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Pastoral Reflections

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Adoption and Calling

01 Aug 2021
W. Ross Blackburn
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You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, the heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ … (Romans 8:15-17). 

 

Callings come in (at least) two ways. Sometimes the Lord makes His will known by calling a person or a community to do something specific. For instance, despite his protestations, the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet (Jeremiah 1:5). At other times, callings are the simple outworking of the Lord’s commands to his people concerning the kind of people they are to be. The Lord called the nation to “defend the fatherless and plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). Why? Because this is what the Lord does (e.g., Psalm 68:5). As the Lord does, so do His people. This is the foundation of calling.

Which brings us to adoption. The verses cited above are full of gospel hope and promise.  In Christ, God adopts us as His children, assures us we are His, and grants us an inheritance, alongside Christ. This is who God is, and this is how He responds to a world full of orphans. Therefore this is who we are to be as well.

God adopts children, and therefore so do his people. In other words, adoption is not an unusual or a special calling, but rather a normal calling for God’s people. If this is the case, then perhaps discerning the call to adopt does not begin with the question, “Is God calling us to adopt?” but rather “Is God calling us not to adopt?” After all, if adoption is what God does, perhaps the unusual calling, at least among those who are able, is not to adopt.

What if the church became known for adopting those who are “unplanned” and “unwanted”? What if every crisis pregnancy center had a list of people who had agreed, beforehand, to adopt any baby whose mother walked into the center, so that a confused teen or a struggling mother of other children could look at adoption practically instead of theoretically? What if the church adopted so eagerly and regularly that the word adoption would seem far more normal (and therefore less strange and perhaps less scary) than it does now to the ears of most women in crisis pregnancy?

The mark of the church is love, costly love that works itself out practically in bearing one another’s burdens. A church that speaks with integrity in matters of life is a church deeply invested in adoption. How important to us really are the lives of unborn children (who will become infants requiring diapers, then youngsters requiring carpools, then teenagers requiring listening, and a college education, then…)? We will know by adoption.

In the end, discerning calling is a question of willingness. Of course we need to pray, to seek God’s face. But there is much we already know. Do we understand that we are not our own, but have been bought at a price? Do we know that our worship depends upon our availability and the transformation of our thinking? In closing, hear Paul’s words concerning discernment, a bit further along in Romans:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2). 

 

This piece originally ran July 17, 2017

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About the Author
W. Ross Blackburn

Dr. Ross Blackburn has been ordained for 20 years and has served as Rector for Christ the King for the past 10. He earned a Master of Divinity at Trinity School for Ministry, and a PhD in biblical studies at the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland. He and his wife Lauren have been married for 23 years and have five children.
As a member of Anglicans for Life's Board of Directors, Dr. Blackburn is a regular contributor to AFL's Lectionary Life App series, and writes for the Human Life Review as well as  Christian Publications.

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One Comment

  1. Michele Shoun August 11, 2021 at 11:02 am Reply

    I agree we should all be supportive of adoption, but pregnancy care centers should be maintained separately from adoption agencies. They do provide women with referrals to adoption agencies or adoption lawyers, but are not equipped to judge the fitness of prospective parents or maintain lists of people willing to adopt.

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