This past weekend, I had a chance to spend time with long-term friends, some of whom are very influential in Christian leadership. These friends of mine are in contact with other very influential Christian leaders across this country. Because of these connections, some of our conversations are, like all conversations today, turned toward politics.

We had discussions about whether the church needs to be more involved in politics and influence the direction of things. We talked about whether we are too involved in politics and whether we are trying to establish a political kingdom on the earth and what that would look like with its nuances. We talked about what it means to be light and salt.We talked a little bit about how the puritans were influencing the government back in their day and what we should or should not translate into today. We talked a little bit about Trump and DeSantis, state vs. federal laws and their policies.

We did not come to any real conclusions. I should be upfront about that. We did not come to a lot of agreement in many areas. One thing that I think we should all agree on is that the just powers of the government are derived from the consent of the governed.

That is sort of the moral foundation for a democratic culture. This then led to other debates like should we try to pass laws that end all abortion all at once and reject any policy that might reduce abortion in the same way that Planned Parenthood would reject such policy or legislative proposals. Are you compromised if you do that? And then there is a big debate about this among American pro-life people.

PassionLife is not really a political organization. We do not do legislation. We do not do state policy, but, rather, our focus is to try to take the word of God and to train up a generation of the church that knows how to stand for life in a secular culture and to make a winsome, articulate and persuasive case for life. At the same time, we want to mobilize the church as an army of good Samaritans who are ready to rescue women and couples who are in the midst of a pregnancy related crisis. We want to make sure they find some sort of a life-affirming alternative to the false promise of abortion.

That is what we are about both here and all over the world. Of course that is another reason we do not get into the political side of things. There are other people that can do that. And we really feel called by God to be focused on training the universal church to stand up and to know the Bible in this part and apply it to this part of our culture where we are.

My appeal to us all is that whether you are in 40 Days for Life, or you are in a pregnancy center or you are really watching all the developments in these legislative proposals, there are so many ways to get involved with the pro-life movement. I think we should all begin our pro-life effort in the same place. This is the one thing that we should unify around if you are going to stand for life.

The first expression of that pro-life action ought to be the same action that David took when he began to understand the humanity of the unborn child in the womb. What is his action point?

Well, it comes to us in Psalm 1:39. It is very familiar to those in the pro-life movement. It is almost always the primary text that is read when I have been invited to speak in a church and they know that I am going to be addressing the sanctity of human life. They all turn to Psalm 1:39, “You formed my inward parts and you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well.” David is marveling at his humanity in the womb, but he is doing more than that. He is actually worshiping.

My appeal to all of us who want to stand for life is to make your first action point the same as David. His response to discovering the humanity of the unborn child was to worship God and to align himself with God. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret.

I have always tried to practice remembering that whatever action points you may have in life, get on your knees before the Lord, worship him and align yourself with him and his will for your life through Christ. He will then lead you to all the good works that he has prepared for you and me to do. This is the one unifying place for everyone in the pro-life movement to stand on.

We can stand together on Psalm 1:39 and the fact that human beings are formed at conception and are worthy of equal rights for all people. If that is our position and we are ready to go to battle for that, our preparation for battle ought to be on our knees. We ought to worship and draw from God the wisdom and guidance that we need to carry out the good works he has asked us to carry out in this troubled time.

Psalm 1:39 is a call to worship and let’s start there as we go forward in the many good works that we are doing. God bless.