Welcome to Break Point, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. According to the General Social Survey, the number of people who favor allowing abortion for any reason has increased from 42% back in 2012. to 57% in 2022. This, along with the repeated failures of pro-life legislation since the Dobbs decision, reflects that there is a growing number of Americans.
who oppose legal restrictions on abortion. it does not necessarily mean that there is a growing acceptance of the practice. And yet at the same time we now know far more about the science of fetal development, about the reality of abortion, about the harms of the abortion pill for women, The pro-life case has only gotten stronger. But there are still too many Christians unwilling to make it. My friend Scott Klusendorf has spent a lifetime training pro-lifers that they can, and they should, make the case for life to friends, family members, and neighbors.
At the Colson Center National Conference in May, he summarized how to make the case for life. to hypothetical Aunt Betty. Here's Scott Glusendorf. I'm pro-life because it's wrong to intentionally kill innocent human beings. And the science of embryology is clear that from the earliest stages of development, you We were a distinct living and whole human being.
You weren't part of another human being like skin cells on the back of my hand. You were already a whole living member of the human family, even though you had yet to grow and develop. And you know what else, Aunt Betty? There's no essential difference between you, the embryo, and you, the adult, that would justify killing you back then. Klusendorf then repeated his call for all Christians to defend innocent pre-born life.
Men and women, all of us as Christians, have to confront our fears. And I'll leave you with this. That's my last point. We have to confront the fear of somehow offending people. This has been talked about a lot here.
But you know what I have found in pro-life apologetics? When I present a careful case for the pro-life view persuasively and graciously, It draws people in to take a closer look at the total biblical worldview we're espousing. And I'll end with this story. My colleague, who's a pastor, was set to preach on abortion not long ago. He was approached just before the service by a couple in the church who said, Hey, Pastor, don't blow it today.
We have a Spanish professor friend of ours here from Madrid. He's an atheist, but he agreed to come to church, so you better not mess it up today. And my buddy's thinking, Oh no, do I call an audible and change my sermon here and not talk about abortion? No, he talked about it, laid out a biblical case, a philosophic case, a scientific case. And when the sermon was over, that Spanish atheist made a beeline for him and said this.
You, sir, have defied every expectation I had today coming to church. I've never met a smart Christian. You just blew out all my stuff. And He said, what world did you come from? I haven't seen people like you.
What was interesting is instead of abortion driving him away from the gospel, That man stayed with that family as he was scheduled to do for a week. And they had dozens of gospel talks. What opened the door to that? The fact that the Christian had an intelligent case to make on the pro-life view. Believers, let's not be afraid to stand up and make our case persuasively.
We should worship. The prince of peace, not peace. Let's go out there and give them heaven. Scott Klusendorf's book, The Case for Life, the second edition, remains the best training resource on the topic. It's appropriate for parents, for students, for educators, for pro-life pregnancy center staff, for anyone who understands this moral crisis of abortion and is willing to join the cause.
Christians have to know that the truth about who we are as human beings is objective, absolute, and knowable. And we also have to know that there are false ideas about who we are, and the victims of those bad ideas continue to increase. In this cultural moment in which so many lives are at stake, every single Christian must be prepared to make the case for life. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast.
And for more resources to live like a Christian today, go to breakpoint.org. I spent my career.
Some sixty odd years thinking, studying, debating, and writing. about the great questions of human existence. I consider this the calling God has placed on my life. And yet, The questions I've spent my lifetime wrestling with have never been more urgent than right now. I believe that we are at a civilizational moment.
The period of crisis. When a civilization, our civilization, completely loses touch with the inspiration that made it, Yeah. It is at this point Like all the other civilizations that have come and gone before us, that we face three clear options. Renew the original inspiration. replace it with something equally solid?
or decline. Oz Guinness in the new film Truth Rising observes that the West has reached a civilizational moment. And as Christians, we know that that's exactly the moment to which God has called us. That's what the new film Truth Rising is all about. Truth Rising is a groundbreaking documentary from the Colson Center and focus on the family.
Truth Rising helps Christians understand how critical this civilizational moment is and understand the role that they have to play in it, embracing their calling to be agents of renewal. by championing the truth And being people of courage. Please invite your friends and family to watch Truth Rising with you. You can see it anytime. Just go to truthrising.com/slash Colson.
That's truthrising.com/slash Colson.
