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In the past, “life issues” included one peril: abortion. Today, however, “life issues” encompass many concerns recognized as threats to the life and welfare of human beings. All these topics are important because God made humans in His image, thus giving them intrinsic dignity and value. The gospel affirms and deepens this Christian distinctive by displaying Christ, the Son of God, who lived, died, and rose again to redeem human beings as His beloved for all eternity. Among all God’s creatures, humans are most prized and valuable!

The target below helps distinguish between life issues based on their immanence, magnitude, and the judicial state* of the one in peril. Life Teams typically focus on the Bull’s Eye and Ring 1, but the distinctions in these categories is not strict.

BULL’S EYE: Life or death issues involving judicially innocent^*, defenseless human beings under the immanent threat of forced death including the unborn via surgical or chemical abortion, embryos via research, reproductive technologies, and cloning, older adults and the infirm via euthanasia, neglect, or physician-assisted suicide, and those in peril by genocide.

 

RING 1: Issues directly up and down stream from bull’s eye (life-or-death) topics which often contribute to or result from the forced death of judicially innocent^*, defenseless human beings including sexual and relational integrity, sexually-transmitted diseases, fertility and reproductive technology, genetic/biological/medical engineering, research and technology, post-abortive healing, parenting, crisis or unplanned pregnancy, end-of-life issues, death with dignity, and adoption and foster care, suicide

 

RING 2: “Quality of life” topics where the forced death of the judicially innocent is typically not immanent, but where grade or experience of life is­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­, including care of refugees, slavery, sex trafficking, pornography, miscarriage, marriage, parenting, depression and psychological disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, and the like, and educational, racial, social, economic, political disadvantage or discrimination

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* A “judicially innocent” person has not been found guilty by the civil government of a temporal crime (e.g., first degree murder) deserving death. It does not mean that any human being is spiritually innocent before God, since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Unborn human beings in peril by abortion would be considered “judicially innocent” whereas a murderer convicted after judicial process would be considered “judicially guilty.”