Derek Prince - Should Christians Engage In Protests Against Abortion?
Now we come to what is probably the one that could be a little controversial. Everybody knows I'm never controversial! This is about Christians basically taking part in protests or other similar demonstrations against abortion. Let me say, first of all, I think abortion is a terrible crime. I think it was Mother Teresa who said, What hope is there left for a nation when its mothers murder their own babies? And I've learned by dealing with people and helping them through deliverance that God classifies abortion as murder. But let me say quickly, in case it should concern anybody here, if you meet God's conditions, He'll forgive you and cleanse you of your guilt.
So I am totally opposed to abortion. When I spoke about the church and its relationship to the Roman Empire, I said they didn't hold protests, they didn't stage marches, as far as we know. They didn't apparently use any form of propaganda that was available. What I intended to convey was there are means available to the church which no government can withhold, no dictator can prevent us using. And they are the most effective. And I would say those means are, and still are today, prayer, testimony and the preaching of the Word of God. And I want to emphasize testimony. Because I think what dethroned the Roman Empire more than anything else was the testimony of thousands of Christians from different social levels, different racial backgrounds, all saying Jesus changed my life.
He's alive. And I think that ultimately that impact broke that monolithic structure of the Roman Empire. And I say that because I believe we as Christians need to return to an emphasis on personal testimony. We've talked here about sowing seed. Many times you have an opportunity to sow a seed that you'll never see germinate. But somebody else will come along when that seed has started to grow and will reap what's grown out of it. Now as regards to the practice of staging protests, I better read what's here. It is not going take too long In submitting to government, should anti-abortionists physically prevent women from having abortions?
I don't really know how they can physically prevent women from having abortions. But I would say that Christians should not resort to physical violence; in my opinion, that is not in line with the whole teaching of the New Testament. But I don't think that's really a practical question, in a way, because I don't know how you can prevent a woman from having an abortion by physical violence. This one says Jesus told us to occupy until His return. I understand the word "occupy" in this sense: as a military connotation. I think that's a mistake. I looked the word up in the Greek New Testament, it has a business connotation.
The master in the parable in Luke 19 gave ten minas, or ten pounds, one to each servant and said, Occupy, do business with them, cause them to multiply until I get back. So I think that a military analogy is not exactly appropriate. My question: How far am I justified to go as a Christian in fighting such things as abortion, lies in the media, disinformation, infringement of my first Amendment rights as a Christian, pornography, and so on? Personally, I believe Christians are entitled to everything that's legal. It's not a question of whether we're entitled to do it; it's a question of what works best.
And here I'll just offer my opinion. I think sometimes aggressive demonstrations, sit-ins, and somebody has said the same in one of these questions, are counterproductive. As a result, all that's gone on and the blame is not exclusively at the door of Christians basically, the United States is a polarized nation. Everybody is either for or against abortion. Pro-life or pro-choice. I think that's unfortunate. Because I think there are a lot of people who would be pro Jesus if they had the opportunity.
See, I ask myself how many of the people who are pro-choice have really been presented with the gospel? Unquestionably, in my opinion, our first responsibility is to preach the gospel to those people and not view them as outcasts or criminals, but view them with love. I think there's a certain lack of love come in some areas.
Let me give you a little just a happens to be a testimony about my radio program, which is heard, as you've been told, in most parts of the world. And at one time, I'm not sure that it's true or not, was broadcast in English from Manila in the Philippines. There was a lady, I won't reveal her name, who was a militant feminist, a lesbian and a Marxist. And when I say militant, she and her associates were buying revolvers in order to shoot men. And she found herself with some of her associates in a small ship in the China Sea. I don't know what they were going there for, that's not my business. And a storm began to rise. And the other few people on the vessel said, Listen, go down into the hold, switch on the radio and find out what the weather report is.
She switched on the radio and heard "Today With Derek Prince". And, was saved there in the hold of that ship with one message, just part of a message. And she said afterwards I was saying I was going to close and then I added something more, it was what I added that got her saved. Well, she is now as militant on the other side as she was. Her committed aim is to reach people like herself and change them. Well, to me that's more important than just telling those people, how bad they are or passing laws to prevent them doing the bad things.
I've often asked people this question: Which kind of situation would you rather live in? A country with good people and bad laws, or a country with good laws and bad people? Well, you're silly if you don't answer a country with bad laws and good people, because bad people can make good laws bad. We've seen that very clearly demonstrated in the last few decades. And you see, you need to bear in mind laws do not change the hearts of people. Laws can, to a certain extent, restrain crime, and that's very important. But with regard to abortion, as I understand it, in France, they've now more or less perfected a pill which guarantees abortion.
There is no legal way you can prevent people using that pill. All you'll do is start a black market in pills. I don't believe that the passing of laws from now on can rectify this situation. If it could, by all means let's do what we can. But I really believe the remedy is to change the hearts of people. One thing is very significant about the ministry of Jesus. All sorts of social evils existed in His day, slavery, et cetera. And He never preached against them. He never dealt with social problems. He always dealt with the root problem which is the human heart. And His aim was to change the hearts of men and women. And the only power that can do that is the power of the gospel with the Holy Spirit.
And that, in my opinion, is far the most effective answer. That doesn't mean to say we don't use other means if they'll work, if they're practical, if they're available. One thing I notice with my British background is American Christians are tremendously conscious of media. They hardly do anything without thinking what will the media say. Well, the media are very influential, but the media are not God. Our whole series of demonstrations that have been held in Washington have been aimed to impress the media. And maybe to impress Congress that there's a large number of people who think a certain way. Well, to my way of thinking, it's much more important to impress God.
And I would say some of the meetings that have been aimed at impressing the media haven't had much impact on God. There's a strange silence here. I hope you'll keep loving me. Well. The other questions are so similar. This one says, Do you believe Christian protests are truly accomplishing what God desires in situations like anti-abortion picketing, or wouldn't more be done through prayer and fasting? Well now, let's be very fair to the people who do the picketing. Most of them also pray and fast.
So it's not either/or. But for me, practically, the question is, What is it worth my while giving my strength and energy to? What will be the most effective? And whereas we don't have a clear command in the New Testament to picket anything or anybody, we have a very clear command to preach the gospel to every creature. And I believe that there are multitudes of people in the pro-choice camp who, if the gospel were presented to them attractively in love, without them being smeared with some kind of accusatory title, they would respond. I really think that the root question is, How much love do we have? We have love for the unborn babies.
Do we love the mothers that have the abortions? I want to ask that question. Do you love the mothers that have the abortions? Who knows the background of many of those women? Who knows what they've been through with men? Who knows how many men have betrayed them and abused them? How many of them were abused in childhood? Who knows how many scars that they carry in their own heart? To me, the greatest victory would be to see them healed. And the only power that can do that is the proclaimed gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I've got a little simple analysis of the problem of America. It's so naive that you won't bother with it. But, the problem of America is there are a lot more bad people than there are good people. And furthermore, the bad people are increasing more rapidly than the good. Okay? And there's only one radical, practical solution, Which is, to change a lot of bad people into good people. And I happen to know it can be done because it happened to me. And it happened in one night. At 11:00 o'clock that night I was a bad person with bad motives and no knowledge of God and out of harmony with everything.
And by the next morning I was totally changed. My desire was to live for God, serve Him and do the right thing. I wasn't perfect by no means. I'm still not perfect, whether you believe that or not. But, I was different. And I would have to say out of my life there's no counting the number of people that have been touched and changed by God. I heard the gospel, I didn't know it was the gospel and it was hardly recognizable as a matter of fact, but I heard it in a Pentecostal church. And they had a week of special meetings. And at the end, only one person had raised his hand. Guess who it was? Me.
So they were lamenting that the results were rather unsatisfying! Which I understand. But I'd have to say without being boastful that from then until now millions of people have been touched by the gospel through that one person that they weren't very satisfied with. You see what I'm trying to communicate to you? We can go to the root of the problem, no one else can do that. The media can't do it, the government can't do it, the legislators can't do it. We have the answer.
When I started my radio program just over ten years ago, the word that was in my heart was proclaim. I've always regarded myself as a teacher systematically expounding verse by verse, line upon line. But something galvanized me into the thought that I need to proclaim the truth. I always had a feeling I had to explain it. I got this impression, just proclaim it and let the Holy Spirit do the explaining. And out of thousands of cases, there's that one woman that I mentioned, that lesbian, feminist, aggressive, harsh. And she got saved not by a lot of explanation, not by a lot of argument, but by the impact of the word of God. At least, that's how I feel about things.
So, I praise God, I'll pray for the people that hold protests, I'll support them, and I certainly admire their commitment and their dedication and their zeal and their concern for the unborn. But if I had to parcel out my time. I'm not sure that I would find time to take part because I think there are other things that I could do that are more effective. Okay. I hope you still love me. Now where are we going from here?