This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” – Jeremiah 17:5
An article came across my desk this morning from the Toronto Star suggesting that places of worship should be among the places requiring proof of covid vaccination. This comes a day after I read an article in which places of worship were threatened with the implementation of the passport if they don’t obey the government’s health measures.
This is not going to be a discourse on efficacy of covid vaccines. Despite the fact that no successful coronavirus vaccine has ever been invented, and this one has no long-term studies of safety and possible side effects, I prefer to allow people freedom of choice over what they inject into their bodies.
If you are vaccinated, that’s your choice. If you are not, that’s also your choice. We can all still be friends. This also isn’t a discourse on the troubled healthcare system that exists in the province I live in, one that has been neglected since the mid-90’s, one that struggles to keep staff due to lack of funding, one that the government laments we have to protect. This is not a rebuke of said government, who imposes hygiene theater band-aid solutions, with no sustained plan to actually improve the healthcare system so we don’t get into the same mess in the future.
I won’t address the notion that a covid vaccine should be treated like vaccines of the past that everyone took to help eradicate disease. I don’t have the time to tell you that vaccines for smallpox and polio took years to be developed, not to mention they are vastly different illnesses than respiratory viruses. I also won’t mention that despite the majority of the population being inoculated for said diseases, there have always been exemptions, according to Canadian law. Those exemptions include for medical or religious reasons, or for reasons of conscience.
I won’t tell you how foolish it is to compare, considering we have never been asked to show proof of vaccine to enter a restaurant or a gym, or get on a plane in our own country. Even schools have vaccine exemptions for illnesses such as tuberculosis or meningitis, among others.
I would venture to say that the biggest issue with covid vaccines is the way they’re being pushed and forced on people. In many places, you can’t go to school, you will lose your job, and will have no access to public places if you haven’t been vaccinated. Tax-paying citizens are being denied basic services.
Please stop comparing vaccines to seat-belts. You don’t inject a seat-belt into your body. You aren’t deprived of basic rights if you don’t wear one.
Please stop comparing the covid vax to yellow fever. You may need a yellow fever vaccine to travel to Africa, but you don’t need it to travel domestically in your own country.
Please stop saying it’s the same as “no shirt no shoes no service”. Again, a vaccine is something you inject into your body, not something you wear.
Please stop comparing the ingredients in a vaccine to processed food. Unless you’re being forced and coerced to eat processed food or food with chemicals, it’s not the same thing. This is about choice, and informed consent.
But I digress.
To quote the aforementioned article, the pastor makes the following case:
“I think it is incumbent on us as churches to implement some kind of a protocol to keep our congregates safe — no matter what faith tradition we are,” he said, adding he believes the vaccine certificate exemption for houses of worship to be “rather foolish.”
We’ll start with the matter of safety. Granted, safety was never the priority for the early church, which faced persecution, imprisonment and even death for meeting together and practicing their faith. But we are a much more evolved society now.
“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” – Revelation 12:11
Fear has gripped our world. When people are faced with their own mortality, they become desperate to find solutions to preserve their lives, regardless of any long-term consequences, or what ripples could be felt in the next generation.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and soundness of mind.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
“Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” – John 14:27
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” – Psalm 55:22
I understand not everyone feels comfortable, and are looking to a practical help to ease their mind. I understand that science has helped, I understand there are good doctors out there. But there is only one thing that cures what ails man. And I don’t tell anyone to run to pharmaceuticals. I tell them to run into the arms of the Father.
He is our healer (Exodus 15:26). He is our strong tower (Proverbs 18:10). He is our protector (Psalm 91:7). He is our shield and our strength (2 Samuel 22:3-4). He will never let us down (Proverbs 29:25)
The house of God should naturally be a place a safety, not because everyone is vaccinated, but because of the blood of Jesus. If we tell the world its better to rely on man-made antidotes, what use is there for God? He’s can’t simply be one part of your life, He is to be your source and your sustainer (Psalm 54:4).
How would Jesus have handled ministry if there were an infectious disease going around? Would he turn someone away in the name of “safety”, and a superficial safety at that, because contracting covid is still possible despite vaccination.
“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” Matthew 8:1-3
Did Jesus tell the man to stay away because he was a risk to the large crowd? No, he reached out and healed him. It’s easy to say we should be like Jesus for issues such as “loving our neighbor”, but when it comes to actually walking as he walked and ministering as he did, we run in the other direction.
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. – Luke 10:19
We aren’t sitting ducks waiting for the devil to take us out. We are anointed and filled with the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). We carry his authority as his church. We are the body of Christ, the fullness of him in every way. And we don’t have this confidence in ourselves, because pride is sinful. No, we can move forward with a holy boldness, knowing that while we are nothing apart from Christ, with him, the gates of hell cannot prevail against us.
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 19:14
The very notion of turning people away from coming into God’s house to worship is the complete abandonment of the gospel. There is healing in God’s presence. When His people come together to pray, things change in the spiritual realm (James 5:13-18).
“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” – Luke 14:13-14
“When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:16-17
Can you even imagine, someone who is broken and hurting, and in need of saving, being sent home because their QR code doesn’t turn the right color? It is disgusting, and despicable to even consider such behavior.
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28
Is not the priority a person’s spiritual health? Is the risk of bodily sickness too much to bear, that we forsake giving someone an opportunity to be a part of the body of Christ? What’s the point of a church if it’s only reserved for a select few? Should we not use our building, which is such a privilege to have, as a place where people can receive spiritual care? And in tandem with that, they will be in physical safety, because just as Jesus took our sins on the cross, so he also took our sickness.
“This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” – Matthew 8:17
The original article states that people’s lives are at stake. And that is correct. There is a world going to hell, griped by fear, griped by addiction, griped by mental illness. The role of the church is to introduce them to the One who could deliver them (2 Corinthians 3:17). Will we be reduced to just another business that requires forced medical intervention to enter our doors?
That would be stripping God of His power, that His house is merely a country club for Christians to hear a nice word, with no possible danger like their forefathers so diligently endured to fulfill their mandate.
Yes, the church is a place where people gather. But it is set apart, to be a place of refuge, not of rejection.
