AP

The Cruelty of Compassion (Proverbs 28:13)

In the Bible God clearly sets out His principles for dealing with human sin: ‘Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy’ (Prov.28:13).

God warns us that if we conceal our sins – if we do not confess them to God but pretend that our guilt will somehow just go away – we will not prosper. The context tells us that we will not find mercy.

One of the most grievous remarks I have heard on the abortion issue has come from Dr Megan Best who commented to me that she has been often invited to speak to church groups on medical issues, but forbidden to raise the topic of abortion. The reason given is that it would upset women who have had abortions.

This is dressed up as compassion, but it is actually cruel if these women are not given the opportunity to be confronted with their sin so that they might confess and forsake it, and find mercy from God. When David tried to hide his sin, he felt greatly afflicted within himself (Ps.32:3-4). When Nathan spoke to him, the Holy Spirit convicted him (2 Sam.12:1-15). The best friend that David had on earth was actually the man who hurt him. But he hurt so as to heal, as when a surgeon uses a knife or a dentist uses a drill.

Guilt is a terrible burden to carry; forgiveness is a joyous release to embrace. One of Martin Luther’s favourite verses was 1 John 1:7 with its declaration that ‘the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.’ There is a false kindness and what Bonhoeffer called ‘cheap grace’.

The Church speaks in a sense with two voices on the issue of sin. There is the declaration of God’s justice, that God is a consuming fire (Heb.12:29) and there is the offer of free undeserved grace, for God is love (1 John 4:8). God has satisfied His own justice in the sacrifice of His eternal Son, Christ Jesus.

With regard to abortion, this is captured by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor and martyr who was hanged by the Nazis on Hitler’s special orders in 1945, just before the war’s end. Bonhoeffer wrote clearly: ‘Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And this is nothing but murder.’

That is not all he had to say on the issue. He went on: ‘A great many different motives may lead to an action of this kind; indeed in cases where it is an act of despair, performed in circumstances of extreme human or economic destitution and misery, the guilt may often lie rather with the community than with the individual. Precisely in this connection money may conceal many a wanton deed, while the poor man’s more reluctant lapse may far more easily be disclosed.’

Nevertheless, ‘All these considerations must no doubt have a quite decisive influence on our personal and pastoral attitude towards the person concerned, but they cannot in any way alter the fact of murder.’

Neither justice nor mercy is sufficient of itself. We must convict and we must woo, and God alone can enable us to do that.

– Peter Barnes