Clear your schedules January 21–22, 2016, because Focus on the Family
and The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will host
Evangelicals for Life, a
major pro-life conference held in conjunction with the March for Life
event.
The event will take place in Washington, D.C., at the Hyatt Regency
Washington on Capitol Hill. Evangelicals from across the country will
gather to hear from leading speakers, such as David Platt, Russell
Moore, Jim Daly, Kelly Rosati, and others—to be equipped and encouraged
to become a voice for life! The event will also be simulcast
for FREE so individuals, churches, and
organizations from coast-to-coast and around the world can take part.
Speakers will encourage evangelicals to engage the culture on issues of
abortion and end-of-life decisions, and the event will affirm the
evangelical belief in the sanctity of life, that every life matters to
God and is created in His image.
Readers of this blog will receive 15% off their
registration by using the
code FocusLife.
Russell Moore will be speaking at Evangelicals for Life. He is
President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the
Southern Baptist Convention. He is a theologian, ethicist, frequent
cultural commentator, and author of several books. In the guest post
below, he speaks to the importance of hosting the conference in the
midst of the cultural battle for human dignity.
Why We’re Hosting the Evangelicals For Life Conference
By Russell Moore
As many Christians sat at their computer and watched a casual dinner
conversation over the price of dismembered children, a lot of us
probably thought: “But what can I do about this?” This is a question I
hear often from pro-life evangelicals. Many Christians are utterly
convinced in their heart of the personhood and dignity of the unborn,
yet don’t know how to faithfully effectively advocate for life.
It’s important to understand that the cultural battle for human dignity
doesn’t begin on Capitol Hill or on CNN. It begins in your family, in
your local church, and in your neighborhood. In fact, many of the people
we know most vulnerable to the abortionist’s rhetoric are not actually
pro-choice, they’re just scared, scared to scandalize a church with
their secret. The false gospel of the abortion clinic, which says, “We
can make all your trouble go away for you,” is overwhelmingly seductive.
What these people need more than a lesson in embryonic development is to
have the Gospel preached to their conscience. This means much more than
simply offering “The Romans Road” or prompting a sinner’s prayer; it
means speaking directly with the message of Jesus’ complete sovereignty
of the universe, his righteous indignation on the murder of the unborn,
and most importantly, his complete absorption of God’s wrath on the
cross, and his invitation to mercy and fellowship and the imputed
righteousness of the Son of God.
The Gospel disarms the appeal of the abortion clinic because it offers
truth with love, judgment with mercy, and righteousness with grace. The
consciences around us don’t believe what they’re telling themselves.
They’re scared and confused. Shine a light on their conscience, and then
present the Gospel of reconciliation.
Moreover, the pro-life movement has set an example worthy of our
imitation when it comes to practical, holistic mercy ministry. For over
40 years since Roe v. Wade, those committed to defending unborn life
have done much more than preach and teach; they have welcomed the
scared, the vulnerable, and the wounded and loved them. This has looked
like the establishment of crisis pregnancy centers all around cities. It
has looked like adoption advocacy and building a culture of adoption in
local churches. It’s true that our pro-life witness has a long way to
go, but we do not, thankfully, conform to the caricature that says we
believe life “begins at conception and ends at birth.”
Questions like these are why I am excited to be a part of the
Evangelicals For Life
Conference in January. This conference exists
to help evangelicals articulate a truly Christian doctrine on the
dignity of all human life. Being pro-life, after all, means much more
than being against abortion on demand; it means believing in the dignity
of the elderly and infirm, and advocating for compassion and inclusion
of the poor, the orphan, and the widow. No doctrine of human dignity
that fails to speak to these cases is fully “pro-life.”
Sometimes Christians are encouraged to leave issues like this behind.
Sometimes the fight for human dignity is portrayed as “culture war”
baggage. For those of us that watched an executive from Planned
Parenthood talk about the most valuable anatomy of dead children, we
know this to be false. The stakes for human life and human dignity could
not be higher, and the plight of those ignored by the world does not go
unnoticed by our heavenly Father.
We have a Gospel word to speak to the abortionist and the unborn, to the
orphan and those not considering adoption. Will you join me in
Washington, on January 21-22, as we seek to speak this word?
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