Strategy #4: Stay Focused on the Unborn and Stay out of the Weeds.
Perhaps you have noticed that abortion supporters want to talk about anything and everything except the unborn child. They talk about a woman’s “right to choose,” a broken foster-care system, hard-case scenarios like rape and incest, and a litany of other secondary issues. While these topics deserve our attention, none of them has anything to do with the moral question of abortion.
Even though many pro-choice people would have us believe abortion is a complicated matter, Scott Klusendorf lays out the pro-life argument with clarity:
Premise 1: It is morally wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being.
Premise 2: Abortion intentionally kills an innocent human being.
Conclusion: Abortion is morally wrong.
So keep the unborn front-and-center in your conversations or you will end up in the tangled weeds of red herrings, empty slogans, and misleading clichés.
Strategy #5: When Appropriate, Be the One to End the Conversation.
We have all encountered well-intentioned pro-lifers whose zeal blinded them to normal social graces, causing others to avoid them like the plague. Being the one to end the conversation in situations where you are likely to have future opportunities to revisit the topic can be particularly helpful. When people know they can leave a conversation, they feel free to stay with it or to return to it at another time.
Strategy #6: Keep in Mind That the World Is Watching You.
Although we shouldn’t be consumed with an unhealthy need to be liked or accepted, we should nevertheless care deeply about how we are perceived. We represent another King and another Kingdom: “We are Christ’s ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). When it comes to conversations about abortion, what we say and how we say it can have life and death consequences for our tiniest neighbors. This should cause us to be on our best behavior, “so that in every way” we “will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (Titus 2:10).
Unfortunately, many of our adversaries have painted us as belligerent, religious know-nothings bent on oppressing women. And much of our public discourse over morality and politics has decayed into a snarky game of “gotcha” where civility and diplomacy are sacrificed on the altar of winning at all costs. But the command to “Make the most of every opportunity” is not about scoring points or crushing people; it is about finding ways to argue our case persuasively, with kindness.
Remember, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). We should ask ourselves, “What is in my heart? Do I value crushing my enemies more than winning them over?” A little kindness goes a long way in developing the type of trust that invites greater and more meaningful dialogue.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
