There’s a tendency to oversimplify people’s reasons for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Some people are late adopters with everything. They don’t rush into any decisions let alone ones with such big consequences. Others fear the reliability of a vaccine development process that feels rushed. For others, the decision has been influenced by political division and mistrust. Unfortunately, a huge amount of misinformation has also clouded people’s thinking.

I have deliberately avoided speaking about vaccines because I feel it’s a medical decision and therefore best made in consultation with your doctor, not your pastor. There are some Christians however who have avoided getting the COVID-19 vaccine for spiritual reasons. While believers may disagree on the application of biblical principles, I don’t feel that I’m doing my job as your pastor if I don’t try to make clear some of the related teachings of the Bible, as best I understand them. As I do, I’ll try to remind myself and commend to you the principle often attributed to Augustine: “In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.”

With something as disruptive as a global pandemic, it’s good and appropriate that Christians have turned to the Scriptures for guidance. Whenever we do that, however, it’s important that we guard against looking for what we want to see. Many have found in the promises of Psalm 91, for instance, assurance of God’s protection against COVID-19. Feel the encouragement of these words:

You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. - Psalm 91:5-6

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent. - Psalm 91:9-10

These are incredible promises of God’s protection for those who put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 91:1-2). There’s no need to fear “the pestilence” (Psalm 91:6) because “no plague” will “come near your tent” (Psalm 91:10). Surely, that settles it right? Christians can’t get COVID-19. Or can they?

When you see an isolated verse, it’s always important to read on for more context. If this psalm is an absolute promise that people who trust the Lord are immune to viruses, we would also have to conclude that believers can’t be harmed by animal traps (Psalm 91:3), arrows (Psalm 91:5), lions (Psalm 91:13), or snakes (Psalm 91:13) either. We know that’s simply not true. This psalm is giving God’s people under the Old Covenant examples of ways that they will be spared His judgment if they trust in Him. We don’t tell injured war vets that God would have kept them safe if they would have had more faith. Many, many earnest Christians have died from COVID-19, and it wasn’t because they didn’t trust God or because He wasn’t faithful to His promises.

Interestingly, Satan used this very psalm to try and tempt Jesus in very much the same way that people are being tempted with the coronavirus today. He took Jesus to the top of the temple and told him to throw himself down as proof that He was God’s Son (Matthew 4:5). Then, he quoted to him the very next verse (Psalm 91:11) after the one about the plague not coming near your tent.

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” – Matthew 4:6

Satan is trying to convince Jesus that if He really trusts in God and His promises, He can jump off the building with the assurance that the angels will rescue Him. Jesus sees through the devil’s deception and answers, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). Using a promise of God as an excuse to put yourself in harm’s way is a sinful test of God’s patience and mercy. Picking up a poisonous snake to prove that God loves and protects you isn’t a sign of faith. It’s evidence of a sinful heart that wants to test God.

The application to vaccines and COVID-19 should be clear. People can have genuine medical reservations about getting vaccinated. But refusing the medical means that God has provided to protect you from a virus because of a mistaken belief that your faith makes you immune is a conviction promoted by Satan not God.

Martin Luther has his detractors, but he’s seldom criticized for having a lack of faith. His response to the Wittenberg plague of 1527 is helpful.

“I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others.”

May God give us all wisdom as we seek discernment in these things. As Luther reminds us, it’s not just our health that’s at stake but those around us whom God has called us to love.

In awe of Him,

Paul