Today is the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court. And Pastor John, on a day like this, I think listeners may be interested to hear of your involvement in the anti-abortion demonstrations back in the 1980s and 90s. Share with us where that burden came from, how many times you've been arrested for trespassing because of it, how much time you spent in prison, and then maybe, if it's not too much, maybe a principle or two for how you think through civil disobedience in the defense of the unborn.

There was a season in the late 80s and then the early 90s, maybe about three years, where I was deeply moved by the rescue movement that originated pretty much, I think, in Atlanta. Noel and I were sitting in a pizza hut, watching the monitor of a television show, watching people being picked up by the police, put into buses and dragged away, who were not doing anything but sitting there in front of an abortion clinic.

And as I watched that happening, I said to Noel, "That's right. That's just right." It just came over me with such a strong conviction. And the rescue movement grew and lasted for two or three years, and we became very much a part of it here in the Twin Cities, which means that we would get up early, pile into buses and go sit in front of an abortion clinic so that nobody could get in without stepping on us or opening the door.

And then we would be accused of trespassing and they would tell us to leave. And we wouldn't leave because we believed that we were there to try to rescue children from being aborted. And so the police would come and pick us up, put us on buses and haul us down and let us go, usually after they had told us not to do it anymore.

That happened, I don't remember how many times, maybe, I don't know, half a dozen times. One of those times, we were sentenced to one night in jail. It might have been two. And here's just a little anecdote. Spending that night, and next door to me in the cell was another member of our church named Rod, and we were talking through the night about this and he said, "You know, there are other methods we could use." And there was born in his heart the MICA Fund, Minority Infant Child Adoption Help, out of that experience in which we created a fund that still exists for helping people adopt little babies who were rescued from abortion.

But the principle behind this was Proverbs 24, 11, "Rescue those who are being led away to death, hold back those who are tumbling to the slaughter, if you say, 'Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the hearts perceive it?'" That was a very powerful text for me, because these children are being led away to slaughter, and if the power to resist is there, then use it.

The way I think through civil disobedience is fundamentally to say, number one, that submission to the state, according to Romans 13, 1-4, is right. I try to keep the speed limit, I drive on the right-hand side of the road, I pay my taxes, I cut my grass, I don't shoot squirrels in the city limits, I obey a hundred laws.

I think I should. I think I should submit. But the law of God, and submitting to God, takes precedence over that. The Apostles said, "Whether in your eyes we should do what you say, we must obey God rather than man," and that text was driving me to say, in this situation, at this time, this method of rescuing seems right.

I was putting myself in the situation of the midwives who were saving babies by breaking the law of Pharaoh, or you can point to other instances like Esther, who said, "It's against the law to walk into the King's presence without being bidden, but if I perish, I perish, I will go and risk my life," and he lifted the golden scepter and she saved her people.

That seemed like a parallel to me, to go against the King's ordinary laws. One last principle is, our own laws, I think, are being undercut by this. I think the principles of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence say, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all our people," and we're denying that so that the laws that protect abortionists to kill children are laws that are contradicted by other laws, and so our country has already, I think, given a green light to those who would say, "No, you can't do this." One last comment, how did it go?

I think it made a significant impact, and I think for that season, it was a good strategy and I don't regret being involved in it. The reason it didn't continue, I think, is because partly the price became very high for a lot of people, and people lost their livelihoods and people got sued and lost their possessions, but mainly, I think, it's because the Christians, we ourselves, could not maintain the kind of suffering, humble, quiet attitude that would win the day, as in the civil rights movement.

There were just too many loudmouth, feisty, pro-life people that couldn't keep their mouths shut when we were mistreated by the pro-abortion people that were there or by the police, and since the spirit was lacking in so many, it backfired, and so it ceased to be an effective tool in the rescuing.

Whether God may raise up some other means like that along the way, I don't know, but for now, I think everybody should obey that text in some way or other. Rescue those who are being led away to death. Hold them back from the slaughter. You already know what's right here, so do something for the sake of life.

Yes, thank you, Pastor John, for sharing your story and for encouraging all of us to get involved in some way. For more on this subject of abortion, see the e-book titled "Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion." The e-book contains a collection of three John Piper sermon transcripts, and it's available for free as a download at DesiringGod.org and multiple versions for various e-readers.

And if you have a question for Pastor John, please send it to us via email. Send those to AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. Please include your first name and your hometown. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening. 1 John Piper, "Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion" 1 John Piper, "Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion" 1 John Piper, "Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion" 2 John Piper, "Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion" 3