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There’s this saying, “You only know what you know, until you know better.” This statement accurately describes my journey of understanding abortion and the pro-life movement.

Seven years ago, when I felt God calling me to be active in the pro-life mission, I had no idea where my calling would lead me. All I knew was that I was to be obedient and try to understand as much as I could about the pro-life movement and information surrounding abortion.

It’s humbling to realize you know so little about something you may be very passionate about. I might have been a bit naïve at first. Ha! But seven years later, I can now say I know so much more about the abortion issue and the pro-life movement. And yet, sometimes, it feels like I have so much more to learn.

Here’s one thing I do know. Saying you’re pro-life is also committing to educating yourself about the overall movement. It’s about relationships and realizing many individuals and organizations have the same mission with a different focus.

As a pro-life Christian, it has been encouraging to witness more church leaders and prominent Christian voices take a stand for life. They are speaking the truth about abortion but with a compassionate, Christ-like response—that holds the life of the mother with equal compassion as the life of her unborn baby.

But I am also concerned about how some of these prominent Christian voices portray the pro-life movement. They often talk about loud, angry voices at abortion clinic sidewalks or hateful signs at Life Marches. An angry mob who doesn’t care about the women and men who face unplanned pregnancies, but only the unborn baby in the womb. That’s not the pro-life community I have come to know.

And then I learn these same Christian leaders have not educated themselves about the pro-life movement. They haven’t joined the thousands and thousands of mostly young marchers at a recent March for Life, and haven’t formed relationships within the community. They don’t know all they could— and they need to know better.

In my seven-year pro-life educational journey, I am always amazed at the compassionate response to abortion:

  • The sidewalk counselors who pray quietly for the women who will enter an abortion clinic that day. Or those who gently approach the mothers and fathers asking if they may talk with them about another alternative to abortion.
  • The pregnancy center employees and volunteers who have face-to-face conversations with abortion-vulnerable women and men. They witness tragic circumstances with crisis pregnancies but are determined to offer a compassionate, loving response no matter the outcome.
  • The numerous pro-life organizations that donate thousands and thousands of needed baby supplies to mothers who choose life and are in desperate need.
  • The church groups who make handmade baby quilts for their local pregnancy center or who donate diapers and formula.
  • The prayer warriors who stand outside government buildings and seek the throne of God over ongoing abortion legislation. Their prayers are silent in voice but passionate in their prayer-focused mission.
  • The ministries who walk through the healing process with post-abortive women and men, offering them freedom and forgiveness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The list goes on, and I am humbled and encouraged by those who stand together in this movement called pro-life. It has profoundly affected my faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. I understand more about the grace of God because of the relationships I have formed within the pro-life community.

Are there facets of the movement who lack a Christ-like response? Yes, absolutely, but they are a small segment, and they do not represent the pro-life movement as a whole.

So here’s my challenge to pastors, leaders, and prominent Christian voices who are willing to stand openly with the message of life. Educate yourself about the pro-life movement and mission. Don’t set yourself apart before you have all the facts in front of you. Venture outside the walls of your church and denomination to build relationships with pro-life ministries. Join us in January for the March for Life, and witness the overwhelmingly compassionate, Christ-like response to abortion. Please don’t take a self-righteous posture toward the pro-life community. We need unity because even though our focus may differ, our mission is the same. And let’s all agree to keep learning and growing so we know better how to be genuinely pro-life, or Pro Abundant Life (Matthew 28:18-20) as Christ calls us to be!

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As a Christian blogger, I made a commitment.  I decided that if I felt I needed to share something that I would first commit it to prayer. And secondly, I’d have a grace standard with the words I write.

But this post has been a struggle for me.

How do I write words that bend towards grace but need to hit a mark that points out a negative aspect of human or sin nature?

Then I realized this post is really about the conflict in me, and I’ll share it for what it’s worth to others.

I’ve had a concern about Christian ministry. In particular, women’s Christian ministry. There is an aspect that I have witnessed that is self-serving. But let me back up a little.

With the achievement of women in society, there is also the influence of women in ministry. Well-known female Bible teachers, leaders, missionaries, pastors, have made a mark in the 21st century. I am grateful for their voices.

God has led many women to platforms that can reach a broad audience to point them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These leaders share their powerful testimonies that resonate with women in a unique way that cannot be adequately addressed in the same manner by men. There is redeeming value in women’s ministry.

But I have also watched Christian women leaders get caught up in self-promotion. Their platform and their calling started to shift elevating themselves.

As an author, I understand the conflict. Our jobs require self-promotion. But as women of God—called to a higher purpose—we must hold ourselves to the gospel standard.

We do not espouse the same mantra of women’s rights in secular society. Perhaps, we can credit it to the advancement of more females behind the pulpit and the increase in women’s ministries, but we cannot abandon scripture.

John the Baptist said, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) John’s words demonstrated incredible humility while serving out his ministry and purpose for the kingdom of God.

Ladies, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the seduction of this world. Platforms, attention, success, a social media following: it can get overwhelming. And let’s face it, as females, we tend to gravitate towards our outward appearance in the process of promotion.

But let me share a personal testimony. The more I grow in Christ, the more I value being placed in the background. Because my worth, my confidence, my calling is all wrapped up in putting Him and the gospel message at the center. There is joy and contentment when I am walking in the confidence of Christ alone; outside the need for attention from others.

And isn’t that the purpose-driven message we want to convey as Christian women leaders to other women?

It is not about us. It is about Him!

Now, if I do get an opportunity to be placed on any platform, I make sure to pray that I walk it out— front and center— with humility.

Is it a struggle? Yes! “The heart [my heart] is deceitful above all things…” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Is there a balance to self-promotion and the message God has given to women? Always!

But publicity must always point to the message God has given over the messenger. When you fade to the background, the light of Christ will shine through your ministry.

The redeeming value of Christian women in ministry is that we point to the “One in us, who is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) As women of God, we live with a different viewpoint and calling than the world around us. We seek to serve others above ourselves.

The best way to sum this up is by quoting another blogger:

“…God asks us to remain in Him. He asks us to chase His heart. He asks us to know His Word deeply and to abide in that. Out of that union, that closeness, real fruit will grow, real impact will occur, but even then, it’s all Him. It’s still not about us. There is never a point at which it is ok to raise our own name. We raise His name, like a banner. We are to be after His glory, not our own. We call people to follow Christ, not ourselves.”

Walk it out ladies with balance—and an abundance of grace and humility. We are grateful for God’s calling on your life!

And let’s remember, sisters in Christ, to lift our women leaders in prayer. Walking out that balance is challenging and be ready to offer them a measure of grace as the standard.