Thomas Aquinas
There is this chap who makes his way by being a pro-life activist. One of the things that he does as a pro-life activist is that he meets with pro-abortion politicians on a regular basis to “pray with them.” The Church he attends applauds this “activist” as being a model for the way that pro-life work needs to be done. They tell the congregation that we all need to be activists like Brother Wrongway.
Now, see, I’d be the floating prophylactic in the punchbowl on this issue at that Church. In my way of thinking this is an example of full-on Pietism. You don’t effectuate change on politicians who are pro-abortion by praying with them. You affect change by making those politicians feel the electoral pain. You affect change by making them hate you because you are out there exposing how they are baby killers. You’re not showing these criminals love by praying with them. You are showing them how weak you are and how weak your God is.
Certainly, in our own private prayer life we should pray for our enemies that they would repent. We should pray in our private prayer times that if they do not repent God would visit them with boils and take them out of the positions they hold whereupon they can continue their baby killing activity.
This mindset of meeting with God’s enemies to pray with them is the ultimate in pietistic 2-Kingdom Gnosticism. Imagine the Magdeburg pastors when surrounded by Charles V armies saying “let’s lay down our arms and go out and pray with them.” Imagine John Knox inviting Bloody Queen Mary to a prayer meeting. Imagine Oliver Cromwell pausing to pray with Charles I before the battle of Worcester? This mindset by the “pro-life activist” is pietistic 2-kingdom escapist “theology” and it has destroyed both Evangelicalism and much of the Reformed church. Some might argue that is a reason to rejoice.
You want to effect change with pro-abortion politicians? You don’t meet with them regularly to pray with them. You make them get to the point that they are praying you would die since you are doing so much harm to their re-election hopes.
I mean I suppose you could pray with them but I have a hard time imagining that they are going to stay at the prayer meeting long if you are praying imprecatory prayers combined with prayers that they may know God’s just anger against them that they might repent.
