Friday, May 21, 2010

If Not Us, Then Who?


There he goes again.

Pat Robertson on CBN cautioned people against adoption

because

"If they have demonic influences, if they have some propractor (sic) of the dark arts in their background, you never know what's going to come out of it, and you also can't tell if they've been brain damaged as a child."

Holy moly, Pat!

OK, let's break this down.

1. "Demonic influences."

You don't have to be born in Africa or Haiti to be born into demonic influences. Christ came to deliver us from evil, to pay for our sins and our heritage of sin being sons and daughters of Adam & Eve, and to break the power of the Enemy and his stronghold over this earth. He came to bring restoration. He came to bring redemption over all manner of sin. Yours. Mine. ALL of ours. To believe that ANYone is beyond redemption because of some spooky voodoo or scary foreign witchcraft, which may or may not have been a child's biological relatives' particular sin is to not actually fully believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

2. "You don't know what's going to come out of it."

That is 100% correct. You do not. If you want a perfectly calm, safe existence, by no means should you live according to Holy Scripture. The Bible not only tells us we MAY go through trial, tribulation, and suffering, it absolutely GUARANTEES it! You are never going to know what manner of pain and trouble following The Call of God is going to cost you. Never. But, you are PROMISED that it's gonna hurt.

If you buy into

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."


the cost will be high. You are not going to know what's going to come out of it, but, GOD will be glorified!

3. "You can't tell if they've been brain damaged as a child."

I know a precious, beautiful "brain damaged" child who was born in Ethiopia and adopted into Team Alexander who has spread the Gospel like wildfire by his family's faith through the suffering of his condition and the triumph God is bring in the midst of it!


This is precious Abe and his mama, Emily, a sweet sister in Christ.


All of this was in reference to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI in Minneapolis last month. Haus and I had hoped to go this year, but were unfortunately unable to make it. Oh, how I wish we had gone!

Pat Robertson is way off the mark on this point. He misses that we, as people, are ALL stained by evil and sin and need the redemption and restoration of Jesus! He misses that we, in Christ, are ALL adopted!

Let me tell you something that is going to make some people squirm and others leave me nasty remarks,

If you don't "get" adoption, you don't really "get" salvation.


Lisa Harding is absolutely right when she says, "People have said, 'oh, aren't they lucky? You rescued them from, you know... whatever. And, I think 'Are you kidding?!?' I'm the lucky one. I get to be their mom and I get to be daily rescued from my selfishness and my impatience and things that are just as disease-ridden in my soul. So, yeah, I guess I'm the lucky one."


This is my precious Cupcake and me on our Gotcha Day!


Haus and I don't know if we are going to adopt again. We've wrestled back and forth not yet coming to a solid conclusion. Would the cost be high? Yes. But, the question that comes up over and over again is

If not us, then who?

7 comments:

  1. Wow, great post. "If you don't get adoption, you don't get salvation." It's not for nothing that God adopts us as his sons and daughters, with Christ the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8)! It seems like Robertson is advocating a kind of "keep away from me, I'm holy" theology - the opposite of the way God treats us.

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  2. Oh sister, I love you so much. I think so much of my saddness stems from his utter ignorance. Abe isn't a mistake, Abe has such value. Though he can't walk or talk, he is such a gift to SO many. As a fellow, didn't get exaxtly what we thought......oh, isn't that true of ALL life?? Glad to be on this crazy ride with you. Need a CA trip or you need to bring your crew to Tejas.

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  3. Amen! Thanks for posting, it is so true. And I alway tell people, how many bio children do people have that make bad choices, in this case get involved with demonic activity. This is not limited to adopted children. God's plan and redemption is bigger than anything that may or may not happen in the past. And our future depends on that continued grace and redemption.

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  4. I love your honest words from the heart. Blessings to you and your family.

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  5. "If you don't 'get' adoption you don't really 'get' salvation." amen, sister!! argh, i almost choked on my nutribar reading what pat r said (we live in our own little tv-less bubble up here...).
    I'm just going to cut and paste what you wrote below...you are so right on! We are promised that if we are TRUE FOLLOWERS of Christ it is going to be a hard road..not that we seek it out, but it's just the way it's oging to be. we have been BO"GGLED by the friendships we have lost and the many that just don't 'get' what we are doing..CHRISTIANS! Adoption IS our life..I was just reading in Romans 8 this morning about being fellow heirs with Christ, being given a spirit of adoption! hello, people!!
    "If you want a perfectly calm, safe existence, by no means should you live according to Holy Scripture. The Bible not only tells us we MAY go through trial, tribulation, and suffering, it absolutely GUARANTEES it! You are never going to know what manner of pain and trouble following The Call of God is going to cost you. Never. But, you are PROMISED that it's gonna hurt."

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  6. Amazing thoughts, beautifully said. And I have the privilege of knowing well how utterly and daily you walk them out. I'm proud of you! Mother

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