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@ErickYbarra3 "Wherever there is a bishop, whether it be at Rome or at Engubium, whether it be at Constantinople or at Rhegium, whether it be at Alexandria or at Zoan, his dignity is one and his priesthood is one. Neither the command of wealth nor the lowliness of poverty makes him more a…
Overwhelmingly, people view children as accessories to add to their lives when they desire rather than as gifts from God and indeed, the very purpose of the sexual union. Even among conservative Christians, this mindset is rampant.
We talk about kids like they're home improvement projects? "Are you guys ready for that, or are you going to keep waiting awhile?"
We talk about them as though they're Pokemon cards that you quit collecting one you have a complete set. "So now that you have a boy and a girl, are you done?"
We often look at large families with the same kind of disdain we have for hoarders. "That's so weird. Why do you need so many of those?"
Likewise, push away all the lamentations about wanting to save your unborn child from a lifetime of suffering and hardship through abortion, and you'll find the true mindset, where we respond to our children having disabilities the way we'd respond to a restaurant giving us the wrong food, something we simply refuse to eat.
"Waiter, I ordered a healthy baby. But you gave me this gross little deformed thing. Throw that away and give me what I actually ordered."
Not everyone will follow this mindset concerning children to such an evil degree. But if we wish to protect ourselves from it, we need to fundamentally change the way we think about children. Which is to say, we need to view parenthood vocationally rather than through a consumeristic lens.
Children are not trinkets. They are human beings, as human as you, and just as worthy of love and honor as you. Likewise, parenthood is not a lifestyle, a hobby, or an era. It's a vocation.
If a child is growing in your womb, God has already given you the vocation of mother. And a mother's vocation is always to protect and love her child, never to kill her child. If your child is growing in a woman's womb, God has already given you the vocation of father. And a father's vocation is always to protect his child, never to kill his child.
If God gives you that vocation when you're poor, fulfill it faithfully and trust that He will give you your daily bread. If God gives you that vocation when you don't feel ready for it, get over yourself and fulfill it faithfully. If God gives you that vocation by giving you a child who seems too difficult to care for, trust that He will also give you the strength to endure the task, and fulfill it faithfully.
May God save our souls and purify our hearts by changing our minds.
The International Lutheran Council's (ILC) Chairman, Bishop Juhana Pohjola, responds to recent comments by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF):
https://t.co/yeXiDvHtt5