During the next two weeks, Missouri voters will enter the ballot box and reveal whether they believe every human has an inalienable right to life. Missouri will join nine other states in November to consider constitutional amendments aiming to legalize abortion.
In the two years since the pro-abortion Supreme Court ruling, Roe v Wade, was overturned, pro-abortion activists have aimed – with great success – to codify abortion in state constitutions across the union. If Missouri voters reject pro-abortion Amendment 3 on Nov. 5, they will be one of the first states during the past two years to block such a pro-abortion constitutional amendment.
The stakes are high on Nov. 5, since we’re addressing a matter of life or death for the unborn. Also, every vote counts, since one vote above 50 percent can swing the decision one way or the other. As such, Missouri Baptist leaders, churches and entities have, in recent weeks, actively called church members to vote “No” on Amendment 3.
Benjamin Hawkins, editor of The Pathway
The Missouri Baptist Convention’s Christian Life Commission (CLC), has been active during the past several months, laboring to warn and inform Missouri Baptist voters about Amendment 3. CLC Chairman Willie Isaacson spoke on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Podcast about Amendment 3 on Oct. 17. “We have a decision to make,” Isaacson said. “We can either stand on God’s truth or we can pursue our own ‘truth.’” He hopes that, on Nov. 5, Missourians will stand for God’s truth and life. Listen to the podcast or read the transcript here: https://erlc.com/erlc-podcast/how-baptist-state-conventions-are-engaging-abortion-ballot-initiatives/. Meanwhile, CLC member Dave Nixdorf spoke to KTTN News here: https://www.kttn.com/grundy-county-group-opposes-amendment-3-urges-no-vote-in-november/. Also, the CLC hosted an event prior to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, Oct. 27, where they called and equipped Missouri Baptist ministers to oppose Amendment 3.
In recent weeks, a cultural commentator mentioned that, within our society, many people are confused about – or simply ignorant of – the foundations that undergird our belief in an inalienable right to life. Thankfully, as Christians, we need not doubt that the right to life for all human beings rests on the strongest of foundations. On the one hand, it rests in the truth that God creates every human being in His image. He “remarkably and wondrously” knits us together in our mother’s wombs (Ps 139:13-16).
On the other hand, and more fundamentally, this truth rests on the nature of our Lord. The Lord Jesus is the giver and sustainer of life; indeed, He is life itself. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). He is the “bread of life” (John 6:35, 48, 51) and the source of “living water” (John 7:37-39). He is the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25-26), who defeated death through His own resurrection from the dead. Indeed, eternal life is to know “the only true God” and His Son, Jesus Christ (John 17:3).
A classic hymn calls us to “crown Him the Lord of life,” and we simply can’t adore and worship Him as the Lord of life if we support the modern, pro-abortion culture of death. Moreover, as we defend the life of the unborn, we can confidently depend on Jesus Christ, the Lord of life. As such, I urge Missouri Baptists in the days leading up to Nov. 5 to fast and pray to the Lord of life, that He would protect the unborn in Missouri.
As we pray, may we also remember that Jesus Christ is the Lord and source of abundant life and of eternal life. Consider the following:
• Many Christians, including many ministry leaders, need to confess that we don’t “abide” as we should in the “true,” life-giving “vine,” Jesus Christ (John 15:1-4). As such, we too often lack the abundant life and the abundant fruit that Christ promises us. As we pray, may we repent of our half-heartedness and worldly-mindedness, and may we begin to live again by these words from the apostle Paul: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4).
• Sadly, more than 3 billion people across the globe have never heard the life-giving name of Jesus, and many others – even in our own nation, in our own states, and perhaps in our own homes – have yet to find eternal life in Him. So, as we pray, may we pray that God would break our hearts over the spiritual death that covers our globe; indeed, this spiritual lostness and death is the ultimate source of Amendment 3.
During the next week, please pray that a culture of life would infuse our state and that Amendment 3 would be defeated. Pray that those who are spiritually dead would find eternal life in Christ. And pray that Christians and churches across Missouri would find spiritual renewal and restoration by abiding in the only Lord who can give us abundant life. In doing so, may we “crown Him the Lord of life.”
Access resources on Amendment 3, including brochures and videos, on the Missouri Baptist Convention website here: https://mobaptist.org/a3/. Resources include this video testimonial from a member of Concord Baptist Church, Jefferson City: