Rejecting God’s Gift of Children

The January 2017 life issue of The Lutheran Witness, with stories on the joys and challenges of adoption, the importance of human life at any age, and the clear moral dangers of transhumanism, to name a few, provide the Christian with real meat on which to chew.  In recent years LW has developed a reputation of providing articles on topics of Christian importance.  Conspicuously absent from the most recent life issue was an article addressing the connection between an increased rate of contraceptive usage, and a decrease in the birth rate in the U.S.

The Guttmacher Institute says in the U.S., the average desired family size is two children, and that to achieve this, a woman must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.  The report also shows that a much higher percentage of married women (72 percent) use contraceptives than unmarried women (44 percent).  The three highest forms of usage are the pill; tubal sterilization; and the male condom.  (https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states).  The U.S. Public Health Service reports that in 1960, the birth rate (per 1000 population) was 23.7, and in 2012 it was 12.6 (https://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922289.html).

Numbers only reveal the symptom of the real problem: our failure as husbands and wives to trust God’s word to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:22; 8:17; 9:1; 35:11), and to receive this as a blessing sent from God.  Yes, there are cases where the life of the wife could be in imminent danger with a pregnancy, but we know these cases are the small minority.  The reasons often given for contraceptive use (not ready for children; not yet financially established; not done having our fun yet) reveal the problem we have with God’s word and our need to repent for failing to deny ourselves and live under Jesus’ cross in trust.

Even the Dec. 2016 issue of Journal of Lutheran Mission clearly identifies the connection between a decreased birth rate and an increase in contraceptive usage (https://blogs.lcms.org/2016/journal-of-lutheran-mission-december-2016).  God’s word is our heritage.  The moral problems with contraception are sometimes forgotten, perhaps because if there is no child conceived in the first place, it is believed that there is no sin in using them.  When God’s word teaches us that He adds to the human population through fruitful multiplication, and even more importantly adds to His eternal kingdom (Gen. 35:11; Matt. 28:18-20), I am not sure how LW missed this opportunity.

 

Respectfully in Christ Jesus,

Rev. Mike Grieve
Pastor, Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Golden, IL

Additional signers:

Rev. Michael Scott Monterastelli
Lufkin, TX

Rev. Jacob R. Sutton
Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Terre Haute, IN

Rev. David P. Ramirez
Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Union Grove, WI

Rev. Aaron Uphoff
Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Randolph, NJ

Rev. Benjamin T. Ball
Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church
Hamel, IL

Rev. Andrew Packer
Pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church
Pagosa Springs, CO

Rev. Michael Kearney
Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran, and St. Paul Ev. Lutheran
Alden, and Buckeye, IA.

Rev. Joshua Scheer
Senior Pastor
Our Savior Lutheran Church
Cheyenne, Wyoming

Rev. Joshua Conradt
Associate Pastor at St. Peter’s Ev. Lutheran Church
Waterford, WI.
LWML SWD Zone 21 Pastoral Counselor

Rev. Tyson Mastin
Pastor at St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church
Plato, MN

Rev. Jon C. Olson
Pastor, Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church
Casper, WY

Rev. Daniel A. Hinton
Associate Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church
Cheyenne, WY

Rev. Jordan McKinley
Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church
Vallonia, IN

Rev. Andrew Preus
Pastor, Trinity Lutheran, and St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran
Guttenberg, and McGregor, IA

Rev. James J. Stefanic
Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Marshall, MN

Rev. Robert W. Paul
Pastor and Headmaster, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School
Roswell, NM

Rev. Sean Willman
Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Pleasant Prairie, WI

Rev. Travis J. Loeslie
Pastor, St. Peter Lutheran Church
Lester Prairie, MN

Rev. Travis Berg
Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Latimer, IA

Rev. Paul Preus
Pastor, Zion Lutheran Church
Ellendale, ND

Rev. Weslie Odom
Pastor, Grace Lutheran Church
Burkburnett, TX

Rev. Andy Wright
Pastor, St. John Lutheran Church
Keystone, Iowa

Editor’s Note: This letter was originally sent, in its entirety, to the Lutheran Witness. It was too long to be published in the print edition.

 

 

 

 

 

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