336 Million Unheard Voices

I grew up in church. I grew up seeing Felt-board Jesus every Sunday, and His friends; Moses, Noah, Peter, and John. I grew up believing in Jesus, but never really understanding the full weight of the gospel. Maybe I heard it and missed it. Maybe it was just part of growing in the Lord and closer to Him, something that happens over time. As part of all of this, my understanding of missions was reduced to once a year having different missionaries whom our church sponsored talk about what they do and where they do it. Missions was people being crazy enough to go live somewhere else and be uncomfortable while telling people about Jesus instead of doing it right here. I got the importance of it, and that it was a command, but I never got the weight of it. Not until today.

This morning I read something that shook my entire foundation. Since 1971 China has committed 336 MILLION ABORTIONS.

Three hundred thirty-six million babies who never breathed their first breath. Three hundred thirty-six million children who never took their first steps. Three hundred thirty-six million whose voices were never heard, because they were never given the chance to speak.

When I read this earlier this morning I felt like my heart was crushed. Probably much like you do now. I walked around like a zombie for hours, praying that God would give me the strength to just make it through the day with collapsing because this took all that I had out of me. Then something horrible happened.

Three hundred thirty-six million abortions and I’m ok by lunch time? I managed to get distracted enough or busy enough for this to lose its proper weight on my heart?

THIS–this is why we do missions. Because when the gospel isn’t the cornerstone of a people group they begin to worry more about quality of living than quality of character. When the gospel isn’t the center, we see children as a blight instead of a blessing. When the gospel isn’t the center, when Christ crucified and all the implications, aren’t at the forefront of our decision making, we get atrocities like this. I praise God for all the work He is currently doing in China, and for all the missionaries who have served Christ faithfully in China these past 40 years.

But this is the price the world pays when Christians do nothing to stand against global injustice. This is the price the world pays when Christians are too concerned about holding on to their lives of comfort instead of being living sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. This is what happens when Christians are too wrapped up in reality TV and don’t pay enough attention to the world around them. We we stop being the salt – the preservative – of the earth. Three hundred thirty-six million.

I’m not saying everyone should go be a missionary to China now. If the Lord is pressing that into your heart, then, yes, you should. But I’ve always felt called to be here, in Dallas. Maybe God will change that, but until He does I know I need to be faithful where I am.

Part of that faithfulness is remembering my brothers and sisters in China. The persecution they face. The murder of their unborn children. And to be frank, don’t even start with the “It’s not a real person until…” crap. NO doctor looks at a woman who just had a miscarriage, no matter how soon during the pregnancy, and says “Don’t worry, it was just a fetus.” Because they KNOW that the woman has lost something invaluable: their child.

John Piper says that missions isn’t the goal; missions exists because worship of God doesn’t.

This isn’t about conservative Evangelicalism or politics. It’s about the gospel needing to go forth and overturn a government that has forcibly murdered the unborn. This is about God being restored to His rightful place of worship in our hearts.

So, while I don’t feel called to move to China, or even go to China. The Spirit won’t let me stay silent. Even if God is the only one who hears my cries. God is a God who hears the outcries of His people, and He shows mercy. This is a very good, and very much needed thing, because the grace and mercy needed to cover the magnitude of this sin is incalculably high. Fortunately, Christ paid an incalculably high price for the redemption and reconciliation of His people.

Join Me
I’m not one to coordinate petitions to governments or do something insanely cool like Invisible Children. I don’t have the platform or the popularity, and that’s fine. I honestly wouldn’t know what to do with it. But what I’m committing to, and asking…pleading with you to do, is to join me in praying for China until the end of April. I know that this is much too short a time to devote given the weight of the tragedy, but it’s what I feel the Spirit telling me to ask.

So, please, I don’t care when you do it, just make it a time when you can fall on your knees and legitimately pray. No distractions. No interruptions. Set an alarm reminder on your phone, keep it on your To-Do List. However you need to manage this, please pray.

Pray for the following:

• God would sovereignly overturn China’s one child policy.
• God would strengthen the hearts of those facing persecution and censorship
• God would raise up more people to preach the gospel in China

I know, God may not choose to enact all these things by the end of April, but that’s what He’s pressed on me to pray. So, that’s what I’m asking you to pray with me.

Soli Deo Gloria