TIM KELLER, POLITICS, DIVISION, AND ABORTION

 

 

Pastor Emeritus Tim Keller had recently tweeted that churches shouldn’t take a stand against abortion:

 

·       I recently wrote about how churches should not destroy unity or fellowship over political differences … Here are two Biblical MORAL norms: 1. It is a sin to worship idols or any God other than the true God & 2. do not murder. If you ask evangelicals if we should be forbidden by law to worship any other God than the God of the Bible — they’d say ‘no’ … We allow that terrible sin to be legal. But if you ask them if Americans should be forbidden by law to abort a baby, they'd say ‘yes.’ Now why make the first sin legal and NEVER talk about it and the second sin illegal and a main moral/political talking point? … The Bible tells us that idolatry, abortion, and ignoring the poor are all grievous sins. But it doesn’t tell us exactly HOW we are to apply these norms to a pluralistic democracy. … I know abortion is a sin, but the Bible doesn’t tell me the best political policy to decrease or end abortion in this country, nor which political or legal policies are most effective to that end … [W]e are allowed to debate that and so our churches should not have disunity over debatable political differences! https://www.christianpost.com/news/tim-keller-is-wrong-about-abortion.html?clickType=link-most-popular

 

Keller had tweeted, “The Bible tells us that idolatry, abortion, and ignoring the poor are all grievous sins. But it doesn’t tell us exactly HOW we are to apply these Biblical norms to a pluralistic democracy.”

Of course, the Bible doesn’t mention anything about how to conduct ourselves in a “pluralistic democracy.” They simply didn’t exist. Besides, all our NT writings had been directed towards weak, fledging house churches, which could not exercise any political influence.

 

Nevertheless, the Bible does give us a lot of general guidance regarding our conduct in any society no matter its orientation:

·       So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)

 

Do we not have the duty to speak against the genocide of pre-born babies? Is it strictly a political matter to vote for a politician who promotes any form of abortion, or is our political choice also a matter of our faith? Often, the two cannot be separated. Are we not to expose evil in a “pluralistic democracy” or in any other?  Aren’t we the light of this world?

 

·       Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

 

Won’t God hold us to account if we remain silent in the face of such evils?

 

·       Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:11–12)

 

When the Church had failed to speak out decisively against Hitler and Jim Crow regulations, the world understandably held us to account and called the Church “irrelevant.” As it had been a sin to remain silent as Stalin, Mao, and Hitler slaughtered almost 100 million, it is also a sin to remain silent at the slaughter of the innocent pre-born babies.  

 

·       For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:15)

 

Doing good is not just a matter of feeding the poor and healing the sick. It is also a matter of speaking, both about the light of the Gospel and the darkness of sin. John the Baptist censured the non-Jewish King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, even though it would cost him his life.

 

Paul struck down the pagan magician Elymas with blindness:

 

·       But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him  and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. (Acts 13:9–11)

 

Even though Elymas did not share Paul’s faith, Paul believed that he was justified in addressing him as the “enemy of all righteousness.” Evidently, Paul correctly assumed that they were both accountable for the same common code of righteousness, which God had written into our DNA (Romans 2:14-16). This makes us all accountable for keeping this law (Romans 3:19-20).

 

Therefore Elymas was guilty, even before God, of simply interfering with Paul’s evangelistic efforts, even though it lacked the magnitude of murdering unborn infants.

 

Admittedly, society finds our speaking against abortion as offensive. However, the Apostles said many offensive things. Paul had even reprimanded the Philippian magistrates for their conduct:

 

·       But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. (Acts 16:37-39)

 

I think that Keller would have to admit that Paul had ventured into politics at this point. However, I suspect that he might not have a problem with this because it wasn’t a matter of preaching against abortion from the pulpit, where it might cause division. However, the Gospel always causes division, as Jesus had remarked:

·       “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Matthew 10:34–35)

 

Some division is according to the Lord and His Word. Therefore, we should not hesitate to preach against sin from the pulpit, even if it has political implications and might offend and cause division. To remain silent regarding the murder of abortion is a sin. Paul had asserted:

 

·       “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26–27)

 

The influential Tim Keller not only refuses to teach the “whole counsel of God,” but he also advises the Church to remain silent.

 

While this generation might applaud our silence regarding this monstrous sin of murder, God will not, nor will future generations.

 

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Keller also suggests that we are hypocrites if we seek to criminalize the murder of the unborn but don’t seek to criminalize idolatry or the worship of other god(s). However, he neglects to make a critical distinction. Not all sins, however great, should be treated as crimes. We live in an idolatrous society where we worship ourselves, our attainments, and our things. Yet Christians do not seek to criminalize these things for good reason.

 

Nor did Jews seek to criminalize all violations of the Ten Commandments. While the violation of these commandments are all sins, no one suggests that we criminalize the Tenth Commandment against coveting. Nor could we! Nor do we legally attempt to criminalize violations of the Sabbath or even religious beliefs and practices, as long as they do not cross the line into criminality. Even in the theocratic State of Israel, there was no requirement for the sojourner to worship the God of Israel. (However, the practice of another religion or proselytization had been forbidden.) Adopting the Israelite God was always a matter of individual choice. Therefore, Keller is mistaken to suggest that we are being hypocritical for wanting to criminalize murder but not idolatry.

While the Bible teaches that it is sinful to reject the one true God (Romans 1:18-32), there are no biblical teachings that criminalize this.

 

Besides, if we cannot speak against the evil of abortion, what then can we speak against? Genocide? Rape? Slavery? Perhaps nothing! However, Keller argues that if we will not criminalize the practice of other religions, then the Church cannot take a stance against anything that might touch on politics.

 

 

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Keller also argues, “[W]e are allowed to debate [abortion] and so our churches should not have disunity over debatable political differences.” Keller admits that abortion is murder. However, once the Church takes a public stance against it, then it becomes politics and creates disunity. Any discussion of controversial matters within the Church might equally be a source of division! Should we not discuss these matters? Wouldn’t simply debating abortion also create disunity? Again, this strategy would seem to reduce the Church to a narrow stifling silence regarding anything that might create disunity.

 

While we should be concerned about disunity among believers (Ephesians 4:1-5; John 17:20-23), if abortion is murder according to the Scriptures, then it must be preached and acted upon, even if it does create disunity. Perhaps those who are offended are also offended by the Scriptures. Such “unity” might not be worth preserving.

Progressives tend to believe that once they sanitize their Christian faith of what is offensive, they will find acceptance among their peers. They also tend to neglect what Jesus had often taught about the world hating us:

 

·       “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:18–20; 16:1-3)

 

Even while we endeavor to maintain love and civility, the Christian must remain alert to the desire to be a friend of the world:

 

·       You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

 

Pleasing God should take precedence over pleasing the world!