern); the Chinese government did just that recently to a friend of a friend (presumably because a text message that seemed innocuous to this person raised suspicion in some official’s mind). Any sovereign country has the right to bar entry to any foreign national.

Fact: Radical Islamic terrorist groups are actively trying to get operatives into the US, and to radicalize American Muslims (as noted previously).

Fact: During the Cold War, the US denied entry to those whose ideology was thought to threaten the US. In some cases, ideology was a sufficient reason to deny entry; the person did not have to give evidence of being a direct threat.

Inference from these last four facts: It would be consistent with past US policy for this country to exclude from entry those whose ideology is contrary to basic American values. This would not and should not result in all followers of any religion being excluded. But the government could institute ideological tests for entry into the US. Note: This inference still leaves open the question whether such ideological tests are wise and, if so, how they should be implemented.  Would they be effective in making the US safer? Would they advance American interests here and around the world? The answers aren’t clear. But this country should have a reasoned debate about the issue, rather than the hurling of invective back and forth that has characterized the last week.

Those facts and inferences concern public policy. But how should Christians act in our churches and in our individual lives? How does Scripture guide us?

First, we have a clear mandate to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). The knowledge of God’s glory will indeed fill the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). And He will accomplish that through us, through His people, as we go out and speak of Him among the nations who have not seen His glory, and they in turn go out with the same message, so that all flesh will worship before Him (Isaiah 66:18-23).

Second, this mandate obviously extends to Muslim peoples, here in the US and around the world.

Third, I am to love my neighbor as myself – indeed, I am even to love my enemy (Matthew 22:39, 5:43-48).

At this point in history, a large percentage of the people groups still unreached with the Gospel are Muslim. As we complete the missionary task God has given His church, much of our work will be with Muslims.

So what can you do? Here are suggestions:

First: Visit your Muslim neighbors. Ask them to tell you about their beliefs, and then tell them part of the Christmas story. Tell them you’re happy they are your neighbor and apologize for any sense of fear they may have because of the political gamesmanship going on. Look for a chance to tell them a summary of the story of the Bible. Always be a genuine friend. In my experience, most Muslim immigrants will be delighted to invite you in, and may well treat you more hospitably than your neighbors who grew up in this country.

Second: Consider visiting a mosque. Such a visit is no more dangerous than visiting Wal-Mart. Meet people; make friends. If you want to visit a mosque together with others, let us know.

Third: Don’t get caught up in the political grandstanding. Read from Christians thinking biblically about this issue, including the Zwemer Center at Columbia International University and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Finally and most importantly: Pray. Pray for those we support in southeast Asia who are working with Muslims. Pray for those we support in India, who want to have more effective outreach to Muslims. Pray for Muslims in this country and around the world.

More Muslims have come to faith in Jesus Christ in the last two decades than in all prior history. God is working in the Muslim world – and He is even using radicalized Islam to open eyes to the Gospel. So pray – and ask that God might use you also in being a witness to the grace of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear.