How is the church going to be strengthened by the Obama Administration? There are a number of ways, and possibly the main way is already beginning to happen—the church will not continue to rely on the government to do our job, so we should wake up and do what we are in fact called to do.

For example, laws have their place, and righteous laws reflect the devotion of a nation to righteousness and justice, which is doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. That is a good thing, and we should seek it, as well as righteous lawmakers. However, the real battle is spiritual, and laws will not change people’s hearts. Let’s examine this practically in relation to abortion, which many Christians consider the major social issue of our times.

It has been widely reported that Obama has said he will remove all restraints on abortion, which will include late-term, and even partial-birth abortions. That is actually contrary to what he has posted on his website. Though he is pro-abortion and does want to remove some of the restraints imposed by the Bush Administration, he really wants to give most of the rights for the abortion issue back to the states. That could have a positive or negative impact on either camp, but let’s look at two key points that some states have imposed on abortion that are under pressure.

So what can the church do to trump even federal laws in these cases? Possibly the most effective is the very thing that the church can be the best at—shining the light on the issue. We are called to be “the light of the world,” so we need to shine the light where there is darkness. I have never met a person who understood abortion procedures and what they do to the baby and the mother who did not become pro-life. Most people who are pro-abortion would not be if they had some basic education about it. They would quickly understand that it is one of the most horrible and dehumanizing acts taking place in our times. It they just understood the procedures used, most would be in shock. 

I was recently in Greece and picked up a brochure that noted the major advances of civilization that came out of that nation. One was the Hippocratic Oath which every doctor around the world supposedly takes. Right under this oath was a notation that abortion was a basic violation of this oath to protect and preserve life. This was being distributed by a nation that had abortion imposed on it by the E.U.

Pastors often have to deal with the psychological damage done to the mothers, which can affect them deeply for the rest of their lives. Many of these mothers would be helped by just allowing them to tell their stories, and many others would be helped by hearing them. If the church focused a fraction of its resources on massive public education in these areas, the laws would soon follow the huge public outcry over such a horrible thing happening in our midst.

We also need to do a better job of educating the nations that we are called to be a light to about the effect of laws that would undermine or dilute basic parental authority and therefore weaken the basic family unit. A host of laws have been proposed but could not get past the conservatives in Congress because they would deny the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion in some basic ways. These could fly right through the next Congress with Democratic control of both houses of Congress and the White House. However, many Democrats would not vote for these bills if they truly understood their implications or they had to endure a major public outcry.

The church is now going to have to unite and become the light that we are called to be, or we will soon be driving underground in the very nation that was largely birthed by those seeking religious freedom and whose greatness has been built on our freedoms. We are going to have to go over the head of the federal government and go straight to that which is over the federal government in a true democracy—the people. Isn’t that what we should be doing anyway?

Two more ways that the church can arise and have a major impact on these issues of our times will be covered over the next two weeks. These three strategies together will be “a cord of three strands that cannot be easily broken” (see Ecclesiastes 4:12). They can also have a major impact in strengthening the church.