Jesus, Our Perfect Example - IV

Righteous Indignation.

Another area we need to follow the example of Jesus in is righteous indignation, or anger over sin and its destructive consequences. Some believe it is a sin for the Christian to be angry. I have been told by people that I was not allowed to be angry for it sinful. If this is true then Jesus sinned! Here is what Mark recorded about Jesus and anger in Mark 3. Jesus entered into a synagogue on the Sabbath. Present that day was a man with a withered hand. Some present watched Jesus to see if He would heal this man. Jesus ask, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other" (Mark 3:4,5). Mark wrote about Jesus looking with anger at those present. But notice why He was angry: at the hardness of their hearts. We should be angered about hardness of heart as well. About what?

Abortion for one. Consider the deception practiced by those who are in favor of abortion. The child growing in the womb is referred to as a "fetus." It is portrayed as simply a mass of tissue which a part of the mother’s body. The pregnant women should possess the right to remove this "mass" at any time for any reason since she should have ultimate say over her body. What is advocated is the removal of consequences. Pregnancy is not a disease but a condition resulting from a particular activity. A second reason for promoting abortion is the attempt to eradicate the poor. George Grant in his book Grand Illusions offered the following on Planned Parenthood and its founder Margaret Sanger:

The truth is, Planned Parenthood appears to want to eliminate the poor, not serve them. Animosity toward the weak and lowly has been its hallmark from its earliest days.

In 1922 Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, chided social workers, philanthropists, and churchmen for perpetuating "the cruelty of charity." She argued that organized attempts to help the poor were the "surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding, and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents, and dependants." She went on the write that the most "insidiously injurious philanthropy" was the maternity care given to poor women. She concluded her diatribe by describing all those who refuse to see the necessity of severely regulating the fertility of the working class as "begin imbeciles, who encourage the defective and diseased elements of humanity in their reckless and irresponsible swarming and spawning."

Her alternative to charity was "to eliminate the stocks" that she felt were most detrimental "to the future of the race and the world.". . . More children for the fit, less from the unfit," Sanger pined, "that is the chief issue of birth control" (italics are in the original, from page 27 of Grand Illusions).

This attitude is seen in the treatment of "defective" children, those born with mild to severe handicaps. Tests are now performed on pregnant women to determine if the child developing in the womb has problems or not. If the tests indicate there are problems then abortion is encouraged.

More next week Lord willing. Denny