A Biblical Argument In Support of Vaccines

The thing that baffles me about the whole COVID vaccine debate is why it’s become a sticking point of faith for so many Christians. I am a Christian. And I am fully vaccinated. I am happy to tell the world of my faith. But honestly, I had no desire to make a public profession of my vaccination status. However, so many people that I know, love and deeply respect – and whose prayers I avail myself of frequently and reciprocally – are convinced that shunning the vaccine is evidence of a deeper level of faith than those of us “so-called” Christians who have opted for vaccination. All this while so many of the faithful continue to get desperately sick from this disease.

 

I suppose there are people who genuinely believe that this vaccine is the Mark of The Beast. But let’s be honest, aren’t our cell phones covering most of the major concerns (ability to buy and sell, watching our every move, controlling what we see, hear, do and believe, etc.) that typically get associated with The Mark?

 

No, I don’t think the vast majority of Christians deep down believe we’re going to be implanted with trackers. And while there is some legitimate concern over whether or not people will be restricted from public places and travel the likelihood of that manifesting is pretty slim given the overall sentiment of “don’t tread on me” that pervades our culture regardless of your vaccination status. 

 

[I will state for the record that I am firmly against mandatory vaccinations. People have a right to choose or deny medical treatment. I am equally against forcing businesses to endanger the lives of their staff and customers. No shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service. If you don't want a vaccine and you don't want to wear a mask, just order online. Everybody wins.]

 

As I said, my confusion has been why is this even being used as a test of faith at all(or patriotism for that matter… but I digress). I have theory as to why this is.

IF’N IT AIN’T IN THE GOOD BOOK, THEN I DON’T WANT IT.

The biggest stumbling block to vaccinations seems to me to be the lack of a clear, biblical precedent. There just aren’t any syringes mentioned in the Word of God. This might sound ludicrous to those not of our faith, but I assure you it’s a pretty serious and valid reason for a person of deep faith to give pause. Now of course there aren’t any cars, TV’s or cell phones mentioned either and we indulge ourselves vigorously with those, but it’s really not the same thing. You see healing, specifically, miraculous healing from plagues, in the Bible has been strictly the domain of God, Himself. So, any attempt to displace Him feels like… well, idolatry. Simply put, we feel the burden of guilt if we divert any of the glory for the potential end of a global pandemic away from God to the actions of man.  

 

But I think we are condemning ourselves needlessly for a sin we have not committed. I submit three reasons.

 

One: WE PRAYED FOR THIS

Every Christian I know has been praying fervently for God to end this pandemic since it started. The language of those prayers has been the language of miracles. “Jesus, put an end to Covid right now. Bind this disease and cause it to wither and die.” Now I have no problem with the first sentence. But the second one sounds suspiciously like we’re telling God how to do His job. God has every right to put an end to Covid in whatever manner He chooses be it “wither and die” or two shots of Pfizer. Who are we to dictate? Now Biblically God did protect His people from a plague that killed all the first born of Egypt by putting the blood of a lamb on the door posts. Does that mean He has to go all “Angel of Death” every time there’s an outbreak? Not at all. In fact, it’s a bit presumptive to act on your own expectations of how God ought to execute God’s own miracles. Just ask Moses, whose stubborn insistence on a dramatic “Smash-A-Rock-Until-It-Bleeds-Water” behavior cost him his chance to see the Promised Land.  

 

Two: VACCINES JUST MIGHT BE IN THE BIBLE…KIND OF.

Okay hear me out. In the book of Numbers, God’s people sin against Him (again.) He sends serpents with a seriously nasty venom to bite them. People are suffering and dying because there’s no treatment. Sound familiar? They cry out to Moses. He goes to God and GOD tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a stick and make the people look at it. Anyone who looks at it will live. This must have sounded insane both to Moses and to the people. This was the very same God who told people not to make any graven images. And now He goes and orders Moses to make a graven image of the very thing that is killing people. Plus, they have to LOOK at it. In a sense they have to take the image of that thing into themselves. It’s must have felt dangerously like Moses was advocating – you guessed it – idolatry. In reality this was meant to be an acknowledgement of their sin. God intended it to bring about repentance. To sear into their minds an image of their offense so that they would not soon sin again. Effectively to INOCULATE their souls against the sins they had committed.

 

It’s not far-fetched. Think about it. What is a vaccine? It is a weakened version of the disease or in the case of RNA vaccines, a protein-based image of the disease that is injected into the body where your white blood cells can "get a good look at it." Its purpose to is to stimulate antibodies (read repentance) and build immunity or resistance to the offensive virus (read sin). The vaccine doesn’t fight the virus any more than bronze snake fights venom. It’s the internal action whether it be in the body as antibodies or in the spirit as an agent of holiness and obedience.

 

The human immune system is actually built to fight venom and viruses, but it just doesn't do it effectively. So God  instructed the use of an external agent to treat the venom poisoning. The Bronze Serpent had no power apart from God.  Why? Because in the end it’s all HIM. The point is vaccines only work BECAUSE God created such a beautiful work in our immune systems. And it was that hand of God acting through researchers that developed not one but three vaccines in record time. Still vaccines have no glory apart from that great God-only work of the immune system. Either way, it’s ALL GOD. And I for one, praise Him mightily for it!

 

Side note: want to hear something crazy cool? It turns out that one of the many amazing reactions of your immune system… your God-given immune system… to COVID is the exact same reaction that it has to snake venom. I mean, what are the odds?! This guy explains it far better than I could…

VIDEO: Immune NETs: What COVID and Snake Venoms Have in Common

 

Three: YOU ONLY HAVE A FREE DOWNLOAD IMMUNE SYSTEM, NOT THE PREMIUM VERSION

Many people feel strongly that their God given immune system should be enough. That “if it was good enough for Adam and Eve then it’s good enough for me.” There’s just one problem with this. We don’t have Adam and Eve’s original pre-sin immune system. They got downgraded from premium-immunity-to-all-disease when they disobeyed God. We have the free version of the immunity app and it just doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. Everything that has happened in health and wellness since the Garden of Eden has been a desperate attempt to upgrade back to that pristine incorruptible state. Our first parents were strong because they were designed to “subdue the earth”. It takes serious muscle mass and endurance to do that. We on the other hand, have to hit the gym three days a week. They didn’t have to worry about eliminating processed foods from their diets. They had an abundance of fresh unpolluted drinking water. We spend half our paychecks buying organic at Whole Foods. When the sun went down, they weren’t losing sleep binging Netflix and stressing out over their jobs; all they could do was be fruitful and multiply for twenty minutes and then get eight hours of rejuvenating sleep. We pop a few Ambien and turn on a white noise app just to clock a restless six hours. There were surely organisms like viruses and bacteria around, but they weren’t dangerous because Adam and Eve's pre-sin immune systems were absolutely perfect. We on the other hand need vaccines (and yes, booster shots) to have a chance of even getting close to Adam and Eve’s original level of immunity. I know it’s bummer, but until we get our new bodies in Heaven, that’s just how it is. Adam and Eve’s Premium paid version won’t run on our sin-corrupted hardware; you and I are stuck with the free download until we die or until Jesus comes back.

 

JUST PRAY ABOUT, OKAY?

Look I’m just saying… as Christians I think we need to consider very seriously this practice of villainizing COVID vaccines. I’m not telling you to run right out and get one. Please pray about it before you do anything else. Keep an open mind and an open heart. Read up on the vaccines from multiple sources, not just the ones that make you afraid. Check with your doctor to see if you have risk factors. Listen for God's voice in the matter. He knows the needs of your body and He'll guide you. Then decide. I know some of you will still not want it. Maybe you think I’m a fallen Christian preaching heresy. It’s okay. I respect your opinion and your right to think so. I really mean that. Let’s still pray for each other, okay?

 

One more thing. Please use wisdom when counseling others. Don’t spread fear-based half-truths. Can you imagine what would have happened if Aaron had gone through the Israelite camp, calling Moses a heretic and an idolater and telling the people they would die if they looked at the bronze serpent? Actually, you don’t have to imagine. Just read the news.

  

A NOTE TO PRO VACCINE READERS: I do hope you’ll share this post with grace. And if you do share, please come back next week to read and share my next post on why YOU may not be helping the situation.