By Dr. Mike Spaulding
I was listening to Coach Dave Daubenmire recently and during his Coach Dave Live program he made the point that Christianity as lived out by the overwhelming majority of American Christians has become nothing more than a custodian service. Let that sink in friends. Christians are nothing more than glorified janitors. Ouch! The truth hurts but out of that pain can come an understanding of what needs to change.
How are Christians only glorified janitors? Consider that Christians and the churches they call their spiritual homes spend untold amounts of time, energy, and finances on addiction recovery programs, counseling confused people about marriage, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, parenting, and every sort of life issue imaginable. There is even an army of “life coaches” that offer their services to Christians unable to deal with what their lives have become.
Now some Christians reading this might think, “Well what’s wrong with all of those things? Shouldn’t Christians be helping people to overcome their problems?” The problem with this strategy, this method of ministry, is that it is reactive instead of proactive. That’s right; Christians are reacting to people after the damage has been done. We are like janitors called to clean up the mess Johnnie and Jane make in the classroom because they’ve never been taught to understand that certain behavior is neither acceptable nor tolerated. A forgotten truth is this: certain behaviors result in negative and often catastrophic consequences for the individual involved and often others as a result of association with or by unfortunate contact with an individual.
Let me give you some concrete examples of what I’m talking about. Here in Ohio where I live, 13% of the state budget is spent on addiction, substance use, and abuse programs.[1] Of the 13%, $0.02 of every budgeted dollar pays for prevention and treatment programs and $0.90 of every budgeted dollar pays for the consequences of addiction, substance use, and abuse. Do those figures suggest anything to you? What they suggest to me is that if we must spend tax payer money on things like this, perhaps the amount spent on prevention should increase so that the amount spent on the consequences can decrease. Does it not follow that more emphasis on prevention might mean less negative consequences and the need for a bloated budget to pay for those consequences?
Further, these negative consequences for certain behavior places a large and growing burden on state health care systems. Consider that:
The largest share of spending on the consequences of addiction and substance use falls to the health care system. Tobacco, alcohol and drug use cause or contribute to more than 70 other conditions requiring medical care, including cancer, lung disease, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy complications, cirrhosis, ulcers and trauma. Nearly 1/3 of all hospital costs are linked to addiction and substance use.[2]
Addiction and substance use and abuse also impacts federal spending related to welfare, mental health, job and family services, and health care. Billions of dollars are authorized annually to assist people with the consequences of their behavior.
Let’s now consider the practice of abortion. The absurd ramblings of a demented Chelsea Clinton aside,[3] there is a tremendous toll being paid by Americans today resulting from the now 70 million plus unborn human beings murdered since the Supreme Court invented the “right” to murder unborn human beings 45 years ago. This decision by our black-robed despots has had devastating effects.
One of the consequences of the Roe v. Wade invention was Post-Abortion Syndrome. In the early years of abortion women suffered in silence as the effects of their decision to murder their unborn child washed over them like ocean waves. Post-Abortion Syndrome continues to ravage women who undergo an abortion.[4]
The Students for Life organization at the University of Colorado recently published an article titled, “The Cost of Abortion.”[5] This short analysis provided several alarming facts. Studies conducted among women who aborted their unborn children revealed:
- 55% expressed guilt.
- 44% complained of nervous disorders.
- 36% reported sleep disorders.
- 31% regretted the decision to abort their unborn child.
- 11% were administered a psychotropic medication by their doctor.
In another study cited that included 500 post-abortion women, 50% admitted to negative emotions concerning their decision to abort their unborn children, and 10% were classified as having developed serious psychiatric problems. Additionally, 30%-50% of post-abortion women reported sexual dysfunction ranging from short to long term beginning immediately after their abortions. The truth of the matter is this: a majority of women who make the decision to abort their unborn children will suffer some type of guilt, shame, sexual dysfunction, and psychiatric trauma, for which a majority will seek medical assistance and prescription drugs to deal with the aforementioned symptoms.
Perhaps even more troubling than the data cited above is the fact that women who abort their unborn children suffer what researchers and medical doctors report as depression often leading to suicide or attempted suicide, and other self-destructive behaviors including drug and alcohol abuse, chronic relationship issues due to dramatic personality changes, an increased tendency toward violence, and difficulty bonding with children they birth after a previous abortion.
Finally, the physical damage done to women who abort their unborn children is suppressed by abortion supporting organizations including hospitals, doctors, medical and psychiatric associations, and research institutions. Researchers not afraid to report what big medicine, big pharma, and big government try to hide, report that upwards of 5% of all women who abort their unborn children suffer sterility as a result of the operation’s latent morbidity.[6] Cervical damage almost always occurs and one study reveals that cervical incompetence was found in 75% of women who underwent forced dilation for an abortion.[7] This results in increased risks of miscarriage, premature birth, and complications during later pregnancies. In fact, a major study of first pregnancy abortions reveals that 48% of women who terminated their first pregnancy later experienced on average 2.3 miscarriages for every live birth.[8]
I hope you are still with me. Statistics can be dry and sometimes boring but they serve a purpose. In this instance they serve to vividly illustrate that federal, state, and even local governments are all involved in spending money to address the painful consequences of people’s behavior. The church is not immune from this activity either. I see all kinds of churches advertising for clients to attend their programs of recovery from this, that, or the other thing. Pastors get in on the act too. I often see promotions on social media about a “new and dynamic series that will teach you how to avoid the pitfalls of (you fill in the blank).”
I’m all for helping people in their time of need with few qualifications. But the idea that the church, that Christians, should be running around taking care of all the foolish people that believe they can engage in behavior that they know will lead them into a dark and difficult place, is naïve and misguided to say the least.
Instead of spending all our time putting band aids on gaping wounds that require surgery and stiches, how about we go straight to the source of the behavior that causes these painful consequences and eliminate them?
Listen folks, Satan is a liar and always has been. The lies he hisses in people’s ears need rebuked. Alcohol is dangerous. I’m not suggesting you become a teetotaler but I am saying you better be very careful with your use of alcohol. It might take you places you never intended to go and demand from you things you are not willing to forfeit. Alcohol is a cruel master that cares nothing about the things you do. If you allow yourself to become controlled by it you will lose everything you hold dear. If you think you are the one person that can beat the odds then you are more foolish than you realize.
In light of the tremendous drug and alcohol addiction crisis we face as Americans, it is very troubling that the so-called hipster Christians, you know, the skinny jeans, bearded, beer drinking, pot smoking, “new Christianity” Christians, engage in these addictive behaviors. Listen folks the church is supposed to reflect Christ not the culture.
If Christians really want to help drug and alcohol addicts then maybe we should start going to places that sell the stuff, like say, bars or night clubs, and stand outside with signs that suggest what they are about to do will destroy their lives and then engage them in conversation. If we can save anyone from the hell-hole of addiction don’t you think it is worth our time? Let’s go to the source before the mess is made!
If the church really wants to help victims of the modern day demonic ritual of child sacrifice euphemistically called abortion “choice” then it should be marching in front of abortion clinics in their communities. Christians should be shouting from the rooftops that aborting unborn children is indeed murder. Stop believing that satanic lie that “if you tell people that abortion is murder they will just tune you out as some type of radical.” If you don’t tell them abortion is murder you’ll answer to your Creator as to why you didn’t tell them the truth. Here’s the truth folks: holding signs showing the dismembered bodies of unborn children is an undeniable truth that abortion is murder. That’s why so many people will not look at a sign like that. But when someone does and it causes them to pause and think, don’t you think that is worth your time to engage them in conversation about the precious gift of life?
Think of this folks: if you go to an abortion clinic and persuade one woman to change her mind you have saved her from the likelihood of serious future psychological and medical issues AND saved her unborn child from the executioner’s forceps. Let’s not stop there though. If we are going to persuade women to not murder their unborn children we better be prepared to help those women to find a good home for their child should they decide to allow someone else to adopt. Wouldn’t that be a better way for a church to spend its resources than on a new bigger or better building?
Pastor’s how about you start preaching on the sanctity of life every Sunday? Life is precious in God’s eyes so let’s remind people to stop viewing pornography. It destroys the mind and devalues people, making the joy of sexual intimacy a vapor that disappears.
Christians if we want to graduate from being janitors that clean up the mess people make of their lives then let’s get proactive in our churches, in our communities, in our families, and in every other thing we are involved in. Let’s take the fight to the enemy by reclaiming our streets.
[BIO: Pastor Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998. Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. Dr. Mike Spaulding Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Lima and the Host of Soaring Eagle Radio & Host of Soaring Eagle Radio & DrMikeLive.com E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]
© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.org
Footnotes:
[1] Data available by state here State spending addiction risk use Accessed August 25, 2018.
[2] Costs of risky use addiction Accessed August 25, 2018.
[3] Craig Bannister Chelsea Clinton Roe helped add three and half trillion dollars our economy Accessed August 25, 2018.
[4] www.lifeissues.org Accessed August 25, 2018.
[5] Studentgroups students for life Accessed August 25 2018.
[6] Abortion complications Accessed August 25, 2018
[7] ibid.
[8] ibid.
