MY RESPONSE TO A CRITICAL ISSUE

Critical Issue
Throughout last week, I've been receiving this message from almost social media platforms. People want to know from me whether it is sinful or not. Please read it and consider my response.

A Christian sister in a certain Church  got pregnant, the Church  decided to discipline her since she was not married.

When the elders of the Church met her, she told them that she has stayed in the Church for years and no one is marrying her and she is getting to the age were she can't get pregnant if married.
So she went and did artificial insemination since she wants a child. She provided the medical documents that showed that she has done the artificial insemination.

The Sister is pregnant without committing fornication nor adultery.
Not so?

BUT,
COULD THIS BE A SIN?
If YES or NO
Give your reasons for your answer.
MY RESPONSE
There are certain issues which are not directly addressed by the Bible. In such issues, especially those which bother on ethics and morality, churches regulate them with policy. If the church the sister attends has a known stand against what she did, then they have the right to apply the corresponding discipline (or sanctions), otherwise the lady cannot be disciplined.

The issue is a simple one which needs no arguments. Churches should make their stance on such issues clearly known to their church members right from their new converts classes. Church members must also understand the doctrines and policies of their churches very well so that if there are issues they don't agree with their church leaders, they leave to join churches who subscribe to their personal ethics.
For instance, if you are of the view that drinking and smoking are OK because the Bible does not forbid but your church doesn't approve of it, it is better to leave and join any other which approves drinking than remain in your old church and keep on drinking.
If your church does not approve of pre-marital sex, it is better to leave it and go to where it is approved than remain in your church but decides to cause abortion in order to avoid sanctions. Let the lines be drawn clearly in such matters.

Now let's come to the issues...
The action of the lady is not justified. It is a sin because:
1. The total mind of God concerning procreation is through marriage. Any pregnancy outside marriage is sinful. In Gen 1:28, where God told humans to be fruitful and multiply, He said it to two people, a male and a female. So one person cannot unilaterally decide to multiply with the approval of God and church. Even though what she did cannot be directly identified as fornication nor Adultery, it still remains a sin.

2. What will happen if all women in the church decide not to marry but follow the example of the lady in question? It is expected of every Christian to set good examples for others to emulate, but not to do any crazy thing and use technicalities to justify such acts.

3. The lady's justification of her action is very very porous. How on earth could she blame the men in the church for refusing to marry her? I commend the church leaders for calling this lady. They should investigate her character too.

4. The fact that she produced evidence that it was done for her by qualified medical practitioners does not mean her action was approved. Is it not these same qualified medical practitioners who perform sex change and abortions? Upon whose advice did she apply for the artificial insemination? Can she be sure she was convinced it was God who led her to do it? Why did she also fail to consult her church leaders before undergoing such an operation? Doctors are not God. It is not all things they do which are approved by God.

5. This lady needs to be sanctioned because what she did will also have serious negative consequences on the life of the child She will give birth to. Will any of the doctors act as the father for the child? Will they be able to trace the sperm donor? And will the sperm donor be ready to accept the child as his, even when he's known? How will she explain this to her child when the child grows up?

All these complexities will produce negative consequences for the church, the lady and the society; and they make the church leaders justified in applying sanctions. Such acts should never be entertained by any church. Churches should be abreast with any scientific breakthroughs and review them in the light of the word of God.

© Pastor William Boachie-Ansah
(25/08/2017)