Can A Christian Be Pro-Choice?
I know Christians who say that they’re personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice, claiming it’s not our place to legislate morality. Can someone hold that position and still be faithful to God’s word?
No, I think the two would be mutually contradictory to approve of death. Let’s not sugarcoat it, abortion is murder, deliberate killing. The law, both biblically and otherwise, makes all different sort of categories defining killing and manslaughter and murder. But at the very least, the deliberate killing of a child in the womb is not compatible with biblical morality, except someone might say in the case of self-defense. So no, it’s not biblically compatible.
Now, a Christian can be in error on any number of things, but they’re in error. They’re a Christian who’s wrong. They’re a Christian who is mistaken. It’s true that laws against abortion are a legislation of morality, but every law is a legislation of morality. A law against murdering a 20-year-old is a legislation of morality. Biblical law, the law of conscience, and natural law all give us this idea that abortion is a deliberate killing. I would say that a pro-life, pro-choice person does not have a compatible application of biblical truth to their responsibility as a voter. Pro-choice is a euphemistic phrase to describe a pro-abortion standpoint. I don’t think that’s compatible with biblical morality at all. Again, it could be compatible with someone who is a Christian, but that person would be a Christian who is in error.
As a believer, I think Christians can be in error about a lot of things yet still be believers. They’re wrong about the things that they’re wrong about. But it takes more than being wrong about some specific issues to disqualify somebody as a Christian.
As we grow in Christ, we’re hopefully going to have our views changed about a number of things. That’s part of the process in Romans 12:1-2, which says, “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That happens over the rest of your life. There may be times when, by a work of God’s Spirit, my mind is suddenly changed. We praise the Lord for that. But usually, it’s by a steady growth in grace.
In every culture, there are things that are typically considered taboo for a believer, and a person who’s not saved would have no problem with those things. They get saved, and immediately they know that they should avoid that thing. When I was a youngster, Christians didn’t smoke. It didn’t go well if you were a smoker and you professed to be a Christian. I think that has changed, at least somewhat.
Here’s the problem: a person who sees smoking as offensive to a faithful walk with God might have a problem with greed and not really recognize how deep-seated that is. Let’s say they hear a message on greed, or they’re doing their devotions, and they confront their greed problem, the Holy Spirit starts convicting them, and they realize that greed is biblically a much worse sin than smoking.
There is a definite growth in grace for believers, and sometimes this even relates to a person’s conversion. The Surgeon General during Ronald Reagan’s presidency was a man named C. Everett Koop. He was a believer, who described his conversion along these lines: “Well, I can’t tell you a time and a place where I know I was born again. But at one point in time, I started going to church with my wife. When I first started going to that church, I sat next to my wife and I listened to the preacher, and I said, ‘I don’t agree with anything that guy’s saying.’ But at some point five years later, I sat next my wife, and I realized, ‘I agree with everything that man’s saying.’ I couldn’t tell you the exact time and place that took place, but I just realized it had happened.” Some people will experience a gradual growth in grace. A dramatic testimony can be awesome, but it doesn’t always happen that way. For plenty of people, it may take them a while to experience that renewing of the mind.