Is Birth Control / Family Planning Wrong? (V)

And so we come to the end of the series. I know I haven't ended the debate. I know I didn't start the debate. But I've tried to avoid "fancy" argumentation in favor of just basic "gut level" simple questions to ask yourself when you are considering birth control / family planning?

I ended the last post promising to talk about "exceptions" when birth control might be appropriate. I believe they are few. But I believe they are:

1. The Health Of The Mother – Many women have experienced traumatic pregnancies and faced near death in delivering children. They have been bed-ridden for months of the pregnancy or faced severe hemorrhaging towards the end of the pregnancy. In the same way that I don't believe that God expects us to continually play in traffic and trust him to keep the cars from hitting us, I also don't think it's wise to voluntarily place yourself in a position where you are exacerbating medical problems. I think we need to be careful here that the health of the mother issue is clear and demonstrable. Inventing potential medical problems as a result of pregnancy is speculative and problematic.
   
2. Birth Control As Medical Treatment – Many women also experience medical conditions for which birth control is a prescribed medical treatment. Once again, I think this is a permissible exercise and one that doesn't violate conscience or faith in God. I think for those women who find themselves in situations where having tubes tied, taking monthly birth control, etc would be a medical treatment for an existing health condition, I think they can do so without a second thought.
   

I know folks will argue there are more, and there may be. I'd love to hear and respond with your thoughts in the comments. But as I look at it, there aren't many exceptions.

DISCLAIMER: I have obviously expressed my opinion here. I always have strong opinions. I think everyone should. But I also understand that there are other takes on this subject different than mine. (Desiring God / Tim Challies (Very Well Thought Out)) I disagree with them for various reasons, but respect and value their opinion. This is a tough subject. And one that I believe requires a great amount of prayer, thought, and energy devoted to searching out what the will of God for your life is.

Voddie Baucham obviously had a take on it and it came out very clearly in his book. I have a take on it and it's come out clearly in these series of posts. What I hope this has done is to get you to think about what your belief is on this matter and to not just "passively" act out of ignorant thoughts or passions but to truly get serious about an issue that affects everyone. This is not a trivial subject. This is not "unimportant". How you play this out, reason this out, and act this out says a lot about your belief systems, how you approach Scripture, how you interpret Scripture, and how you view God. Those are matters of monumental importance.

For those who have decided to have tubes tied or vasectomies performed, but you are coming to realize that maybe more children are desired, remember there are over 195,000 orphans in the United States alone and millions worldwide. There should always be room for those children in our lives somewhere. Always! Adoptions, Foster Care, whatever it is, do something and be a blessing to children. They are a blessing to us. I have learned more about Jesus and my relationship with Him through my children than I have in any classroom ever. Kids have a way of doing that for you and I think that's why God says they are blessing in so many places in Scripture.

How do you view children? How do you view God's creation of life? How do you view your role in it? Tough questions! Search out the answers.