Romans 14:1-23
Again, as with yesterday and the day before, an item for today: For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. (v. 7) I’m going to express an opinion here, my own observation on vaccinations. To me it’s a public health issue more than an individual decision. For none of us lives to himself… We may choose to get vaccinated so as to protect ourselves from COVID-19. But in doing so, we are also protecting one another. For none of us lives to himself…! Carol and I were COVID-vaccinated as early as possible – no doubt with our own health in mind. But as the number of vaccinated people surged we began to think of “herd immunity” – that the virus would die out for its inability to spread itself if a significant percentage of the population were to be vaccinated. Yet we have failed to reach that threshold because of the large number of people who choose not to be vaccinated.
Paul asks, Why do you pass judgment on your brother? (v. 10a) So where is “judgment” in all this? It truly is hard for me not to be judgmental against one of my brothers and his wife who refuse to be vaccinated. To me they simply seem to have an attitude, kinda like “No one can tell me what to do!” The answer lies in each of us seeking the Lord on each and every issue and decision in our lives. In truth, whether we live or die in this life matters not with respect to our eternal outcome. Again, Paul says it best: For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. (v. 8) Simple: We live to the Lord! Still, we need to be honest with ourselves IN THE LORD when we make our choices.
See also: July 7 / Romans 14:1-13; July 8 / Romans 14:14-23
Lest there be any doubt or confusion, let me be clear: I wholeheartedly agree with Fred on vaccinations! [But see below.] Loving one another — and the broader community — trumps 🙂 my own individual “rights”. (Full disclosure: I work for MinibarRx, which produces a vaccine dispensing system, but I am confident that has no bearing on my opinion here.)
I think the “judgment” issue is where we are most prone to stumbling. It is very easy to see one’s own decision as better than the next guy’s, and to condemn the other for being “pigheaded” or stubborn or stupid or foolish or hurtful or…whatever. (And that is true regardless of which side of any issue one might land on.) But it is not our job to condemn. Ultimately, it is all up to the Lord to sort out.
One point of clarification now that we have better information about those vaccines. We were all told that the COVID-19 vaccines would give us immunity, and that getting vaccinated would help produce that “herd immunity” that Fred mentioned. But that was all false information. The COVID vaccines do not provide immunity. One can still catch COVID and pass COVID on to others. So much for the herd immunity, and so much for my being vaccinated benefitting others. Meanwhile, we also came to learn that the COVID vaccines are seriously harmful for some (e.g., myocarditis and pericarditis). Many healthcare providers (e.g., nurses), knowing the risks better than the rest of us, refused to be vaccinated. Despite working heroically through the worst of the pandemic, these people lost their jobs due to vaccine mandates. How is that a loving position?