This two-minute video is from Life International, a prolife ministry that views the global issues created by abortion as a mission field. The video ties the abortion issue to the gospel, which I really like. It’s great for your own information, or possibility for using at your church. I really like that abortion isn’t made to feel like an add-on issue, but that it naturally connects with people’s need for the gospel.

Thank you for your commitment to upholding the sanctity of human life in our nation and around the world. In conjunction with Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, I am writing to pass along a new 2-minute video resource that LIFE has produced to encourage and invite people to join in “Following the Life-Giver,” Jesus Christ, in responding to the global mission field created by abortion.

A seminary student at my church once told me something I’ve often heard in one form or another: “Issues like abortion are just a distraction from the main thing.”

“What’s the main thing?” I asked.

“The Great Commission,” he said. “Winning people to Christ. That’s what we’re supposed to do. Everything else is a distraction.”

He was referring to Christ’s words in Matthew 28:19–20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Was he right? Is pro-life action a distraction from the Great Commission...or is it part of it? We need to consider three perspectives to understand the relationship between pro-life efforts and the Great Commission.

First, the Great Commission is a central command, but Jesus labeled another command the greatest. The Great Commission is really just an extension of the command to love God and our neighbors.

Second, even if the Great Commission only included evangelism, standing up for those whose lives are endangered would qualify because it opens significant doors for evangelism.

Third, in His Great Commission, Jesus didn’t tell us only to evangelize. He told us to be “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). He didn’t just say teaching them to believe; He said teaching them to obey.

Jesus commands us to have compassion and to take sacrificial action for the weak and needy. So that’s part of “everything I have commanded you.” And if we fail to obey that part, and fail to teach others to obey it, we are not fulfilling the Great Commission.

If the church doesn’t intervene for unborn children and their mothers, and if we don’t teach our people to help them, then we fail to fulfill the Great Commission.

Churches are to be the backbone of God’s work for the needy. If your church isn’t doing enough for the unborn and their mothers, then perhaps God is calling you to step forward and help your church and its leaders take on this vital ministry.

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash