Three Key Points from the ‘Babies Are Murdered Here’ Documentary

Today is the 41st anniversary of Roe versus Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that has led to the slaughter of 55 million babies in four decades. Today is also the day of the highly-anticipated documentary, Babies Are Murdered Here.

What began in 2013 and transitioned into a grassroots movement to call abortion what it is (murder) and to call those who violate another human’s fundamental right to live by intentionally ending their life (murderers), Babies Are Murdered Here (BAMH) is ready for the next step to facilitate the overhaul in how Christians engage our culture on matters of life for the preborn.

BAMH is not a prolife documentary. Rather, it is a biblical documentary addressing the most heinous crime and human rights issue of our day, providing the only solution to this evil by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not a film against the church, but a film made for the church by the church. It is a film to build up and strengthen the Bride of Christ, that she would shine brightest in these darkest hours. It is a film primarily for born again believers in Jesus Christ, to exhort them to proclaim the righteousness of God to the ungodly and be instruments of mercy to our preborn neighbors. Wisely, the film does this without showing any graphic images of abortion.

It is no surprise that most Christians do not have the stomach to contemplate abortion, much less be directly involved in its opposition. After all, there is nothing more horrific than the calculated, barbaric mutilation of the most innocent among us. Even older youth or adults who may face such treatment by wicked men would perhaps have a fighting chance to defend themselves or flee – but not so with preborn children.

Who among us can indeed contemplate these evil acts for too long? To say that it sickens us is an understatement. However, we who have been called by God out of the darkness to be servants of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, have been called to do that which we do not naturally want to do – things that make us most uncomfortable. Who else, then, will speak and defend these little ones if not the righteous, holy, faithful ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Righteousness? It is something we need to do. It is something we must do, as a body. It is not heroic to overcome the difficulty in dealing with the reality of what abortion is; it is a matter of our reasonable service to crucify our flesh even in this area that we might sacrifice our own comfort and security to protect those who need protection most, all to the glory of God alone.

How BAMH exhorts Christians to become more engaged is nothing short of gracious. It is gracious in its tone and delivery, while not compromising on the forthrightness necessary to mobilize the church to consider how she is engaged in the battle. How is the church confronting this evil directly? Is she doing more than Sanctity of Human Life Sundays? Is she preaching on the evil of abortion on any Sunday? Is she supporting local crisis pregnancy centers? Is she cultivating a culture of life in the local body through foster care and adoption? Is she practicing mercy ministries for mothers and fathers who have chosen life for their precious baby? And what is her disposition toward abortion mill ministry, or is she actively engaged in preaching the Gospel in front of these death centers and intervening on behalf of their preborn neighbor? The aforementioned are worthy and needed things to practice by the local church, but for the purposes of the documentary, BAMH focuses on the latter ministry – abortion mill ministry, which is often neglected by the local church for any number of reasons.

I could share many quotes from the film that would be beneficial to the reader, but I want to focus on two quotes that happen to be by the same interviewee, Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr.  These quotes address two important issues: 1) apathy often driven by fear to keep one from engaging in frontlines abortion mill ministry; and 2) submission to the local church by those engaged in abortion mill ministry.

Concerning the first issue, Dr. Sproul recounts:

I had one church where friends went and said, “We’d really like to start going to the mill.” The pastor said, “Well, we’re really excited about that, but we have one question: ‘Is it safe?'” And they came back [to me] and said, “What do we tell them?” and I said, “Tell them ‘no. Tell them it’s not safe. Tell them they may get spit at. Tell them they may get hit. Tell them they may get arrested even though they didn’t break any laws. And tell them if they don’t go, that babies will die and souls will end up in hell. That’s far more dangerous.'”

We need to stop being middle-class American sissies, and we need to be willing to fight faithfully with the Gospel to save souls and unborn babies. We need to be willing to take risks, we need to be willing to look like not-respectable members of society.

Yes, it is blunt, but I think ‘blunt’ is exactly what we need in this hour (as a reminder, 3,000 babies will be murdered today by hired assassins). Someone might also take issue with the comment that souls will end up in hell if we don’t go, thus removing the responsibility from the sinner and placing it on the church. As a Calvinist, I think Dr. Sproul would not argue to the contrary, but his point being the lost are there, they need the Gospel, and we are the ones appointed to give it to them. There’s also preborn children there being carried away to the slaughter, and we have been called to stand in the gap to rescue them (Proverbs 24:11-12). Doing so in the face of adversity and persecution is the epitome of self-sacrificing love, which is the love Christians possess by the grace of God. We can be certain if we don’t go, no child will be saved, and no person will hear the Gospel on that day in that hour.

Regarding the second issue, Dr. Sproul admonishes:

It is vitally important, critically important, and this goes to the pride issue as well, that those who are actively involved in prolife ministry that they be under the authority of elders in a local church. That they be formally, recognizably – everybody knows it, everybody agrees with it – under the authority of local elders in a local church.

See what happens is, we get passionate about this issue, we band together with our friends who share this passion, we get disgusted with those in the church who are not excited, and we decide we’re too good to be a part of a church that is not as zealous as we are – that’s pride, that’s folly, that is the path that leads to destruction.

We need to first – to those who have the passion, who have zeal, who have their feet on the ground – they need to be under the authority and submission to the local church, and then you will see the local churches begin to wake up and take ownership and be more active on these issues.

So when we have the people who are willing to get their hands dirty, who are out there at the mills not a part of the church and then grumbling about the church, we shouldn’t be surprised that the church doesn’t have people on the ground. But if we come together, if we who are at the mills are in the church, the church will get behind and get supportive and will have opportunities.

Dr. Sproul says it well. In a nutshell, any Christian who is not submitted to a local church, which is to say any Christian who is not ministering and serving in the local church, has no business ministering at the abortion mill. Excuses may abound for why one is not part of a local church – one of those reasons may be the lack of engagement by the local church in the realm of abortion. But this excuse is nothing short of sin and forsaking the fellowship of the local church (read more about this here and here).

Ultimately, what I believe Dr. Sproul has conveyed in these two quotes, is that on the one hand, the local church as a collective body needs to examine how they are showing mercy to our preborn neighbors. On the other hand, Christians engaged in abortion mill ministry at the expense of neglecting the local church need to examine their hearts for their own sake, and submit and become actively committed to the local church for the sake of the local church. This will impact how the local church engages in abortion mill ministry as those who have the passion for such ministry will be recognized to love the local church, and be supported in loving their preborn neighbor (and possibly positively influence other members to join them). But, don’t turn your back on the church in order to serve at the mill – you’ll destroy your own soul in the process.

Finally, a third point, which most drove it home for me, was that we need to stop thinking in terms of 1.2 million babies murdered per year in the U.S., or 3,000 per day. We need to be thinking in terms of individual babies. We need to think in terms of the baby who will die by saline fire or by mutilation today and tomorrow and the next day, right down the street from our house and our church. How can we be showing this baby acts of mercy – he or she who needs to be shown mercy? The insanely astronomical statistics of murdered babies every day and every year seems to have numbed us to the point of not showing any baby any mercy at all, collectively speaking.

So, watch the documentary for free below or at Babies Are Murdered Here. But don’t just stop there. Consider how you might take the principles learned from the film and put them to action in your community. The signs are easy to make, and it’s easy to hold them up in front of abortion mills, Planned Parenthood, or even hospitals that practice this evil. Even if you never hold up a BAMH sign (it’s just a tool after all), consider how you might become directly involved in this sanctity of life ministry, or support those who are engaged financially or by prayer and encouragement.

Be sure to like the Babies Are Murdered Here facebook page and visit ItsaChild.org to see the latest and be further equipped to let your community know that babies are murdered in an abortion mill near you.

Further Audio

Pastor Geoffrey Kirkland‘s 10-minute exhortation to pray, preach, and move to action: Abortion

Pastor Jon Speed’s 8-minute statement on the motivation behind producing this film: Christ Is King Baptist Church Statement