Christians in America are stuck on a problem they can’t seem to solve.

It’s a problem that unites nearly all of us together. In fact, other than Jesus himself, no other topic or issue so completely unites Christians than this. I’m talking about abortion, of course.

But we’ve been stuck on how to solve this problem since 1973.

Seriously.

Has anyone ever told you the definition of insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result.

For over 40 years now Christians in America have been trying to stop abortions in this country doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting a different result.

That’s insane.

My wife teaches 7th grade Math. Whenever a student gets stuck on a problem, they usually raise their hand and ask for help.

I think we need to do that now.

Why? Because after two terms of Reagan, two terms of George W.Bush, and a Republican-majority congress at various times over the last 40 years, virtually zero progress has been made.

[Read more about that HERE

The evidence is clear: A political solution to abortion isn’t working.

But most Christians are totally unaware that there was already a Pro-Life Movement that actually DID significantly reduce the abortion rate in America, and they did it without politics.

Back in the 1800’s abortion was so rampant that ads ran in the newspapers for them. The abortion rate, adjusted per capita for increased population, was higher than what we experienced after the Roe vs Wade decision.



In the book, “Abortion in America” this time between 1840 and 1880 is referred to as “The Great Upsurge of Abortion,” and estimates are that at least 20 percent of pregnancies were ending in induced abortion during that time in history.



Another book, “The Great Crime of the Nineteenth Century,” by Edmund Hale, claimed two-thirds of pregnancies during the mid-to-late 1800’s ended in induced abortions.

It was a dark time.

As you might expect, the Christian church of the day was determined to end abortion, or at least to slow it down.

By 1910 they successfully cut the national abortion rate in half.

How did they do it?

Simply put, Christians created a movement where pregnant women were provided with positive alternatives to abortion.

They focused on helping young women in poor communities, including prostitutes, who found themselves in trouble.

They came alongside these women and encouraged them to carry their children full-term. Then they helped them to find adoptive parents for their unborn child.

Or, they simply stood by these women and committed themselves to providing childcare to help them finish school, or find work so they could keep their child.

By putting the Gospel into practice, these followers of Jesus transformed their society from within – one person at a time.

It was led by Christians. It was accomplished by loving our neighbor as Jesus commanded. It did not rely on the passage of laws or elected officials.

If our passion is to end abortion in our nation, the best way to do this is to circumvent political processes which, to date, have proven ineffective, and devote ourselves to loving our neighbor as Jesus commanded.

As long as we continue to put our hope in politicians we will never end abortion in this nation. To continue to seek out a political solution is the very definition of insanity.

But, If we commit ourselves to sharing the love of Christ with those around us, we might just discover that Jesus was right all along about how to change our world for the better.

-kg

PS: Believe it or not, the abortion rates in the United States are steadily declining according to a number of sources.

And, Roe vs Wade will probably never be overturned by the Supreme Court due to a long list of Constitutional and Common Law grounds. But if we are successful in transforming the hearts of people around us, it won’t matter what laws are on the books.

*This post is excerpted from my book “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb“

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Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today, He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho, awaiting their next adventure.

His new book “Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible”, is available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.

He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller, “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb” with a Foreword by Greg Boyd.

Keith also co-hosts the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean.

BONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my Patreon page.