“New life begins with communication,” she said. Her cheerful tone suddenly morphed into one of sober compassion. “The progression from a relationship to an abortion goes something like this: Relationship leads to sexual activity; sexual activity leads to pregnancy; pregnancy leads to new life - or abortion.”
Kohm then went on to share the results of multiple statistical studies, including one by the Guttmacher Institute and another by the Barna Group, both of which concluded that around 70% of abortions in America are performed on women who claim some kind of a relationship to Christianity while over 80% are performed on unmarried women. She explained that the majority of these pregnancies are clearly as a result of sexual impurity.
“‘Christians are fighting to make something illegal – a practice whose largest client base is comprised of other Christians,’” she quoted from commentary she encountered while preparing for her message. “Can you not see that this smacks of hypocrisy? Can abortion be eliminated in the world if it is not first eliminated in our own [church] body?”
To do that, she proposed that we must get to the heart of the life issue, which she explained is none other than the heart itself. She shared another slew of heartbreaking statistics surrounding Christians’ and church leaders’ approval of/ participation in such areas of impurity as adultery, porn, and drunkenness. Instead of discouraging abortion and other sinful behavior by picketing abortion clinics and attempting to pass litigation that makes them illegal (which, she explained, are not necessarily bad pursuits), Professor Kohm emphasized the need to eliminate the source of the sin by encouraging purity of heart through integrity (2 Cor. 1-2), genuine repentance (Ps. 51:1-9), and Christ’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
Although she earlier admitted that this was not the subject she initially intended on sharing, but was one which she felt compelled by the Lord to share only the day before, chapel attendants were left humbled, challenged, and impassioned as Professor Kohm walked away from the lectern.
To learn more about the heart of the life issue visit Professor Kohm’s Family Restoration blog.
- By Molly Eccles