As I write this article it has been almost exactly one year since our church leadership decided to cease our physical church meetings and go online. At staff meeting on Monday, March 15, 2020, we could see the writing on the wall and, sure enough, within a few days, legislation had been passed preventing physical church gatherings.
Since that time we have been through a lot as individuals, families and as a whole church. Jobs have been lost and holidays have cancelled. We’ve faced significant uncertainty and significant change. Thankfully, Australia was spared the level of sickness and death experienced in other countries.
One thing I have been very thankful for has been the unity of our church through all the changes. We have been patient with each other as leaders and members have made countless decisions about Sunday meetings, small groups, masks, sign-in policies and so on. Our leadership team received an enormous amount of encouragement and our church has grown. God has been good.
Now, in 2021, another change is upon us. Covid-19 vaccines are now available to the Australian population in a staged rollout. It’s time for us as individuals and a church to navigate a new issue.
I have written this article to provide some guidance to our church in the area of Covid-19 vaccines. I hope it also helps any other Christians who read it. I’m not seeking to answer all the possible questions this topic raises. But I pray that this article will promote truth, wisdom, patience and love around this area of change.
The Available Vaccines
In Australia at present, there are two vaccines being made available to increasing numbers of people. There is the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Astra Zeneca vaccine is an otherwise harmless virus that has been altered to stimulate an immune response that would be effective against future Covid-19 exposure. The Pfizer vaccine contains something called mRNA. This mRNA is taken up by our cells which then generate antibodies to Covid-19, thus preparing us for future exposure. The internet is full of further information about the two vaccines. A good starting point is this video by ABC News.
A Concern for Christians
A concern Christians have about these vaccines is the way they have been developed using cells derived from an aborted fetus. The cells belong to a fetal cell line called HEK-293. This cell line began many decades ago and the original cell or cells were taken from the kidney of a girl electively aborted in the 1960s. The abortion was not done for medical research. The original cells are long gone, but the cells replicate in many laboratories and are used for research and drug development, including vaccines.
The Astra-Zeneca vaccine is produced using this cell line. The Pfizer vaccine has been tested on this cell line.
Christians, rightly, oppose abortion, and so are concerned that using these vaccines (and perhaps other vaccines and therapies as well) make us complicit in abortion or approving of abortion. It is a serious concern. So how should we think about this, not just personally, but as a church?
Some Points to Consider
There is already a lot of good commentary on this topic, so I will keep this article to eight key points.
1. The gospel
It might seem obvious, but we need to remind ourselves of the gospel as we think about the vaccines. Jesus Christ is our Lord. He has saved us through his sacrificial death on the cross, securing forgiveness of our sins. As our resurrected and reigning messiah he calls us to follow him with a life of costly obedience. We do this together as his people, united in one faith and one Spirit.
The gospel means we are forgiven for our sins and failings. Transgressions we thought of as minor are forgiven. Abortion is forgiven. The gospel also means that we must be willing to obey our Lord even when it costs us. And, lastly, the gospel is something we share as a church, so we approach this issue, as we do any issue, as a church committed to unity in the gospel.
2. Abortion is wrong
It is a tragedy that in our modern world the medical technology that has done so much good continues to be used to bring about the death of many babies. It grieves us to see abortion not only tolerated but promoted in our society. We believe it is wrong to use the bodies of victims of abortion for medical research or therapies.
We may feel very uncomfortable about benefitting from medical advances that have a connection with abortion. It is also good and right that we do things like support ministries that help pregnant women in difficult circumstances or lobby our politicians to reduce the number of abortions. As Christians, we oppose financial and research incentives that promote abortion.
3. It is not wrong to receive a vaccination
As much as we might disagree with the decision to abort that baby back in the 60s whose cells were used to generate HEK-293, I don’t think that receiving a vaccination does make us complicit in the abortion. Neither does receiving a vaccination mean that we are endorsing abortion for medical research. This is true for Christians administering the vaccine as well.
The abortion was not performed for the purpose of medical research. It was done a long time ago and many generations of cells have replicated since that time. We can grieve that it happened but we can still, I think, receive the good things that have come from the research and other work done on these cells.
4. We should love others
In this issue of vaccine use our self-preservation is not necessarily a high priority. However, we might need to think about how we can love others. There is not yet a lot of research on how much vaccination reduces transmission of Covid-19 but if it does, taking the vaccine might help prevent other people from catching the disease from us. This is especially important for older people or people with chronic disease.
Receiving the vaccine might mean we can increase the size and density of church gatherings, allow for more singing, and allow us to travel to support missionaries. These are good things that we are all longing to do.
5. Conscience is important
So far in this article I have given my opinion about the vaccine. However, it is important that we remember the importance of conscience in Christian ethics. In discussing decisions about special days or food and drink, Romans 14 instructs us to act in accordance with our own beliefs.
One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. (14:5, NIV)
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (14:22–23).
People should act according to their conscience. For some people, this would mean that they should not take a Covid-19 vaccine. Or perhaps they would feel comfortable about taking the Pfizer vaccine but not the Astra Zeneca vaccine.
Also, we should not judge each other for the decisions we make.
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand (Romans 14:3–4).
People will make decisions we might disagree with, but the Bible says that in matters like these we should not treat them with contempt or judge them. This is something we leave to God.
6. Conscience is changeable
While it is important that people make decisions according to conscience, conscience is not infallible. Paul says, in regard to his ministry, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:4). He knew that he could have a clean conscience but still be guilty of something before the Lord.
Our consciences are teachable. This is part of the mind renewal that is the normal Christian life. Romans 12 says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). This could mean that our consciences can become more accepting or less accepting of certain things as we learn and grow and change.
If you are unsure how to act in regard to the Covid-19 vaccines, give yourself time to read and learn more about the issues, discuss with your Christian friends and leaders, and pray for wisdom. We should act in accordance with our conscience, but it is changeable.
7. We should think generously of our government and health professionals
Our government, at every level, will often make decisions we disagree with. However, on the whole, we can be thankful that our government is trying to do the best it can. Romans says: “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4). Our government is there to do good, and, for the most part, it is actually doing good as it does the difficult task of managing Covid-19.
Likewise, our health professionals, many of whom are Christians, are trying to do the best they can for the population. It is wise for us to respect their expertise, even if we disagree with some of the things they do.
8. This is not an issue to divide over
Christians divide over many things. In the past, divisions have been caused by important doctrines such as the authority of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, or whether we are saved by faith or works.
In general, though, the Bible calls on us as a church community to be united. It says in Ephesians: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Or in Philippians: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:1–2).
Our attitudes to vaccines and whether we choose to receive them or not should not be a point at which we divide the church. We can preserve unity through patience and forbearance, avoiding judgment, being generous in our thinking, and, ultimately, loving each other.
This is not to say we don’t try to speak the truth. We must speak the truth in love, according to Ephesians 4:15. But we also avoid unwholesome talk and instead speak “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).
Decisions around vaccinations are not easy, and I’m sure this is another season of praying for wisdom and learning how to relate to each other. My prayer at this time is that by God’s mercy we would grow together in love for Jesus and each other.
If you would like to think more on this, then I would recommend the following books and articles. They are all helpful, even if they present slightly different opinions.
Dr Lizzie Ling and Vaughan Roberts: Talking Points: Abortion
An interview with John Piper: “Can I take a vaccine made from aborted babies?”
Megan Best: “Does Acceptance of a COVID-19 Vaccine Represent Endorsement of Abortion?