It All Started Thanks to Carhart...

Something incredibly beautiful is occuring in Germantown, Maryland. No, I'm not talking about the fact that no lives have been lost to abortion this week, though that is a huge cause for celebration. Nor am I talking about the number of women who have learned about abortion alternatives. I'm not even talking about the many answers to prayers we've experienced or the amount of people in the community who are opening their eyes to this abortion issue. No. What I am talking is about is something Jesus prayed for in John 17; what I am talking about is the beautiful unity of brothers and sisters in Christ.

When I first read and even memorized a portion of John 17, I used to think that Jesus was prayng that the churches would be unified in doctrine, and often would grieve at the fact that there are so many factions of the church today. There are so many different churches and denominations today, we almost have a salad bar of options; pick and choose what you want in a church. A little speaking in tongues here, some cutsie kids ministries there, a little liturgy there, and viola! Your personalized church! But I'm not sure that doctrine was what Jesus was soley speaking of when he prayed, "I pray that they would be one..."

John 17:23b says, speaking of the future believers: "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Jesus' focus, here, is not on doctrine but on the love of the Father, and further, that the world would know through Christian witness the Father's love. If we extrapolate this, we might say that, though denominations may differ, the significant issue is that the churches unitedly reveal God's love to others, and that is what is happening at Summer of Mercy 2.0.

Last night was a great example of this! We had a Catholic praise leader and a Catholic priest who led worship and spoke against abortion. Then, we had a charimatic episcopal pastor preach! Many local parishes and churches have banded together--Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and non-denominational--to celebrate our Lord in prayer and praise and pray to our Lord to end abortion. We've laughed together at the humorous comments the ProChoice people have yelled ("Stop following what someone else tells you to do!"), prayed in earnest together for Carhart's heart to change, praised God together, and been so blown away at God's incredible answers to prayer that all we can do is smile (ask me about it!). I've had the privalege to work alongside an amazing, godly, dedicated Catholic woman who has the same incredible faith in God that I only aspire to have. Together, we've seen incredible answers to specific prayers. And while saying the rosary and praying and singing to Mary make me uncomfortable, we've been able to overlook those differences in order to focus on saving lives. We've been loving on our ProChoice friends, sharing kind words and water, and we've been turning the other cheek when they've hated us.

We're not going to get into the "Is a Catholic really a Christian?" debate.  I will add, thought, that the local Catholic churches, priests, and people have been the most faithful attenders of Summer of Mercy 2.0. But picture it for a moment, will you? An episcopal charismatic preacher and his wife sing and stand next to a Presbyterian minister, a Catholic priest, and a preacher from a non-denokinational church. People from many congregations and parishes in the area come together and sing one song together. I wish the press saw this. This abortion issue is doing so much more than drawing out the prolife people; it's drawing out all of the churches and unifying the local church. Something big is going on in Germantown, and it all started thanks to Carhart.

The Other Side of the Sidewalk

Heart pounding, hands shaking, I made my way to the sidewalk, large box in hand (or, rather, arms). No, I wasn't shaking because the ten-pound box, filled with bottled water, crackers, and candy was too heavy. I admit I was a little nervous. How would they react to us? Would they know we were from the other side? If so, would they yell accusations at us? Give us the cold shoulder? Would they spit the water in our faces? Would they cuss us out? Or would they assume we were with them and rant and rave about the other side? Somehow, I thought the people on the other side of the sidewalk would be drastically different from me, from us, but I was wrong in some ways!

The group we met on Wisteria, 17 in all, were mostly younger, early to mid-twenties, and they welcomed us with warmth. They smiled. A few of them said that they had just bought water, but after a little coercing, they gladly took more for later. They smiled. There was laughter. It was obvious they were enjoying the comraderie of working for a purpose and mission, volunteering together to stand for what they believed in. And I thought it ironic that they were having similar conversations that we, on the other end of the sidewalk, had had. "Hey, you know there was one guy in a red pickup truck, American flag bumper stickers, and we didn't expect anything from him, but he suddennly smiled and gave us two thumbs up!" An excited young man was telling some of his comrades.

We walked away feeling a great sense of joy. I also experienced a sheer sense of gratefulness that we successfully dodged any conflict. They didn't ask why we were sharing water with them or where we were from. Let a blessing stay a blessing, without being tainted. Had they known we were from the other side, we would have seen the claws come out, or recieved the silent treatment, like I did when I attempted to speak with one of them on our end of the sidewalk later that evening. But the whole event was very enlightening.

I can't agree more with UnPlanned author and former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson when she says that BOTH sides of the "fence," pro-choice and pro-life activists, tend to demonize the other side. Oh yes, the media also tends to side with Pro-choice in demonizing us, but we are very guilty of making false assumptions and treating the other side as our enemies. Yet, when we take a step back from the debate and the protests, we should realize that our tactics should be different from the other side. They insult us, but doesn't scripture say, "Blessed are you when men insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you."? They stalk our Catholics as they say the rosary and they take pictures, but doesn't the Lord see all things, even what's in their and our hearts? And can't we sic the Holy Spirit on them, in a sense, to reveal the truth to them (something they can't avoid). They may stay out chanting all day long, longer than us, but doesn't scripture say, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective?" While we're fighting the battle with prayer and praise, something that I'm sure is foreign to them, they, sadly, only have their signs, their voices, and their many intimidation tactics. I actually feel sorry for them.

We need to remember that our fight is not against the people--the workers, the pro-choice protestors, even Leroy Carhart himself. The fight is against Satan and the demons in this world. It's a spiritual battle. When we view this as a spiritual battle, we really have no room in our hearts to hate the workers or Carhart or the people on the other side of the sidewalk. They, afterall, are Satan's pawns. They're decieved. And like Jesus, who says, "Oh Jerusalem...How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling," we should pitty them.

So what makes the "other side" come around? Does telling them statistics? Giving them the thumbs down sign as we drive past them? Frowning at them? Graphic pictures? Yelling at them? Abby Johnson would say it was Pro-Lifers' consistent kind acts and prayer that led to see she was decieved. What is more, it was their love and acceptance of her and willingness to help that helped her successfully leave Planned Parenthood. She really cared for women, and still does today, but it was through prayer that her eyes were finally opened to the truth. And it is through similar witness and prayer that we pray our Pro-Choice friends from the other side of the sidewalk come to see the truth, too!