Activate Series: #13 – What’s God Got to Do with It?

Our weekly #Activate vlog series uses clips from Educe® online courses to illuminate the truth behind the cultural battles of today (and tomorrow) and move Christians from education to action in their communities, churches, and circles of influence.

Is human life valuable at all stages and in every circumstance, or is it only valuable at some stages and in certain circumstances? Is death a compassionate solution to human suffering? Can ending our lives or the lives of others be a moral good? Our answers to these questions reveal much more than our political leanings and emotional experiences. They expose our deepest perceptions of the nature of God Himself.

What we think, feel, and believe about who God is, and what He thinks of us, directly impacts what we think, feel, and believe about human life. If we view God as uncaring and detached from His creation, then humans aren’t inherently valuable, but expendable, and our worth is measured by our risks and benefits to each other. If we view God as angry and full of judgment, then our fellow humans are objects of blame and disappointment, not recipients of mercy and forgiveness. And if we believe God doesn’t exist at all, then we are just drifting—empty, self-focused, and without hope.

At no time in history have these perceptions of God (and thus, human life) been more dangerous. Today, at the touch of a button, a person suffering from physical or mental illness can commit suicide inside his very own pre-designed coffin. At the touch of a button, a teenager can access and manage her birth control in secret or order abortifacient drugs through her iPhone. Les Riley, president of Personhood Mississippi, is sounding the alarm.

“Being able to autonomously obtain the means to end embryonic life or euthanize oneself…has implications that are hard to overstate,” warns Riley. “Winning the battle of ideas, much less attempting to provide mercy or seek justice for ‘the least of these,’ is no longer simply a matter of building a better organization or using the strategies of late 20^th, early 21^st-century political activism.”

Indeed, the answer to these growing threats requires a paradigm shift. And a bit of a reminder.

This week’s online course clip prompts us to remember that, to truly bring an end to the devaluation and destruction of human life, we must recognize this battle as a spiritual one. The Enemy’s greatest weapon in this battle is deceit, and this weapon is most destructive when applied to our perceptions of God. As Christians, we must show others who God really is in the way we live our lives. But at the same time, we must speak bold, compassionate truth in a desperately broken culture and awaken our brothers and sisters to join us.

This course excerpt is from Session 6: Awakening, the final course in our Foundations online curriculum.

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