Tips for Discussing Abortion with Adventists
According to Pew Research about half of Seventh-day Adventists in the USA believe that killing children by abortion "should be legal in all or most cases." However, if you actually go visit Adventist churches and talk to people sitting in the pew (which I have done repeatedly) you will quickly realize people have absolutely no clue what they are even talking about. Half the church supports abortion but a significant portion, if not the majority, of this half can't articulate even a single argument. They just repeat absurd talking points they heard from media, academia, or Hollywood or from "religious liberty" false prophets.
In defense of pro-choice Adventists many of these people have never in their entire life heard even one good sermon on abortion. These people have never heard any Adventist leader speak responsibly about the right to life. This is a reason to be hopeful because these fellow members of the church are not lost in a permanent, irredeemable condition of supporting abortion. The good news is that these people can be converted and influenced in the right direction quite easily. The difficulty is not in converting people but gaining opportunities to speak to them. Below are some practical tips:
TIP #1 Every Sabbath Morning
Every Sabbath morning you have at least three separate opportunities to talk about the sixth commandment:
(1) before Sabbath school starts
(2) transition between Sabbath school and divine service
(3) after divine service
Every Sabbath morning during these three moments you have 5-10 minutes to talk to different church members (and visitors). All you have to do is start with small chit chat and then say "Hey, I saw something about abortion in the news and I'm trying to understand this issue, what do you think about abortion, is it wrong?" or "hey I was thinking about abortion and I want to better understand this but it seems kind of confusing, can you help me, what you do you think about this?"
In my experience, if you are respectful and display genuine curiosity %100 of the time people will open up and talk to you about what they know/believe. If they are pro-choice you immediately adopt the Socratic method (or Columbo tactic) and start asking questions why they believe that way. You just display curiosity and keep asking good questions.
You are not preaching to them. You are just getting them to think through what they are saying. There is no need (and it's counterproductive) to be argumentative, hostile, or antagonistic. Just display curiosity and ask questions. Once you do this several times and get a feel for how to talk to Adventists about abortion it will become addictive and you will be unable to go to church and not actively seek out different people every Sabbath to talk about the sixth commandment.
I love doing this because it's so rewarding (but also sometimes depressing) to engage with individuals and see their minds change when you expose them to good arguments and evidence, or simply by listening to them and asking good questions. For example, you will commonly hear people say that abortion should be legal for rape to which you respond "hmm, okay, so what if the rape victim wants to keep the child but after birth the mother is holding the child in her arms and decides the baby looks like the rapist, should it be legal to kill the child after birth?" You will get a weird look or response like "hmm, I've never thought of that before." Or you say "okay, so abortion for rape is okay but not for the other abortion-on-demand reasons?" When they reply "yes" you then drill down and ask why abortion is wrong for on-demand mental health reasons. You want to gently guide them to admit verbally "because it kills the child" and then you ask "but it's not a child in cases of rape?" These types of questions force the typical pro-choice Adventists for the first time in their life to think about this.
TIP #2 Always one-on-one
Always try to talk to people one-on-one. This causes people to feel safer to open up. The moment you have two or more people it changes the dynamic. If you are in a church with other people in the same room be sensitive to when other people walk over and start listening. Of course, there certainly may be opportunities to preach from the pulpit or have group discussions but these are the exception and can't be practiced just anytime.
TIP #3 Never close the door
Never end the conversation with a closed door. Always try say something like "hey what you said is interesting, I want to go read more about this, can I ask you about this after I study some more?" This allows you to bring up the topic again later with the same person. It also gives the other person opportunity to reflect more and gives them an impression that you remain curious and open.
TIP #4 Be reasonable with goals
Be reasonable with goals, Don't be overly ambitious. You can't completely convert someone in 5-10 minutes but you can certainly make a lot of progress. Remember that for most people you will be the first fellow member of the Adventist Church who has actually asked them about abortion and it will take time for them for new ideas to settle in their mind. 5-10 minutes though is still plenty of time to drop a few seeds of truth to get their brain to begin thinking.
TIP #5 Show up early, stay late
Show up early to church. If Sabbath school starts at 9:30am you should be in the parking lot by 9:10. You can get more and longer conversations when people don't feel pressed for time. Also stay after church and hang around for the same reason. As soon as the pastor finishes the benediction and says "Amen" I immediately start working the room. I don't recommend talking about abortion at potluck until people are finished eating. It seems to me that people don't want to be asked questions about abortion while trying to munch on haystacks. You can however talk about less emotive, tangential aspects like “should the government legislate the last six commandments?”
TIP #6 Don't wait for Sabbath
Some churches have midweek prayer meetings, Bible studies, Friday night Vespers, or special programs. These are also opportunities to talk about abortion without waiting for Sabbath morning. I have attended several different churches in one week by attending different programs.
TIP #7 Keep a journal
Keep a journal. Who did you talk to today? What did they say? Are they pro-choice, prolife or undecided? A journal helps you plan your next interaction with that person. After several months of doing this you will have a layout of what exactly your church members believe.
When you find and meet prolife members make an intentional effort to thank and encourage them. Let them know they are not alone and that you are glad they stand for the right to life. The average prolife Adventist has never received any encouragement or affirmation from within their church (or worse, they have been made to feel bad or anti-Christian). This trend needs to be reversed.
TIP #8 Never talk about the church's support for abortion
The #1 primary goal is to win people on the specific point that (1) the unborn are living human children (2) children are protected by the sixth commandment and (3) the government has the God given authority/duty to legislate the last six commandments.
It is absolutely critical to first win people on abortion before talking about the church. For example, one time I was interviewing an elder who started talking about the history of the hospitals but I immediately ignored this because he himself was confused on several points. If you attack or criticize the church it will only confuse the audience even more and worse, they will subconsciously tend to agree with the church before they agree with you.
TIP #9 Practice with non-intimidating people
Every church has some very kind, gentle, passive people. If you don't have experience or if you feel afraid to talk about abortion then go start with these people so that your mouth has actual practice verbalizing questions and different aspects of abortion. If you go straight to the pastors or elders and you can't articulate your points well they will dismiss you. Once you've interviewed and surveyed 10-15 people you will get a feel of how to talk about it. Having confidence and being able to respond quickly with great points goes a long way in persuading the Adventist mind. First impressions go a long way.
TIP #10 Visit nearby churches
If you are from Church X go visit Church Y across town and start conversations about abortion there. This will give you opportunity to practice with people who don't know you. One time I went to a church that had a very early SS and then I hopped in my car and raced across town to visit another church just so that I could have more practice. Different churches will also have different racial, educational, social demographics which will help broaden your knowledge and sharpen your skills.
TIP #11 Prepare yourself for completely wild and absurd statements.
I have met people who told me the church pioneers were racists for opposing abortion. In another church an elder had a reputation for being super conservative but when asked about abortion replied "you can't legislate morality whether the baby was inside or outside of the womb." When I said "but that's infanticide" he just calmly smiled and said "Andrew, we can't tell people what to do." Even very "conservative" educated people will say completely insane things on abortion. Prepare for the shock. Generally speaking, you should assume these people are under a magic spell because they are.
You need to be mentally prepared so that you are not thrown off balance in the moment. You have to be prepared to just keep the dialogue going regardless of what they say. Push past the noise and initial statements and get them to review the biblical evidence for the humanity of the unborn.
TIP #12 Memorize Genesis 25:22, Isaiah 37:3, Ruth 1:11, Hosea 12:3, Luke 1:36, 41, 44.
These are important verses (and Exodus 21:22) because the Bible explicitly defines the unborn as living human children with the exact same Greek/Hebrew words for born children. When trying to persuade the Adventist mind it’s critical to get them to see in the Scripture that the unborn are described in this very physical manner. All arguments to oppose abortion depend entirely upon the nature of the unborn. It will be impossible for you to fortify the Adventist mind against error unless they understand that the unborn by nature are living human children.
TIP #13 Avoid the typical verses like Psalm 139:13-16 and Jeremiah 1:5.
These are the most popular prolife Bible verses but they are not helpful with Adventists because they don’t define the nature of the unborn. You need Bible verses that answer the question: What exactly is in the womb? This tip is though is not entirely relevant unless you are interacting with a highly educated Adventist or church leader so modify your approach depending on the audience.
TIP #14 Memorize this simple three point argument:
(i) The unborn are living human children
(ii) Children are protected by the sixth commandment
(iii) Caesar, the government has the God given authority and duty to legislate the sixth commandment (cite Romans 13)
Every pro-choice Adventist you will meet will be confused on one or several of these three points. Your goal is to identify which points they are confused on and help them find a biblical answer. Remember that the average pro-choice Adventist has never had to actually articulate the reason why they hold those views and taking the time to outline the argument in a very simple, easy-to-understand manner will go a long way in clearing the confusion.
TIP #15 It's okay to be dumb or ignorant!
If someone says something to you and you don’t know how to respond be quick to use this as an opportunity. “oh, that’s a great question, I want to go read more about that, can we talk about this after I read some more?” Use every opportunity to create future discussion and sharing.
Another reason to give the appearance of being ignorant is that we Adventists tend to pride ourselves on being right and having all the answers and so appearing ignorant and curious while asking Bible questions plays into this mindset and makes it hard for them to resist.
TIP #16 Don't say "I think"
Avoid using the language of “I think” or “It’s my opinion” or “It seems to me” as this comes across as subjective. As much as possible open the Bible and point directly to the text. Ask questions that force people to confront the text. For example “If you notice here it says that the unborn are living human children, Do you think the Bible is correct here?” Generally speaking Adventists never want to say that the Bible is wrong. Even better, point to texts like Genesis 25:22 or Luke 1:36,41,44 and get the other person to verbally say out loud what is in the mother’s womb? If you can get them to verbally say the word “baby” or “child” this makes your effort so much easier. Once a church member admits the unborn are children it’s just a matter of pushing over the dominoes in their mind to the logical conclusion. Don't interfere with this process by using language that frames the answers as an opinion.
TIP #17 Sequence matters - Don't get hung up on minor points
Some church members will oppose abortion later in pregnancy but not earlier. In these situations don’t argue the earlier period of gestation. As a matter of sequence it is more important to get them to explain exactly WHY abortion in later gestation is wrong and get them to admit that it’s because the nature of the unborn are living human beings. Only after you secure them on the (1) nature and the (2) why, can you then expand the time frame for all nine months.
TIP #18 Pump up the Pioneers!
Memorize the history of the pioneers and their support for anti-abortion legislation. Never ever underestimate the power of the example of the pioneers. Most church members are oblivious to this history and it has a stunning effect on their mind when they learn about this history.
One time I was having a conversation with a pastor who kept trying to justify abortion. However the moment I mentioned that the pioneers supported anti-abortion legislation he responded as if hit in the face with a wet fish. He asked "Really? Is that true?" and when I began reciting the facts, history, and quotes he was gobsmacked. After that discussion he changed his views entirely.
Pay attention to what pro-choice leaders do not talk about. They never talk about our history and the pioneers because they know it will have a dramatic effect on the minds of church members and that's exactly why you should squeeze and milk this history for every last drop.
TIP#19 Chill out and don't take it seriously.
This seems counter intuitive. While abortion is an extremely serious topic because it is the murder of a child if you are upset, tense, or too serious people will not talk to you or open up. You have to meet people where they are and start from their current mindset and carefully, gently walk them step by step closer to the Bible. Of course if you are giving a public sermon to a larger audience you can use a different approach depending on your goal but with one-on-one conversations if you can't afford to give off any vibes that discourage dialogue.
People may not remember what you said but they will always remember how you made them feel. The public has been trained to believe that anti-abortion people are mean, angry, tense, irate, irrational etc. so ideally, you want them to feel that having a conversation about abortion can be productive and civil.
TIP #20 Feelings matter!
Adventism in general tends to promote topics from a very cerebral, logical, objective perspective. While there is certainly a time and place for this, experienced pro-life apologists and sidewalk counselors know that many pro-choice people are won more often from emotional, relationship, compassion language than raw logic. Many pro-choice people harbor unspoken objections or grievances and simply being allowed/invited to verbalize their concerns helps to greatly reduce their indifference or opposition to prolife concerns.
TIP #21 Initiate! Be the first!
You must take the first step and initiate these conversations because if you sit by passively it will never happen. Do not wait for people to come to you. You go to them and initiate the conversation.
Secular prolife is an organization run by atheists and in this video they make a good point that many people will never talk about abortion unless they first know that you are interested. You have to initiate and open your mouth first and let people know this topic is of interest to you.
END
Those are just a few tips to get you started. If you talk to several people every Sabbath within a few months you will have established yourself as the person in the congregation who has an interest in abortion and every time they think of abortion they will think of you. This is exactly what you want. Win one soul one step at a time.
Remember that this is a work in progress. There is A LOT of work to do to win fellow church members back to Jesus on the sixth commandment. We can accomplish much more and be far more effective if we share our results and identify what works and what does not. For this reason please send me an email and share with me your experiences.
Please contact me [email protected] with the results of your surveys and God bless your efforts.
Those are just a few tips to get you started. If you talk to several people every Sabbath within a few months you will have established yourself as the person in the congregation who has an interest in abortion and every time they think of abortion they will think of you. This is exactly what you want. Win one soul one step at a time.
Remember that this is a work in progress. There is A LOT of work to do to win fellow church members back to Jesus on the sixth commandment. We can accomplish much more and be far more effective if we share our results and identify what works and what does not. For this reason please send me an email and share with me your experiences.
Please contact me [email protected] with the results of your surveys and God bless your efforts.