Pastor's Circle - Steve Blakemore

Steve Blakemore is the Professor of Philosophy at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and the pastor of Wesley Chapel He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Talk to us about this upcoming "Personhoood Amendment."

It's always interesting to me when people want to talk about abortion, that they make it a matter of "rights." The rights of the woman over her body versus the rights of the unborn child.

People lose perspective on this one question. Exactly what is this "entity" within the mother's womb? The Personhood Amendment makes people grapple with the fact that the life within the mother is indeed a human life.

I think that's what the Amendment drives forth.

Do we need to reconsider the way we look at birth control?

I think there's no doubt about that. One of the things this discussion does is make people uncomfortable, because it forces us to move beyond "sound bite" discussions.

We have to get into deep discussions about the very nature of human life.

I remember in 2008 Rick Warren asked both Obama and McCain when life began. President Obama said it was above his pay grade.

It's certainly not above his pay grade to acknowledge the humanity of the life in the mother's womb.

When it comes to things like birth control, we have to think about how much we allow our convenience to determine our actions.

How do we persuade others using a Christian worldview?

First of all, for us to think about persuading, we have to teach Christians how to think as Christians.

People would be amazed how much other values systems influence what they think, and then they just baptize those systems in the Christian worldview. What does the Bible say? What does the Christian faith tell us?

If we go in fully informed, and able to think as Christians, but go in asking people with big hearts even towards those who are wrong, there should be compassion in our hearts toward them.

What are we trying to do, win arguments or win people?

So humility is an important part of it?

Every Christian can inform themselves not just about the issues, but about the Christian values that we have to embrace.

Not just personhood, but about poverty, how free market should be thought of in a Christian worldview, how we should view democracy.

We should be a people who are just as intense about winning the person's soul and mind as we are about the issues.