It was Tuesday night again, this time at the Newsom's house.
"Can we talk about a real life 'what would Jesus do'?" asked Debbie, when the group had settled down.
Josh thought for only a moment. "I don't see why not. It's our group, and we can do what we want with it. What did you have in mind?"
Debbie hesitated. "Maybe it's too soon. Maybe I should just shut up."
"No, come on, Deb," urged’ Donna.
"Well, I was wondering if... " She paused. "I wonder if Jesus would have approved of abortion."
Everyone stared at her, except Josh and Evalyn, who looked questioningly at one another. Nobody spoke.
"I was right; it's too soon!"
Evalyn broke the silent tension. "No, I don't think it's too soon, Deb. I think it just came as a surprise."
"That's an understatement!" said Ed.
"Ed!" Betty pleaded. "Please don't embarrass her."
Ed's look at Betty was pained, but he smiled at Debbie. "She doesn't mind, do you, Debbie? She knows I'm just kidding. But you have to admit, it is quite a bombshell to get us started."
Debbie smiled back. "I know." She looked around the group, a little helplessly. "I'm sorry, everybody. I didn't mean to break up the party. It's just that... Well, I'm confused. It seems to be Christian belief that abortion is wrong. It's always reported that way in the news: Christians are against abortion."
"That's because it's murder," responded Betty.
"But is it?" asked Bill, pointedly. "Not everybody agrees with that. And anyway, it seems like a lot of Christians don't have any problem with capital punishment, or with killing people in wars. Isn't that murder, too?"
"It's not the same," responded Ed. "In war, or in capital punishment, you're killing people to protect others, or as punishment for doing wrong. With abortion, you're killing helpless babies."
"But wait," rejoined Bill, insistently. "That makes it sound like all wars are just, that God will always be on our side, and... "
" Whoa!" Josh held up his hands in a ‘time out' signal. "Let's stop a minute, and regroup." When all had quieted down, he went on. "I think this is a good thing to talk about, even if it is a tough topic. It's good because it really gets at what we were talking about last week: about the ways we get our answers and make our decisions. We talked about what we get from the Bible, what we get from people like pastors and Sunday school teachers, and what we get direct from the Holy Spirit. Maybe we can blend that information, and get a clearer picture. But let's slow down, and pray. Dear Lord, thank You for allowing us to be together this evening. Thank You for giving us the desire to learn more about You. And thank You... " He had to laugh. "Yes, thank You, Lord, for giving us this particular topic to talk about and pray about. It's a toughie, but we thank You that You'll give us 'the mind of Christ’ to make our way through all our emotions and our preconceived ideas to Your truth. In Jesus’ name, amen."
Several others said "amen," then all fidgeted and looked uncomfortable for a few silent moments. Josh started again. "Okay, the topic is abortion, but it sounds like the more basic issue is killing... "
"Murder," corrected Betty.
"All right, maybe that's a good place to start. What does the Bible say about the two words? Are they different? Who has a Bible with a concordance, and who knows some verses that apply?”
"Thou shalt not kill," Donna responded immediately.
"Okay, that's pretty basic: the Ten Commandments. That's Exodus 21, along with no stealing, no committing adultery, no bearing false witness, et cetera."
"I have a different Bible version," offered Harry, "It says ‘you shall not commit murder,' not 'thou shalt not kill'."
"Interesting. In that context, at least, the words appear to be interchangeable."
"But look at the next chapter," advised Ed. "It talks about putting people to death as punishment. Look at verse 12: 'He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death’.”
"But that's Old Testament!" protested Bill.
"Okay," said Josh. "Old Testament versus New Testament. Can you tell us what difference that makes, Bill?"
Bill hesitated, uncertain if Josh was challenging or encouraging. "Well, there's a big difference, isn't there? I mean, I was taught that the entire Old Testament is the story of God trying to prove to men that they couldn't live under the Law. Then He sends Jesus, and the New Testament is about living under grace, rather than under the Law."
"So, go on; how does Law versus grace relate to how we'd handle capital punishment, or killing in war, or abortion?"
"Okay," Bill responded, more confidently. "Let's take capital punishment. The Old Testament law was an eye for an eye, but Jesus said that wasn't true, anymore. He said to turn the other cheek, and... "
“Now, wait a minute," interrupted Ed. "I know that the ideal is to live peacefully with everybody, but suppose somebody broke into my house and tried to rape my wife?"
"Ed!"
"Cool it, Bets. I know what the Bible says, but what would you do in my place, Bill?"
Bill hesitated, and looked at Debbie. "I guess I'd try to defend her," he said, slowly.
"You bet your a... Sorry; you bet you would! That's what I mean; you have to consider the situation."
Everyone was intent on the exchange, and Harry's voice came as a surprise. "Maybe the question isn't defense per se, but how you would defend her. Would you kill the intruder?"
"If I had to," responded Ed, positively.
“But would that be your first choice?" pursued Harry.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, would you kill him if you didn't have to, or just overpower him?"
Ed considered. "Well, I guess if I thought I could stop him... "
"Okay, what if you got there too late to save her, but you caught him leaving the house. Would you try to stop him, or try to kill him?"
"Harry, for pete's sake!" Bev entreated.
"Let's stop!" agreed Debbie, pleadingly. "! didn't mean to start this!"
Everyone looked at Josh. He considered for a few moments before he spoke. "Look, I know this is getting pretty grim, but I think I know where Harry is heading, and I think it's very important to our study. If nobody strongly objects - and if we can keep it orderly - I think we should go on. Any objections?"
He glanced around the room, catching everyone's eye briefly. Most nodded. Debbie, with tears on her cheeks, shrugged helplessly.
"Okay, Harry, go ahead."
Harry stood up, thought about pacing but found there wasn't room, and sat back down again. "What I was getting at was the timing and context of actions. If Bev was in trouble - well, if anybody was in trouble, period - I don't think I should just stand by and let it happen. But I think the permissible action is to stop the attack, not avenge the attack by hurting or killing the attacker. The vengeance - the punishment - is with the Lord.
"And I think, although many Christians don't agree, that the same philosophy carries over to the legal punishment stage, as well. I think God gave us the right to protect ourselves - by jail sentences, for example - but I don't think since Christ's time that He's given anybody but Himself the right to final judgment, the taking of a human life."
"But," immediately protested Ed, "Our prisons are already overcrowded. And, anyway, our justice system is such that murderers and rapists are back on the streets before you know it."
"But that's our fault," interjected Evalyn. "Within the law, we can make life sentences without parole, if that seems the best way to go."
"That's not a deterrent," rejoined Ed.
"I don't think capital punishment is, either," said Donna,
"That's because it isn't really practiced. If people knew that certain crimes would automatically get them the death penalty, without the chance of years and years of court battles and appeals, it might be a deterrent."
"I have two problems with that," said Harry. "First, people have been convicted of crimes they didn't commit. Court battles and appeals have saved innocent lives. Second, who decides which crimes are capital crimes?"
"Willful murder," said Ed, simply.
"But all willful murder? Is the man who commits a particularly grizzly murder necessarily more willful than the person who willfully gets in a car drunk and kills two people in a head-on collision? Or how about the drug dealers who willfully sell poisons that probably kill more people than all the homicidal maniacs in the world, put together? The end result is the same: the intentional taking of human life."
Ed didn't respond immediately, so Harry went on. "My point, Ed and everyone, is that we're not really even taking a logical stance when we talk about capital punishment. If we want the death penalty for the ax-murderer but not for the car-wielding drunk, I think we're reacting against the criminal, not against the crime, because the results are the same. Drunken drivers and dope dealers are ‘serial killers,' too!
"Also, think about this: we're not even taking an Old Testament stance on capital punishment. Look in 'Exodus' where we were looking before - here it is, Exodus 21 and 22. Verse 21:12 says if you hit and kill someone, you'll be put to death. But look at 21:15 - the death penalty for hitting (not killing, just hitting!) your mother or father; verse 16, death for slave trading; verse 17, wow! - death just for cursing your father or mother. There's more, too. Wait... Here it is, 22:19 - whoever has sex with an animal shall be put to death! Do you see what I mean? Clearly, when Christians talk about the death penalty, they aren't talking about Mosaic Law. If they aren't, what's their justification?"
Harry paused, and the room became very still. Nobody wanted to look at anybody else.
"What about war and abortion?" Charley asked, ingenuously,
The tension was broken, and the whole gathering seemed to let out a collective sigh. Several people laughed, and Donna impulsively hugged Charley.
"Hey, what did I say?" asked Charley, innocently, over Donna's shoulder.
Josh stood up. "Whoa, everybody. Maybe we better take a break, regroup, and decide how much more we want to do, tonight."
After a few minutes, he called the group back together again. "This is emotional, complicated stuff we're dealing with, and there are certainly no easy answers. And some of you need to get home. Why don't we take another half-hour, and try to bring this to a logical stopping place?"
After they had settled down again, he took a stab at summarizing what had been said. "We're trying to gain a Christian perspective on taking human life. We've been talking mostly about capital punishment, but the principles probably apply equally to defending ourselves, fighting wars, and maybe abortion, as well.
"Some Christians think that some killing is justifiable, as in capital punishment for certain crimes, or maybe in defense of yourself or your loved ones. We haven't really talked about abortion yet, but I can say from my own knowledge that Christians are not agreed on whether it is right or wrong, or even whether or not it can be classified as taking a life. Also, I think it's fair to say that some Christians are opposed to all taking of human life, even in self-defense. In other words, there is a broad spectrum of Christian belief about the taking of human life.
"But let's relate this to what we were talking about last week. I kept saying 'some Christians think.’ Now, the question in my mind is why do they think the way they do? Is it because they heard from their pastor that 'this is what Christians believe,' or from their neighbor, or from a book? Is it because they searched the scriptures, and then came to a conclusion? Or is it because the Holy Spirit took everything that they had heard and seen and thought, and gave them a real, God-approved answer?
"I feel very strongly about this. Some issues in our lives are too important to just take somebody's word for, or to just 'go along with the crowd.' I think we as Christians are irresponsible whenever we don't seek such answers direct from God."
He paused, and smiled at the silent people around him. "I didn't set out to give a sermon, but I guess I said what I really felt. If we're going to find out what Jesus would do - what God would want - we're going to have to go to the Source. No matter how we do it, it's going to be hard, sometimes. But I think it's going to be impossible to do unless we seek Him directly for our guidance. We want to read, and study, and pray, and discuss. But most of all, we have to ask, and then we have to listen for the answers."
He paused again, and smiled especially at Debbie. "We didn't really get to your question, Deb, but I think we're headed in the right direction. Thanks for bringing it up."
Debbie raised her eyebrows at him. "Glad I could help!"
***
The Feltons stayed at the Newsom's after the others had gone home. All four of the adults were keyed up in the aftermath of the evening's discussion. Karen and Mike sat sleepily on the floor, waiting to be taken home.
"I wasn't expecting that," exclaimed Josh.
"I seriously doubt that anybody was," rejoined Pete. "I guess I thought - hoped, too - that we'd eventually get into that kind of discussion, but I thought it would take a month or so. Debbie really broke it open!"
"Do you think it was too soon?" asked Evalyn.
Josh considered, "It was pretty emotional - it's a pretty heavy duty topic - but I think it went all right."
"Why do you ask, Ev? Did you think it was too soon?" asked Donna.
Ev shook her head. "No. Oh, I don't know. I just had a feeling that maybe it was too much for some people."
Donna nodded. "Well, Debbie was certainly upset that she brought it up, and Betty was upset with Ed."
"Yes, but that's not really what I meant, exactly. I just had the feeling that... Oh, I don't know. I just hope it's all right."
Josh and Pete looked at one another, but neither felt any misgivings. Josh shrugged. "Well, some were probably readier than others for that particular topic, but I think it was a great one to get us started. It's an issue that everybody talks about, but usually with a lot more heat than light. It's the type of topic that really needs Holy Spirit discernment, not somebody's well-meaning opinion. As I said earlier, there are a lot of issues like this that are just too darn important to be left to popular belief."
Evalyn was frowning. "Problems, Ev?" he asked.
"No, that's good, Josh, and! agree with you. Only... Oh, I wish I didn't feel so uncomfortable about this!"
***
Debbie and Bill stopped for coffee, and sat side by side in a booth in the same nearly-deserted restaurant they had sat in the previous Tuesday night. Both had been quiet on the short drive from the Newsom's. Now, he ran his fingers softly across her cheek, and she turned slightly to smile at him.
"Quite a night, Deb."
She nodded. "I really got scared at one point. I probably shouldn't have started it.”
"Hey, I think it was all right. We needed to know, and that's what the group is for."
"I know, but I still worry about the timing. I mean, we just got started with this group, and the way everybody looked at me... "
He put his arm over her shoulder. "You were brave." He moved his hand through her hair. "And you were great!"
She leaned against him. "Thanks, but I didn't do anything, really. You and Harry were the great ones. You both had important things to say.”
“But we didn't get our answer, did we?"
"I don't know about that. Maybe we got as much as we're going to get from the group. I think that's what Pastor was trying to say: on some subjects, you can talk and talk and talk, but eventually you've got to go to God for the specific answer.”
They sat in silence for a minute or two, sipping the last of their coffee. "So what does that mean, Deb? Do you have your answer?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't. But I think I can get one, now."
***
The ride for Ed and Betty was quiet, as rides usually were, but a tension was present not felt after the last Tuesday meet. Betty couldn't let it alone.
"Ed?"
"Uh huh?"
"What did you think about it?"
He didn't respond.
"Ed?"
"Let's not talk about it, now."
She was silent for a while, as he expected her to be, but she was too wound up to play the usual game. "Ed, I need to talk about it.”
He surprised her by immediately pulling to the curb and shutting off the engine. He turned to face her. "Well?"
Flustered by his sudden action, she didn't know what to say. "Come on, Bets, I thought you wanted to talk."
"Please, Ed. I do, only... Only, I didn't understand what was going on. Did you?"
He smiled, but not with good humor. "Oh, I understood, all right. I think those are some pretty dangerous people."
"What do you mean?"
"You heard the same thing I did. Use your brain: pro- abortion, anti-capital punishment, a weakened defense budget... It's the same liberal bullshit we beat off at the last election!"
"But no one said they were for abortion, did they?"
Ed started the car, again. "Only because the conversation went other directions."
They drove on in silence. Just before they turned into their driveway, he said "I wonder why she wanted to talk about abortion tonight."
Betty looked at him, puzzled.
* * *
"Do you think Debbie is considering an abortion, Josh?"
His silhouette moved slightly in the darkness of the bedroom. "Beats me, Ev. But it seems too coincidental to be otherwise."
"If that's so, did we help or hurt tonight?"
He clicked on the light, and looked at her. "I don't know, but you can't not talk about things. We're telling people to get Holy Spirit answers to life's questions. Don't we have to believe that it really works?"
She nodded, but was clearly troubled. He turned out the light. He was troubled, too.
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