Yesterday’s announcement of mandatory vaccinations for federal government employees is shocking. Another “conspiracy theory” has come true. The government also announced that vaccines will be made mandatory for air travelers and passengers on interprovincial trains and cruise ships. Business and places of learning are following suit. What is the reasoning? About 5.7 million Canadians who qualify to get their first dose are not getting it. The government fears that the predicted fourth wave anticipated this fall will overwhelm the healthcare system and so action must be taken now to save lives and keep the economy open.
You can read about this yourself on CBC and Global News.
Last August, I wrote why mandatory face masks were unbiblical (here and here). I also examined Romans 13 and 14 on the important role of conscience (here, here, and here). I also explained how sphere sovereignty helps us navigate these issues (here). The same arguments apply to mandatory vaccines. In summary, to make a medical treatment mandatory violates conscience, violates God’s design for people made in his image, and exposes our government as increasingly tyrannical.
There has already been some great things written on the subject that you can read from Jacob Reaume, Aaron Rock, and Founders Ministries.
There is still much to be said that I want to address, but for now I want to anticipate what we may be hearing again. Last year we heard over and over again from Christian leaders the need to follow the government mandates surrounding COVID (like masks, restrictions on gatherings, travel, etc) because this is what it means to love our neighbor, obey Romans 13, and be a good witness for Jesus. I’m not sure if we’ll hear the same refrain again or not, but let’s look at those categories in light of mandatory vaccinations.
Love For Neighbor (Matthew 22:39)
If you love your neighbor, you will oppose mandatory vaccines! You will oppose mandatory vaccines to qualify for jobs or to keep a job. You will oppose mandatory vaccines for travel, for commerce, or to access any service. Why? When we love our neighbor we respect what belongs to them.
God has given us commands not to steal or covet our neighbor’s wife or possessions. Why? Because those things belong to him. They are a stewardship given by God. Personal property, children, or means of income are not to be violated, destroyed, or taken. To uphold justice is to uphold a person’s lawful right to their property and possessions. In an increasingly unbiblical society that rejects this notion, we should advocate that our neighbors have, and to continue to have, what is theirs. And even more important than protecting property is protecting life, safety, health, and choices surround such matters.
Mandatory vaccines will hurt our neighbors. They will prevent travel, prevent continuing a career, or prevent informed medical choice as our neighbors are coerced into compliance. Mandatory vaccines will hurt our neighbors since this will further divide families, communities, and our country. This will create a two class society, a social credit score, further censorship of doctors or scientists, and further challenges to conscientious objectors. Does not loving our neighbor demand we stand against such harms brought against them?
Obeying Romans 13
If you believe Romans 13, you will oppose mandatory vaccines. This may seem counter-intuitive since we’ve repeatedly heard Romans 13 used to justify obeying our authorities—even as they restrict and regulate the corporate worship of Christ’s bride. If you believe Romans 13, you will see that our governing authorities have gone beyond the mandate of public justice that we see in verse 4, “For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” The government is using the power of the sword—intended to punish the wrongdoer—to punish those who do not agree with being injected with a medical treatment that has received emergency approval for a disease with very little risk for most people.
If we honor our authorities, honor their role under God, and honor our democratic system in which the government rules by the permission of the people, we will tell them plainly that they have crossed the line once again.
Did the prophets not love God, the king of Israel, and the people by warning the king of his folly? Were the prophets schismatics or rebellious traitors as they called the king to his rightful duty? Did John the Baptist not do what was loving for Herod by caring enough for his soul to call out his sin? Will the church stand united to love our governing authorities by telling them they have gone beyond their mandate and are taking the place of God by seeking to bind the conscience of the people? Will we pray, stand, and call them to repentance, not only for their unjust laws, but for their sin before God to whom they will give an account? Who will be the conscience of the nation, and the voice of truth if not for the church?
A Good Witness (Luke 21:12–13)
We’ve seen over the past eighteen months that a good witness is not synonymous with a good reputation. It has often been assumed that if the world appreciates you, you have been a good witness for Jesus. After all, if they like you they may like Jesus too. We must surely reject such notions of witness or testimony.
In Luke 21:13, after being persecuted and handed over to the courts for acting in loyalty to Jesus and his word, it says, “This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” It is the contrast of God’s righteousness to the world’s evil that brings opportunity to bear witness.
If you desire to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel, you will oppose mandatory vaccines. You will oppose it because it is contrary to God’s design and boundaries he has established for human governments. By so doing, you will endure the hatred of the world. “This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:13). We will confess that Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. We will explain how he is the only lord of the conscience and that he has given authority to the family and individuals in this regard that do not belong to the state. We will explain that we will render to Caesar what is Caesar’s but our bodies belong to the Lord.
By defending the right of the business owner, the medical choices of a family, or the travel of individuals, we bear witness that it is God who is sovereign, not the governments of men. We bear witness that we have freedom because there is a higher law that holds everyone to account. And through this, we will bear witness to the supremacy of Christ, the beauty of the gospel, and the truthfulness of his word.
Conclusion
May God grant us unity as the body of Christ to stand for truth, love our neighbor, respectfully direct the government to its duty, and bear witness of the greatness of Christ in this cultural moment.
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:1–3).
Tim Stephens