October 1, 2026
In 1971, Walt Kelly produced a cartoon of an image he called the “Pogo possum,” and in it, the statement was made: “We have met the enemy, and he is us!” This original cartoon was about being “anti-pollution” minded.
When I think about this cartoon in relation to the post-Roe era, I believe that when it comes to not standing up for the sanctity of human life, the opposition many times can be seen by looking in the mirror. I believe that many times it may be us!
The single most powerful force on the face of this earth today is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ! No one, and I mean no one, can make a bigger difference on the life issue like the church can. We are living in a day when the church can become the greatest asset or the greatest detriment to standing up for the cause of life.
Many years ago, I was speaking on abortion in a Kiwanis Club meeting, and a group of people came down to see me afterwards and said that they were upset. For the most part, they said they were not upset with me; they were upset over the fact that they had been going to church all their lives and they had not even heard the statistics about abortion, much less a sermon on it.
How many of you over the past 3 years or more have attended church, and not one time did you hear anyone say anything from the pulpit about the overturning of Roe v. Wade? I mean, you may not have even heard a prayer to God thanking him for the overturning of Roe.
If what I am saying to you is true, then no wonder we’re in the mess we are in the United States. The church in America needs to make the right choice about standing up for innocent human life from a Biblical perspective.
We have to understand that politics in our country is downwind from our culture. But we also have to understand that the culture is downwind from the church. What I mean is that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ can have the greatest impact with the gospel on the culture where the light of Christ, instead of the darkness of Satan, is going to make the biggest positive, Godly influence.
So, when we talk about the church engaging in the culture, what are the two most powerful ways we can help defend life?
First of all, it is by the preaching of the Word of God. Before our nation came into existence, one of our founding fathers, John Adams, summarized the fact that when our pulpits thundered, basically our nation came into existence. But if our pulpits remain silent now, evil moral issues are going to destroy our nation.
There is no power greater on the face of this earth than the Word of God. We must preach what God says if our nation is ever going to return to its original roots. God's Word is most highlighted by the life-changing power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is only one truth that is true, and it is the truth that comes from preaching a Biblical worldview of what God says about life and life eternal. We can be so thankful that even the Apostle Paul himself said that he preached “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
We are living in a day when we must preach starting from the book of Genesis, God's creative order, including what it means to be male and female, what biblical marriage and sexuality are, and what it means to be a parent, and finally, what God says about the sanctity of human life.
Preaching the whole counsel of God is like playing football. When you start a football game, it begins with a kickoff. At the moment the ball is kicked off, players begin immediately to defend their goal line. When we talk about the goal line of abortion, we must start sooner. Sooner means preaching God's creative order and what he believes about human life, marriage, sexuality, parenting, and protecting our moral goal line against abortion.
It is the word of God that makes the biggest difference in our lives, starting with salvation all the way through to sanctification. In 2012, I read in a newspaper that Georgia State Rep. Doug McKillip had changed his position on abortion and authored the fetal pain bill because he said, “I became a Christian... you start reading the Bible, and you realize life begins at conception.”
Becoming a Christian, receiving the Holy Spirit, and reading the Bible make a big difference in your life!
Secondly, we can defend life by practicing the Word of God. When we talk about practicing the word of God we're basically talking about doing what Jesus would do if Jesus were here now. Well, there's no doubt that if Jesus were here now, He would do what He did back then.
Years ago, I remember we called it “WWJD,” which means “What Would Jesus Do?” What Jesus would do is what we are supposed to do. Because when we come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are enabled to be Jesus’ eyes, hands, feet, ears, mouth, and yes, His heart.
When Jesus told his disciples He was going to be leaving, He said that the comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, was going to come after Him. He wanted them to know that the Holy Spirit in them would enable them to be as He was here on the earth, and multiply the work that He did when He was here.
I was told years ago by a friend of mine that caring for mothers and babies is not to be an extracurricular activity in the church, but rather about the core of what the church is called to do as a witness for Christ.
In a post-Roe era, we must not only teach the truth about God's view of life, but we must love those who are going through the difficulties of making the wrong choices and love them to Jesus.
One of the things that's so great about Jesus is that when He was here, He not only preached the gospel, but He lived the gospel out into the public square every single day. He did things like healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and delivering the possessed.
So must we in a post-Roe era! Teaching the truth and caring for mamas and babies is important. I said in 2022, when the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a possibility, that if it were overturned, the church's hand was going to be called. What I meant was that we're going to see how much we really are pro-life.
Now is the time to stand up for life. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the situation has now gotten “white hot.” The life issue is not over. Some states have legalized abortion up to the moment before birth. Things have gotten more difficult, and they are going to get worse if we, as believers, do not engage with the truth and caring.
We need to understand, as it was told about Esther in the Old Testament, that for such a time as this, God has brought us into the Kingdom. We also need to remember that the sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what God was calling them to do. So must we in a post-Roe era!
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Mike Griffin is the Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
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