What Does the Bible Say About COVID Issues?

In March 2020, the World Health Organization determined that there was a coronavirus that threatened the lives of many across the globe and therefore, they declared a global pandemic. This immediately caused the shutdown of travel, schools, and church services along with causing some businesses to close or have their employees work remotely. It was amazing and alarming to see how quickly democratic governments could replace what were perceived rights and freedoms for emergency health orders. It was equally amazing to see the church pivot rather quickly to serve their constituency and then a broader online audience. 

There have been many losses, adjustments and opportunities created during COVID along with many questions and issues. I want to acknowledge the loss you have experienced in missing out on family gatherings, weddings, funerals, church attendance, meals, school and having to endure multiple quarantines just to name a few. In an attempt to address these issues, at least in my own mind, I want to give some Biblical reflections on COVID as we believe the Bible is our authority for life and practice. This is especially true today in a world with “fake news,” “alternative facts,” social media manipulation of data and the next generation’s justifiable mistrust of “experts” (though I would remind those who say that there are no experts not to come across as one themselves.) 

My goal is for you to seek the Word of God on these issues and not necessarily come to the same conclusions as I have. In fact, if you disagree, you are welcome here. As Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” However, I would still try to convince you of what the Bible says. My job as your pastor is to help you give answers “for the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). No matter your position though, we need to act with kindness and compassion towards one another. Let’s listen charitably to one another. I believe that everyone here has good intentions and cares about each other. And in a day and age when there are so many protests and inciting riots, as we heard this morning, we are to incite one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). So here are the questions:

1. Is the COVID vaccine the “sign of the beast” as described in Revelation 13? Revelation 13 requires that the first beast comes and makes war on the saints. (NOTE: This is hard for those who hold to a pre-tribulational rapture to explain. In fact, those who hold such a view have no worry about ever receiving the mark of the beast because they will be raptured.) The first beast’s arrival occurs before the second beast who will require his followers to wear a mark on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16). The COVID vaccine is not the sign of the beast because neither the first beast has come nor does the vaccine create a mark on the right hand or forehead of people. But while we are on the subject of eschatology or the study of the End Times, I need to tell you that COVID has brought to the surface and sometimes shaken people’s End Times view. One of those that had somewhat of a backseat because it hasn’t been as popular is what is called Christian Reconstructionism and this small theological camp has been making some noise and getting tons of press. Christian Reconstructionists hold “the view that God’s kingdom will be established on earth before Christ’s return, that God’s law remains the proper law to govern even modern civil society and that true Christians should be working to bring that about.”^[1] Reconstructionists are often postmillennial and believe social justice means reconstructing society rather than those who are premillennial and believe that society will not fully be reformed until Christ comes back. You can see how this can lead for some to fight in a culture war to try to keep western nations Christian. My response to them would be the words of the Reformer John Calvin, “For some, on hearing that liberty is promised in the gospel, a liberty which acknowledges no king and no magistrate among men, but looks to Christ alone, think that they can receive no benefit from their liberty so long as they see any power placed over them. Accordingly, they think nothing will be safe until the whole world is changed into a new form, when there will be neither courts, nor laws, nor magistrates, nor anything of the kind to interfere, as they suppose with their liberty. But he who knows to distinguish between the body and the soul, between the present fleeting life and that which is future and eternal, will have no difficulty in understanding that the spiritual kingdom of Christ and civil government are things very widely separated.”^[2] In other words, Calvin is saying that though we long for a theocracy when Christ will reign on the earth, that time has not come and we must not confuse the manifest kingdom of Christ with what we experience today. For now, we must continue to live under an earthly government! Otherwise, as Thomas Merton describes, “It is a terrible thing when such a one gets the idea he is a prophet or a messenger of God or a man with a mission to reform the world … He is capable of destroying religion and making the name of God odious to men.”^[3]

Now, I confess to you that I softly hold to a historical premillennial position, which means I expect the church to suffer and go through the tribulation. I have believed this for 20+ years and moved back to Canada expecting to go to jail for preaching the gospel. I hope I’m wrong and that Jesus raptures His church beforehand. I don’t emphasize my view a lot because one I don’t think it is worth dividing over. If you believe Jesus will bodily come back somebody, then you are welcome here. I also don’t share my position because I have experienced mocked for holding an unpopular position and I don’t want you to experience feeling like an outcast like I have. However, what I have done is try to prepare you as a church to be ready for persecution when it comes. I showed you films like The Insanity of God and Sheep Among Wolves so you could become aware of true persecution around the world and be prepared for it. Thank you for going on this journey as I am hoping this, along with moving to small groups, prepared us for the pandemic and future persecution.  My point is that your eschatology and theology help drive one’s views and interpretations of this pandemic, its issues and its place in history. Theology matters!

• Does wearing a mask prohibit worship? Though wearing masks is uncomfortable and mutes the volume of singing, it does not prohibit worship. This is because worship is more than just singing but offering our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). To say that masks prohibit worship would negate a scuba diver or a surgeon or balaclava-clad snowmobiler awed over God’s creation and invoking praise to Him. And yes, it is best to see each other’s faces in order to pick up non-verbal cues, but it doesn’t prohibit worship. It may hinder worship when singing together corporately. One of my friends wrote, “The covering of the face in Scripture is linked with shame, fear of holiness, and sickness.  For example, Lot’s daughters, Tamar, Moses before God, Moses before the Israelites, the Cherubim, Leviticus 13:45 regarding skin diseases, David regarding Absalom, Job, the Psalmist feels God himself ‘has forgotten; He covers His face and never sees’ (Psalm 10:11), Micah 3:7, Ezekiel 24:17, and then 2 Corinthians 3:13 — “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.” Moses hid, not so that the Israelites wouldn’t see the radiance, but so that they wouldn’t see it fading…”^[4]  So why are wearing masks? As an act of submission according to Romans 13:1, which is an act of worship to God as we obey Him. Though this is debated, we tend to believe health officials who say that wearing masks slows the spread of COVID. However, we do follow public health laws that allow for people who have a medical exemption to not wear a mask. In sum, you can still worship with a mask on because worship goes beyond just singing.
• Should we provide separate services for the vaccinated and unvaccinated? No, I believe we should try to serve a broad constituency that includes the vaccinated and unvaccinated in the same way that Jesus served contagious people (Matthew 8:1-4). The vaccinated seem to be less contagious than the unvaccinated. Furthermore, making room for all seems to be the principle of Romans 14 on disputable matters of conscience.
• When should we civilly disobey the government? We should civilly disobey the government when they require us to violate the Scriptures and stop preaching the gospel (Acts 5:28-29). In the case of lockdowns, where churches were temporarily not able to meet in-person, churches were still able to proclaim the gospel online.^[5] Churches were not violating Hebrews 10:24-25 because they did not forsake meeting together. If they were allowed, they would have met.
• Is the church in Canada being persecuted by the government? I do not believe we are being persecuted at this time by the government in Canada. Rather than being a defiant church and get a lot of press, we should joyfully accept the plundering of our property because of a future reward by Christ (Hebrews 10:34-36). That said I am concerned that churches and pastors are being fined and in some cases in Alberta being imprisoned. Are they being punished for their crimes or for Christ? God will be their ultimate judge. John Calvin reminds us, “Let no man deceive himself, since we cannot resist the magistrate without resisting God.”^[6] Until proven otherwise, we should assume positive intent and that the government was set up by God as His servant to do good (Romans 13:4). We may not like governmental overreach and their inconsistencies, but our role is to submit to government (Romans 13:1-3; 1 Peter 2:13-17). However, we can do an end run around our Prime Minister, Premiere and Mayor and go directly to the one whose shoulder government rests. We must pray to Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. We can seek His intervention about the government’s inconsistency of forced vaccines to save lives on the one hand, while they give choice for abortion and euthanasia to take lives on the other. Now though the church may not being persecuted as an entity or building but Christians as individuals might be persecuted for their views and losing their jobs for their conscientious objections. 
• Should we get the COVID vaccine even though it may harm our bodies? It is uncertain the long-term effects or even the short-term effects on anybody taking the COVID vaccine due to underlying conditions so to take the COVID vaccine requires risk and trust that God will protect us. The COVID virus is real and has caused the death of many people due to its high contagion rate and I believe it poses a greater threat than the vaccine. I believe that in order to gain accessibility to care for and minister the gospel to people, we should take the risk and get vaccinated. This follows 1 Corinthians 9:22-27 that by all means we should try to win people with the gospel, which includes disciplining our body. Some have argued that Paul wasn’t teaching we must do things that are against Scripture. I can’t find in Scripture an explicit command against vaccines. And so, if you believe that COVID vaccine was created by using aborted fetal cells, even in their distant origin, I would encourage you to follow your conscience. However, if your conscience does not warn you that the vaccine is a threat to your body, then you are free to get the vaccine (1 Corinthians 8; Romans 14). At my installation service I quoted another preacher who quipped, “Sometimes you have to sit in the smoking section to share the love of Christ.” It is a proven fact that second-hand smoke harms one’s body. I will continue to call you to follow Jesus and lay down your life for your friends and enemies (John 15:13). You might be called a “sheeple.” Embrace that label. You and I are sheep who follow the Good Shepherd and you definitely want to be called a sheep by Him at the Judgment when He separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). The irony is that some who label us “sheeple” because we are following government mandates may advocate taking the drug ivermectin to supposedly overcome COVID. Ivermectin is a medicine given to sheep to mainly control parasites.
• Should we get the COVID vaccine if required by our employers? This has been called “the jab or the job” choice. We probably don’t need reminding that 1 Timothy 5:8 says we are to take care of our family and that according to 2 Thessalonians 3:10 we must work to eat. I am concerned that it is getting hard to find jobs that provide similar income. However, God does say that He will provide for our needs (Phil. 4:19) if we are willing to work. You must do what is right before God based on not only your conscience but the truth as your conscience may be misled. Furthermore, if you agreed to vaccines like when you volunteered for military service, then you need to keep your word and get the vaccine unless they give you special accommodations. We may also need to get the vaccine to maintain a Christian witness in that workplace or protect others as the lesser magistrate^[7] such as when a police officer defies his or her superior because the superior’s edict violates the law. Our conscience should not be overridden, but it is also not our guide. Our guide is the Bible, which is a light and lamp for us (Psalm 119:105). 
• Can members get a religious exemption from their church regarding the COVID vaccine? In order for the church to determine giving a religious exemption for getting the COVID vaccine, the church leaders will need to determine whether the person requesting the vaccine exemption is doing so for religious or Charter of Freedom reasons. The church can only advocate for religious exemption for religious reasons and the person requesting religious exemption would need to be a member of the church. That member would have to demonstrate a consistent practice of honouring God with their body in all areas of life including food, alcohol and drug intake as well as sexual purity (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). 
• How should we treat people who have a different view or practice with the COVID vaccine? We need to accept one another (Romans 15:7) and not be judgmental of one another. There are legitimate reasons to get the vaccine and not get the vaccine. According to a September 2021 EFC Study, “77% of Canadians believe in vaccine requirements and 62% of Evangelicals believe in vaccine requirements.”^[8] Some are not coming to church until vaccines are required and some would leave if there was a vaccine requirement. There are people who find themselves in a minority position on these issues and we should be the ones as followers of Christ who treat them with respect and kindness.  This is especially true when it comes to our loved ones who have a different perspective than us. Part of this may be a political issue. And here is the question we all need to ask ourselves, “Are we making our decisions as Canadians or Christians?” Because Canadian citizenship gives rights that heavenly citizenship does not and vice-versa. Peter Wehner says, “Many people will leave a church that does not match their politics, but rarely leave their politics because it doesn’t match their church.”^[9] I’m afraid that some are leaving their church families and their families over politics as well. We know from 2 Kings 7 that people do crazy things during plagues and will turn on each other and their leaders, especially when they are getting manipulated information. But the church must be different. This is why we have been focused on living out the “One Anothers.” As Daniel Kim has said, “The early church saw the results they did because they both preached the gospel in word and lived it out together in deed.”^[10]
• What should I do if my spouse doesn’t want to be vaccinated? Let me start with the argument for what has been labelled “bodily autonomy.” Autonomy is a strong word and literally means “self-rule.” This is not taught in the Bible, which I will explain in the moment. I do believe and would defend “bodily free choice” meaning that we should each be able to voluntarily, rather than be forced to do something, with our bodies.  That said, let’s get back to the specific question. I believe husbands need to take the lead in the same way as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25). This means that the husband should take the physical risk of not getting the vaccine for the sake of his wife if she is asking him not to take it. If she is fine with him taking it as long as she doesn’t have to, then he is free to do so. However, the husband should not pressure his wife to get the vaccine and this is true too if the situation is reversed. The wife shouldn’t pressure her husband to get the vaccine.  He may decide to lay down his life for his wife by getting the vaccine. We are all (men and women) called to be livingsacrifices (Romans 12:2), but I can only find in Ephesians 5:25 a Scriptural reference for the man to be a dying sacrifice for his wife. I am overemphasizing the man’s responsibility because of the sacrificial nature of his role. This is why the lifeboats are filled with women and children first and that is not an over sense of macho-masculinity but esteeming and prioritizing women and children.   Let’s remember the mutual ownership of the wife’s and husband’s bodies as taught in 1 Corinthian 7:4, “The wife gives authority over her body to her husband and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife”? (1 Corinthians 7:4 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 teaches joint ownership of your body between God, the Creator, your spouse and you.) But taking the vaccine must be voluntary and the good thing is that government requires all those being vaccinated to do so by their own volition. 

There is one other related issue and that is for those who are pregnant or may become pregnant. You need to follow your doctor’s advice. It would appear though that those pregnant are at a much greater risk of dying from COVID and also having a stillbirth if they don’t get the vaccine.^[11] A Pregnant woman’s immunity is lower because she is protecting the baby more than herself. Thanks to all you moms who have put use before yourself. This also emphasizes my point that we need to selfless as followers of Christ and this sacrifice is most demonstrated in our families.

1. How do we handle family gatherings and holidays when our families have different views or practices with COVID? As much as family gatherings and holidays are important to anchor us to the group of people God has assigned to us called family, let’s remember that these holidays are a foreshadowing of things to come and should not rise to the point of division in our families. Colossians 2:16-17 warns us against judging people over what we eat or drink or how we celebrate holidays. These holidays are a shadow of things to come in the new heavens and new earth when holidays will level up with no disappointments and no one in God’s family missing. So as we content ourselves with less than ideal holiday gatherings once again this year, we must remember that our true reality is Christ and there is an ultimate feast that awaits us!
2. Should we vaccinate our children? This question has less of an edge on it now since the Ontario government is not requiring those 12 and under to be vaccinated, but now that Health Canada has approved the Pzifer vaccine for children age 5-11 it comes to the forefront again. When it comes to our children issues get elevated. I want to emphasize the repeated call that I have given over a year for compassion, courage and consistency. We need to have compassion for people with different views and practices than ours. We also need courage to not give way to fear. And we need to be consistent in our practice. As a parent, it is one thing if we personally make a decision to get or not get the vaccine. It is more challenging when you are making a decision for your children. And it can be even doubly challenging if parents are not aligned on their decision about the vaccine. (I have already spoke to the issue of what to do about spousal disagreement in regard to the vaccine.) We don’t know enough how the COVID vaccine will affect young children. Let the compassion, courage and consistency model found in the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 be our guide. “In 1527 Martin Luther, the Reformer wrote a letter about fleeing a certain plague going through Germany that demonstrates compassion, courage and consistency. He wrote, ‘I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. 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. If my neighbour needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely.’”^[12] I think Luther had the right attitude and actions.

I want to make you aware that our entire family is vaccinated including our teenage children. This was not easy because some of our children are deathly and violently afraid of needles. They all did it for the reason of being accessible and protecting others and themselves. This follows the practice of Paul who circumcised his spiritual son Timothy in order to gain access to people for the gospel (Acts 16:1-5). Some of our children are autoimmune compromised and so we wanted to protect them. We also saw how COVID restrictions were deeply affecting our children’s mental well-being. We weighed out the risks and found the risk of getting COVID was greater than the risk of the vaccine. That may be choosing the short-term over the long-term, but we have no guarantee of the long-term. Our lives are like a vapour (James 4:14). My practice and preaching has always been to call us to choose life whether before birth, after birth or at the end of life. There is a certain trust that Lori and I have had in doctors from the very beginning when our daughter Jessie was born two months premature and in a neonatal unit and they had to give her RSV shots at $1000/shot in order to protect her tiny body from a virus that could be deadly for her. I am a researcher by nature and try to make my decisions weighted by facts. I don’t give blind trust, but I would encourage us to be consistent. If we allow other things to be put in our children’s bodies by medical personnel without question and then don’t allow the COVID vaccine because of what we have heard or read online, then we have been inconsistent. At the end of the day, it requires us to trust God with our children whether vaccinated or unvaccinated. I do believe Jesus was implying in Matthew 18:10 that children have guardian angels and can testify to God protecting my children so many times. Now let me also say that some of you know that I am a third-generation pastor, but my grandfather also became his denomination’s global missions director. The decision in that day, like other missionaries, was to separate children from their missionary parents. Some MKs would go away to boarding school. In my grandfather’s situation, he lived in St. Louis, Missouri while his family lived in St. Stephen, N.B. My father saw the devastating effects of trying to “protect your kids by separating them.” Instead, my father kept us together. That is the principle Lori and I have tried to operate under and so we are all vaccinated so our family can stick together and travel together. I am not telling you what you should do. Your family situation may be different, but at least you know the rationale for our family’s decision to be vaccinated.

1. Should we disclose our vaccination status? Our Elders want to acknowledge that there are health privacy laws and we support them. However, the government has also required in some cases we have to disclose our vaccine status to gain accessibility to venues and businesses. We Elders have stated in the past that we do not encourage you to ask one another your vaccine status. This is actually our practice as a church and explains why we have not required vaccine proof for our services or our ministries. As much as we would love to eat together inside, which requires proof of vaccine by the regional health department, we have decided to forego some of our rights so everyone can be included for the time being.  But I have not addressed the question yet. The question is whether you should self-disclose your vaccine status proactively so that others can make a decision to draw closer to you socially. In the Old Testament, a leper would have to declare, “Unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:45). I am not calling the unvaccinated or those COVID positive unclean or lepers, but the principle of that Leviticus 13:45 is that the leper was loving and protecting their neighbour when they were potentially contagious. It would seem better to risk being a social stigma than surprise people with the news that they could have been exposed to COVID. Like a certain NFL quarterback who was deceptive when asked about his vaccination status. When we become a social stigma and suffer for things due to no fault of our own, then we can find comfort in what Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 2:19-23, especially verses 20-21, “is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” I would encourage you to read 1 Peter 2:19-23 and you will find great strength.
2. Should we follow the science? Science is the observation of the natural universe in an effort to come up with predictive conclusions through repeatable testing. We Christians should be good scientists as we want to know what our Creator and Lord created. Science, by its very nature, is dynamic and fluid. Scientists are always making new observations. Therefore, to follow the science is to go on a ride, which never admits it took a wrong turn, but declares those wrong turns as just another path to discovery to what is true. Whereas “We as Christians should let revelation, not observations, be our guide.”^[13] Let’s follow Jesus first, but not be against science when it is not against Scripture.

^[1] Alex Harris, “Doing Hard Things” World Magazine https://wng.org/articles/doing-hard-things-1635826853. Accessed November 9, 2021.

^[2] John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion – Volume 2 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1966), 651.

^[3] As quoted in Chuck DeGroat, When Narcissism Comes to Church (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 67.

^[4] Taken from an email with Mike Thiessen dated November 14, 2021.

^[5] Nothing new is under the sun. Therefore, we studied church history and found some guidance from Richard Baxter in his seminal book The Reformed Pastor: https://books.google.ca/books?id=MKcOAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA465&ots=Ozgx-Xzzi8&dq=%22May+we+omit+church+assemblies+on+the+Lord%27s+day+if+the+magistrate+forbid+them%3F+%22&pg=PA465&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22May%20we%20omit%20church%20assemblies%20on%20the%20Lord’s%20day%20if%20the%20magistrate%20forbid%20them%3F%20%22&f=false.  

^[6] Calvin, 669.

^[7][7] The Puritans taught the doctrine of the lesser magistrate! “The lesser magistrate doctrine declares that the superior or high civil authority makes unjust/immoral laws or decrees, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both a right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lesser authorities even have the right and obligation to actively resist the superior authority.” Matthew J. Trewhella, The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates (Self-published, 2013), 1. (NOTE: I do not recommend this book as it is mostly right-wing propaganda, but it does give some legitimate biblical examples of the doctrine of lesser magistrates.)

^[8] https://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/getattachment/Special/Event-Page/2021-10-28-Presidents-Day-Presentation-2021-Post-Election-Poll-Church-and-COVID.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US. Accessed October 28, 2021. 

^[9] Peter Wehner, “The Evangelical Church is Breaking Up,” The Atlantic, https://apple.news/AtU-o9vU2TrKnPvg5thH1bw. Accessed October 25, 2021.

^[10] Daniel Kim, No Silver Bullets (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2017), 130.

^[11] Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-risks-pregnant-women-babies-study/. Accessed November 18, 2021.

^[12] Adapted from a letter written by Michael Thiessen to Prime Minister Trudeau in May, 2020.

^[13] Quote by Rick Baker.