When a majority of Ohioans passed a pro-abortion initiative last November, many attributed the passage to the fundraising disparity between pro-abortion and pro-life organizations.

“Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights,” the pro-abortion campaign, raised nearly $40 million. Meanwhile, the pro-life effort, “Protect Women Ohio,” raised just over $30 million. Pro-life forces are historically outspent, especially as corporate and Hollywood dollars flow from abortion radicals for whom the issue is practically a religion.

Yet the distinct financial disadvantage doesn’t tell the whole story for those who love life – and not by a lot.

A Washington Post exit poll revealed that 24% of white evangelical or born-again Christians actually voted for the pro-abortion initiative in Ohio – a shocking evolution for the historically reliable pro-life voting bloc.

Why?

An increasing number of evangelicals are buying the lie that pro-life laws jeopardize or limit women’s healthcare or, worse, threaten their very lives.

Pro-abortion radicals have also polished their pitch – conveniently leaving out the gruesome details concerning the consequences of expanding and codifying laws that allow for the killing of pre-born babies.

They don’t mention that these pro-abortion initiatives violate parental rights, that young girls could get abortions without ever notifying their mother or father. They ignore the fact that voting for the expansion of so-called abortion rights makes late-term abortion legal in the seventh, eight and ninth months of gestation. They also don’t talk about these laws opening the door to infanticide when babies are born alive from botched abortions.

Pro-abortion radicals lie – which means pro-life Christians desperately need to cultivate a keener sense of discernment.

The term “discern” stems from the Greek word “anakrino” – “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.”

Christians should be especially discerning thanks in large part to the fact that God left behind the Bible to guide and direct us. We read in Hebrews:

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

The distribution of “wisdom” is a cottage industry on social media, but much of it is based on shifting worldly ideals and not the timelessness of God’s sacred Word.

The Christian Church needs more discerning saints and less cynics and suckers who fall for sentiment over truth. We recognize that truth and grace complement one another – they don’t compete. But we make decisions based on sound doctrine, not shifting cultural trends.

The late Vance Havner once warned, “We’re suffering today from an epidemic of amateurism. Novices are blown up into celebrities overnight by mass media. While men of experience and maturity are sometimes ignored, the Church worships the great god entertainment.”

Keep in mind these comments came long before social media. The discerning believer may engage online, but he or she isn’t swayed by anything that’s not first vetted through the lens of Scripture.

Not every issue is black and white. “Discernment is not a matter of telling the difference between right and wrong,” said Charles Spurgeon. “Rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”

We get discernment by reading the Bible. As the old saying goes, “When I open my Bible, God opens His mouth.” We grow in wisdom by getting down on our knees, by praying and developing our relationship with the wisest of all. We learn by reading good books, by heeding the counsel of Christian sages and other people we love and trust. We test what we’re told against what God has communicated to us through the Bible and our lives.

As the world and culture continues to spiral, discernment will grow even more important. May we embrace the apostle Paul’s prayer for the people in Philippi, “that love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9-10).

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