8/12/2019 1988 Issue 12 - Operation Rescue - Counsel of
Chalcedon
1/2
Operation Rescue
by Wayne Rogers
Having been directly involved in
Operation Rescue
at
one
time, and hav
ing initially supported its actions and
tactics, I have on further thought chang
ed my
opinion as to the validity
of
the
methods
of
Operation Rescue as a Chris
tian method
to
stop abortions. Many ar
guments and reasons have been well
stated elsewhere. It is
not
my purpose
or
intent
to
repeat those arguments. I
would like
to
add a consideration based
on
the use
of
the
sword by
Peter re
corded in John 18:10-11.
Those who are involved in Operation
Rescue believe that Proverbs 24:11-12,
Deliver those
who
are being taken
away to death,
and
those who are
staggering to slaughter, 0 hold them
back .. is a
command of God
which
must supersede obedience to the civil
magistrate. Christians must obey the
Higher law
of
God.
In the first place, Proverbs 24:11-12
cannot be taken as an automatic right to
disobey the civil magistrate
i
he isn't
doing his job. Prov. 24:11 -
12
is almost
assuredly a quote
from Psalm
82 which
is applied to the Civil Magistrate. More
over, 24:21 tells us to Fear the Lord
and the King .. Which are we
to
do?
The point is,
in order
to resist the kings
in
order to rescue
the
perishing, we
must have a Biblical basis to resist
or
defy the king first of all.
Secondly, it seems
to
me that
if
Prov. 24:11-12 means
what
Operation
Rescue says that
it
means, the disciples
should have applied
it
at the time
of
Jesus arrest
n
order
to
deliver Him.
Jesus,
an
innocent person, was about to
be
dragged away to death. Even if the
disciples weren't fully aware that was
what was about
to
happen, they cer
tainly were after the trial and at the
Wayne Rogers Is organlzinsr pastor
of Christ Community Presoyterlan
Church, a mission
of
Chalcedon
Presbyterian Church, in Lawrence
ville, Georgia.
cross.
But
they did not rescue Him.
Of course, many will say, Jesus for
bade violence. Peter was using vio
lence, the sword. The Scriptures do
not
allow us
to
use violence. That's why
Operation Rescue is a peaceful non-vio
lent protest
It
is my
contention
that
Jesus was
not simply condemning the use of vio
lence, but that He was telling Peter
not
to use
force at all.
In other
words,
He
wasn't hoping
that Peter
would con
clude that while he couldn't use the
sword,
he
could
at
least throw his body
between the soldiers
and
Jesus. And, at
the cross, should
not
the disciples have
staged a demonstration, a protest?
Shouldn't they have surrounded the
cross so that Jesus couldn't have been
nailed
to it
if Proverbs 2 4 : must
be
applied to rescuing
the
perishing
under any and
ll
circumstances?
Some will argue that Jesus had to
die. Jesus
Himself
gives that as a
reason
why
Peter must
put up
his
sword.
He
must
drink the
cup that
His
Father has poured for Him. Yes,
of
course, Jesus
had
to die. That was the
redemptive plan
and
purpose of God. It
would have been ironic
i f His
disciples
had
died
for Him
in trying
to
protect
or
save
Him
from death. But, doesn't
that
tell
us
that
we
cannot apply Prov.
24:11-12 across the board.
Even
Operap
tion Rescue proponents qualify the pas
sage by saying that while
we
must
cue
the perishing
we
cannot use wea
pons,
i t
must
be by
non-violent,
peace,
.
ful means. If
it
is qualified, then again,
we must determine before
we
apply
it
to
abortion that
we do
have Biblical
grounds
to
disobey
or
resist the Civil
Magistrate.
Thirdly, Christ gives the ultimate
reason why
He
told Peter
to
put
up
his
sword. In John 18:36 Jesus said,
My
kingdom
is
not of
this world.
f
my
kingdom
were
of
this world, then
My
servants would be fighting that I might
not
be
delivered
up to
the Jews; but as
it
is,
My
kingdom is
not
of this
realm.
Now,
when Jesus
says
that His king
dom is
not of
this world,
He
is
not
saying that
His
kingdom
is simply a
spiritual
kingdom
with
no
relation
to
the kingdoms
of
this world.
The word
of' refers
to
origin,
not
location.
His
kingdom does
not
owe
or have its
origin
from
this world,
or
the kingdom
of this world. It does not originate from
this world, but from the heavenly or
spiritual realm.
And His
remarks con
cerning
the
use
of
weapons indicate that
the
kingdom of Christ
does
not
come
or
advance itself,
by use of
physical force,
violence,
or
coercion
to
accomplish its
goals or purposes. What
is
appropriate
for the kingdoms
of men
is not appro
priate
for
the
kingdom
of
God.
Those involved in
Operation Rescue
insist
that they are not
using violence.
They are
using
the tactics
of
non-vio
lent,
peaceful
protest as did the civil
rights
movement of the
60's. I believe
that Operation
Rescue
is doing exactly
what Jesus forbade
in John
18:36.
Jesus'
point
wa
s
that
His
kingdom
doesn't
come
by coercion or force. His
kingdom
doesn't
force itself
politically
upon the societies
of men. That
is why
we
are
to make
disciples
of
men
by
pointing
them
to
Christ
without
point
ing a political
sword
at them.
Without
regeneration
all
social
change
is
temporary
at
best. Unless the
hearts
of men
are
changed we go
from
one
social
change to
another depending
upon
which
group
can
muster enough
votes or apply enough political pres
sure. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but are spiritual, to the
casting
down
of thrones
and
dominions,
II Cor. 10:5.
Operation
Rescue
is trying
to
force,
to
compel, to coerce, (even though they
are
not
using
the
sword), a non-Chris
tian,
pagan
culture to conform to the
Word and
will
of
God.
I
do not mean to
imply that as
Christians
we
should not
work to
bring
the social and
civil law
into conformity
to
the
law of God. Of course we
should.
But,
we cannot use
revolutionary tactics
(Continued on page 40)
The Counsel of Chalccdon, December, 1988
P a g e 9
8/12/2019 1988 Issue 12 - Operation Rescue - Counsel of
Chalcedon
2/2
Operation Rescue
.
Rogers
Continued from
page 19
or force.
We
do it the God-a appointed
way of preaching, teaching, evangel
ism, education, and
as
we can by elec
tion. Every kingdom has the power to
enforce its laws by means of the sword
once
it
has achieved power
or
the right
to rule. But we cannot use force to com
pel the civil magistrate to comply with
the Word of God.
Having said this, the other arguments
for Opetatipn Rescue simply do not
justify its methods.
It
says that we can
not
use force to
a c c o m p l i ~ h
its goals.
Therefore,
it
cannot reaily apply Prov.
24:10-11 itself which says Hold back
those who are staggering to death.
-
Tfie
f m e
imply
tryin
g
co
stoP
man from entering the clinic and having
an
abortion. But,
i f
the woman goes
in
they say that they don't have the right
to literally hold her back. Therefore,
Operation Rescue is one atteinpt to get
people to voluntarily give up having an
abortion. But Operation Rescue advo
cates are .quickly assuming the attitude
that
i f
you aren't joining with them,
you are not following the God-ordained
program.
Ii is
at
this point that Operation Res
cue's real tactics become evident.
uiti-
mately, it is a tactic to apply political
and social pressure by creating social
tension in order to overwhelm and
change the system. This is the spear
head, the cutting edge
of
Operation Res
cue.
f
you take this away, then you
have to ask if the method would be that
successful.
. In all sincerity some are saying that .
the reason that they are doing this is as
a
form
of
personal or corporate re
pentance. But
just
as sincerely I ask,
has God commanded that we do this in
repentance? Is this a fast that God has
required? I am sure that we do need to
repent. But that doesn't mean that the
ends justify the means.
What is the responsibility of a Chris
tian in a society which legalizes and
pennits that which God forbids, that
which is sinful? Obviously, not only
should we not exercise our civil
rights, but we should urge others not to
practice sin.
We
should preach agairist
J.
Gresham Machen:
A Biographical Memoir
by Ned B. Stonehouse
it. We should proclaim God's judgment
upon those who practice it.
The O.T. condemned Molech wor
ship, which involved sacrificing chil
dren in the fire, Lev. 18:21, 20:2-5,
Deut. 12:31, 18:10-13. Yet, kings in
Israel practiced Molech worship, I Kgs.
11:31-33, I I Kgs. 23:12-14, 16:3f. The
Prophets preached against and con
demned the practice, declaring God's
judgment against the n ation, Jer. 49:1-
3, Ezek. 16: 20f, 20:26-31, 23:37, Isa.
57:5. At no time did the Prophets urge
the people to overthrow their kings. He
called them to repentance. They pro
claimed the righteous kingdom of the
coming Messiah. It was this kingdom
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