2 Questions to Keep The Vaccine Wars From Dividing Your Church
While the Omicron strain impacts our world, differing views of vaccines and vaccine mandates are impacting our churches.
Disagreement bubbles along beneath the surface, breaking out online and occasionally offline. Many vaccinated Christians shake their heads at the unvaxxed: ‘how can they be so misguided?’. While many unvaxxed Christians shake their heads at their churches: ‘how can you obey a government that is so draconian?’
Both vaxxed and unvaxxed have strong feelings.
At worst, it’s leading to the fracturing of Christian fellowship. I’ve recently heard of people leaving churches over this issue. But less dramatically, there’s a sense of suspicion toward those who think differently – even when they’re longstanding Christian brothers and sisters in Christ.
But should the ‘vaccine wars’ playing out across our culture break Christian fellowship?
Or is there a better way for Christians and churches to handle such a contested issue: one that maintains the Biblical command to meet together (Heb 10:28), not least as a witness to our fracturing world (John 13:35)?
I think there are two key questions we should ask with the Bible open, which will help preserve fellowship.
And the reason we need to ask these questions is because of a common temptation we face:
The Temptation We Face: Making ‘Jagged’ Lines’ Straight’
Vaccinations and vaccine mandates are issues many Christians feel strongly about (either for or against). We may believe our point of view is right, and those who think differently are misguided or wrong.
And it’s OK to have strong opinions about such issues.
But as I’ve written about elsewhere, we need to distinguish between issues the Bible speaks to directly (e.g., salvation, murder) versus issues the Bible doesn’t address directly (e.g., political issues such as vaccine passports and public health orders). Or, in other words, ‘straight line’ issues versus ‘jagged line’ issues.
As theologians Jonathan Leeman and Andrew Naselli point out:
Most political issues are not straight-line issues. Most are jagged-line issues. Think of everything from trade policy to healthcare reform to monetary policy to carbon dioxide emission caps. These are important, and Christians should bring biblical principles to bear when thinking about them. But the path from biblical text to policy application is not simple. It is complex. For such issues, none of us should presume to possess “the” Christian position, as if we were apostles revealing true doctrine once and for all time.’ [1]
When we make ‘jagged line’ issues such as mask mandates into ‘straight line’ issues, we raise a barrier between ourselves and other Christians who think differently. Instead of seeing such ‘jagged line’ issues as ‘opinions’ over which Christians should be free to disagree (Rom 14, Rom 15:7), we judge others as unbiblical and unchristian (Rom 14:10).
As a result, we dishonour God and compromise our gospel witness to a fracturing world.
But if we maintain genuine, loving fellowship despite our firmly held and opposing ‘jagged line’ views, we glorify God (Rom 15:7) with our gospel unity (John 13:35).
So how do we maintain gospel unity in the face of such disagreement?
Here are two questions that will help:
1) Is it possible to have a different opinion on vaccines and vaccine mandates and still be godly?
Is it possible for those who think differently on vaccines to still be godly? Could they still be faithful to God’s Word, even though they have different ‘opinions’ (Rom 14:1) about these matters?
In my understanding, the critical issue of whether people are for or against vaccines and vaccine mandates is trust. Do you trust the government? Do you trust Big Pharma?
Now, is it possible for a Christian to be godly and trust the government and Big Pharma?
I think the answer is ‘yes’.
Conversely, could a Christian be Biblically faithful yet be sceptical of government and Big Pharma when it comes to vaccines and vaccine mandates?
Again, I think human history and a robust doctrine of human sinfulness (not to mention human fallibility) would lead us to answer ‘yes’. (While the Bible commands submission to governments (Rom 13:1), it never commands us to trust everything governments do or say). [2]
Thus, it’s possible to come to different conclusions on vaccines and vaccine mandates and still be faithful and godly.
Christians must therefore be free to disagree on this matter without being judged as ungodly or heretics. It’s a disputable matter, an opinion that Christians are free to hold (Rom 14:1). And so, passages such as Romans 14:4 should govern our relationships with Christians who disagree with us:
Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand’.
2) Could my Church’s decision on COVID policy be made from good Christian conscience?
Most churches I know of have submitted to public health orders. They wear masks indoors. They have check-in procedures. And when directed, they’ve ceased meeting in person.
But for some Christians in the unvaxxed camp, this is giving into government overreach. They might struggle with their church’s decision to the point of not wanting to gather with them anymore.
And so, this raises the second question: could your church leadership think differently to you about public health orders and still be Biblical?
It’s worth pointing out that church leaders must land somewhere regarding public health orders: even doing nothing is a response.
When it comes to Scripture, we’re commanded to submit to governments (Rom 13:1-6), although there are exceptions. But these exceptions, Biblically speaking, are serious. These include bans on preaching the gospel (Acts 4:19, Acts 5:29) or partaking in idolatry (Dan 3:18).
(Thus, the question Christians and Churches should ask is not ‘why should we submit to the government?’, but rather, ‘why shouldn’t we submit to the government?’. Submission is the default in Scripture: if we choose not to, there needs to be a good reason why).
Now, does wearing masks at church, for example, fall into the same category of rules the Bible encourages us to disobey, such as bans on gospel preaching (Acts 5:29)? I fail to see how it does – the gospel is not compromised through mask-wearing (although banning the unvaxxed from church might well fall into that category).
And so, if your church leadership is acting Biblically when it comes to relating to government – even though they might have a different opinion to you on of public health orders – Scripture would command us to submit to their leadership (Hebrews 13:17), and keep gathering at church (Heb 10:28).
Caring for the Unvaxxed?
Another implication of Christian freedom is caring for those who think differently on ‘jagged line’ issues.
While it’s tempting for the vaxxed to write off the unvaxxed as ‘reaping what they sow’ when it comes to losing jobs because of vaccine mandates etc., the Bible doesn’t call us to make such judgements. Instead:
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up... Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Rom 14: 2,7).
Gospel Unity To a Divided World
Like so many political issues, Christians are free to come to their own decisions on vaccines and vaccine mandates. But as we do so, we mustn’t compromise the gospel through disunity that’s unbiblical.
Instead, we have an opportunity to be witnesses to the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who can unite Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor…and those who think differently about politics.
Even the politics of vaccines.
[1] Jonathan Leeman and Andrew David Naselli, “Politics, Conscience and the Church: Why Christians Passionately Disagree with One Another over Politics, Why They Must Agree to Disagree over Jagged-Line Political Issues, and How”, Themelios 45.1 (2020): 13-31. 21. In their article, Leeman and Naselli take this ‘Jagged line’/’Straight Line’ distinction from Robert Benne, a conservative Lutheran scholar who specialises in how Christianity relates to culture.
[2] I say this as one who is vaccinated and trusts the government.