Help Stop Planned Parenthood
from Operating in
Commentary by Rev. Doug
Merkey
The statement rang in my mind like echoing thunderclaps,
“Yes, there are churches on every corner in
As I listened to this speaker address an assembly of
church leaders, I wanted to stand up and shout, “Let it not be so!” However, I fear that it is so, by and
large. I fear that Os Guinness’ and John
Steel’s evaluation of the situation in their 1992 book, No God But God is true: “It is therefore
time, and past time, for Americans to face the challenge of faith to the
character, ideals, and institutions of our nation. More important still, it is time for our
church to examine the integrity and effectiveness of its character and witness
in its own response to the above questions [regarding its mandate as a cultural
change-agent].”
More than this, I wonder about these statements in light
of Jesus’ unmistakably clear words to His disciples in Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt
loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for
anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the
world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put
it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before
men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Ouch! “Jesus, do you really mean to say that if we
do not preserve, flavor, and illuminate our culture with Biblical grace and
truth as Christians and as Christian churches, that we’re good for nothing but
trampling and the trash can? Tell me it
isn’t so, Lord!”
The inescapable fact is that it IS so. Jesus’ words about being salt and light were
proven by His and His disciples’ lifestyles (and their resulting deaths). It is against this backdrop of statements and
Scriptural admonitions that I have engaged in a particular battle to resist an
incoming Planned Parenthood clinic in the Stonegate Plaza at the intersections
of Old 141 and Big Bend Roads. Though I
might not be able to change the world, or even the general cultural disengagement
of American evangelicalism, I myself can strive to be relevant and real in the
matter at hand. I can also seek to lead
those God’s given me, by His grace in Christ, to be true to Jesus’ Matthew
But what does that look like, practically speaking? First and foremost, it means that I remember
that Jesus said "salt,” not “assault.”
Godly wisdom, grace, truth, and resistance are in order here, not
aggressive or inflammatory reactionary action.
As an ordained clergyman, I know it is essential to be a model of
appropriate and wise response befitting the character of the Lord. This basic fact pervades not only in what I
do, but how I do it.
Operating within that context, I (and any other
likeminded Christians) am free to resist Planned Parenthood using whatever
lawful means are at my disposal in righteous and godly ways (2 Corinthians
10:2ff). That means exhorting myself and
those I lead to prayer, fasting, sound preaching and teaching of the Word and
pursuing legislative avenues, commercial influences, and even this newspaper
article as means to be relevant and successful in resisting Planned
Parenthood’s efforts to settle in our community.
But stepping back a moment, one may ask, “Why resist
Planned Parenthood?” It is a good
question. In short, the worldview, goods and services that this
organization provides are contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture in areas
like the sanctity of unborn human life (Psalm 82:1-4, Jeremiah 19:5, Proverbs
24:11-12), sexual purity (1 Corinthians 5, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:19), and
parental authority (Exodus 20:12). Even
a casual perusal of the official Planned Parenthood website and their related
site for teenagers (www.teenwire.com) provides ample evidence to support these
claims.
Given that godly resistance is warranted, what, more
specifically, can I and other Christians do?
I’ve identified five C’s of
resistance particular to Planned Parenthood coming to our community: Clergy, Churches, Community, Commerce,
and Councils. A comprehensive, thoughtful, and faithful
campaign is under way to “shake the salt” and “shine the light” of truth and
grace through each of these avenues into the public debate over this
issue. It is through these many means
that I seek to lead myself and others away from the label of being irrelevant
and toothless in our culture.
Regarding Clergy,
the call is to have willing and likeminded church leaders in the area stand up
and pray, inform, and lead their respective congregations in a godly resistance
effort. This flows over into the Churches category as entire local bodies
of Christ’s Church are motivated and carefully instructed in how to righteously
resist this incoming clinic. Community means the community at large,
which needs to be informed of the truth about Planned Parenthood and given
opportunities to express their concern in proper and effective ways. Regarding Commerce,
the goal is to help businesses that will be in close proximity to the potential
new clinic understand its likely impact on their businesses and what they can
do to join in resisting the clinic’s opening.
Councils is the facet that
seeks to impress truth upon groups such as school boards, boards of aldermen
and city councils, or any other group that has some say in the landscape of the
community, etc.
To be “salt and light” is surely a strong, yet broad, admonition.
And again, it’s “salt,” not “assault”!
The five C’s above are just one systematic way to present a somewhat
unified front in our community to the issue at hand: to resist the operation
of an unwanted Planned Parenthood clinic in our community.
If, as a reader of this article, you are willing to join this effort,
please contact Rev. Merkey at dmerkey@hotmail.com
or at (636) 861-1870.
Rev. Douglas W. Merkey is the Pastor of
Young Adults and Pastor of Pro-Life at Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church at 1230
Big Bend Road, in Twin Oaks, MO.