{"id":920975,"date":"2021-10-25T14:59:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T18:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=920975"},"modified":"2021-10-25T14:59:27","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T18:59:27","slug":"neither-vaccinated-nor-unvaccinated-how-churches-imposing-vaccine-mandates-are-dividing-christians-with-a-different-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/neither-vaccinated-nor-unvaccinated-how-churches-imposing-vaccine-mandates-are-dividing-christians-with-a-different-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Neither Vaccinated Nor Unvaccinated: How Churches Imposing Vaccine Mandates Are Dividing Christians With A \u2018Different Gospel\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fneither-vaccinated-nor-unvaccinated-how-churches-imposing-vaccine-mandates-are-dividing-christians-with-a-different-gospel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=920975&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In July, New York City\u2019s Redeemer Presbyterian \u2014 Tim Keller\u2019s theologically conservative church, firmly embedded in the mainstream of American evangelicalism \u2014 quietly posted a<a href=\"https:\/\/eastside.redeemer.com\/inperson\"> statement<\/a> to its web-site regarding service attendance: \u201cIndividuals who are fully vaccinated\u2026are welcome to sit on the main floor of the sanctuary without social distancing and masks will be optional\u2026 Individuals who are not fully vaccinated\u2026are welcome to sit in the balcony \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The language of the announcement was understated but the import was not\u2014Redeemer Presbyterian had effectually segregated its church body based on vaccine status.<\/p>\n<p>Redeemer, at least, is trusting the honor system to enforce its (literally) divisive policy. Anyone over 12 years of age who wants to attend Episcopal worship at St. Peter\u2019s in Rockland, Maine; St. Luke in the Fields in New York; or Grace Cathedral in San Francisco will have to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalnewsservice.org\/2021\/09\/16\/some-episcopal-cathedrals-and-churches-begin-requiring-proof-of-vaccination-to-attend-services\/\">show<\/a> vaccine passports.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Given how often progressive ministers baptize leftist rhetoric with out-of-context Christianese, it would be easy to assume mandates are only cropping up in churches that proudly fly rainbow flags and hang Black Lives Matter banners in their sanctuaries. But that is hardly the case.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So will anyone looking for fellowship at Atlanta\u2019s Piney Grove Baptist. Those not prepared to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox5atlanta.com\/news\/metro-atlanta-church-to-require-vaccination-proof-for-in-person-services\"> provide<\/a> proof of vaccination will be asked to provide a doctor\u2019s note explaining why they can\u2019t get the shot. They\u2019ll also need to reserve a place in the sanctuary online and sign a waiver to enter. Oh, and that bit about \u201csuffer the little children to come unto me\u201d? That\u2019s out too. Because the FDA has yet to approve Covid inoculations for youngsters, anyone 11 and under isn\u2019t allowed in the building.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to reconcile such onerous requirements with a Jesus who loves the little children, ministered to lepers, and tells the world, \u201cMy yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d But such is religious practice in the pandemic era, when the idol of safety far outweighs any command to welcome the stranger, make disciples, or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=James%202&amp;version=NIV\"> avoid partiality<\/a> by seating some visitors in favored places.<\/p>\n<p>Grace Cathedral\u2019s pastor told<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2021\/9\/22\/22680057\/should-americas-churches-enforce-vaccine-mandates-grace-cathedral-episcopal-religious-exemptions\"> Deseret News<\/a> that even though no government regulation compelled his church to require vaccines, he ultimately wanted to emphasize \u201chealth over accepted traditions.\u201d By that he evidently meant traditions like those found in Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.<\/p>\n<p>Given how often progressive ministers baptize leftist rhetoric with out-of-context Christianese, it would be easy to assume mandates are only<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In July, New York City\u2019s Redeemer Presbyterian \u2014 Tim Keller\u2019s theologically conservative church, firmly embedded in the mainstream of American evangelicalism \u2014 quietly posted a statement to its web-site regarding service attendance: \u201cIndividuals who are fully vaccinated\u2026are welcome to sit on the main floor of the sanctuary without social distancing and masks will be optional\u2026 Individuals who are not fully vaccinated\u2026are welcome to sit in the balcony \u2026\u201dThe language of the announcement was understated but the import was not\u2014Redeemer Presbyterian had effectually segregated its church body based on vaccine status.Redeemer, at least, is trusting the honor system to enforce its (literally) divisive policy. Anyone over 12 years of age who wants to attend Episcopal worship at St. Peter\u2019s in Rockland, Maine; St. Luke in the Fields in New York; or Grace Cathedral in San Francisco will have to show vaccine passports.Given how often progressive ministers baptize leftist rhetoric with out-of-context Christianese, it would be easy to assume mandates are only cropping up in churches that proudly fly rainbow flags and hang Black Lives Matter banners in their sanctuaries. But that is hardly the case.So will anyone looking for fellowship at Atlanta\u2019s Piney Grove Baptist. Those not prepared to provide proof of vaccination will be asked to provide a doctor\u2019s note explaining why they can\u2019t get the shot. They\u2019ll also need to reserve a place in the sanctuary online and sign a waiver to enter. Oh, and that bit about \u201csuffer the little children to come unto me\u201d? That\u2019s out too. Because the FDA has yet to approve Covid inoculations for youngsters, anyone 11 and under isn\u2019t allowed in the building.It\u2019s hard to reconcile such onerous requirements with a Jesus who loves the little children, ministered to lepers, and tells the world, \u201cMy yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d But such is religious practice in the pandemic era, when the idol of safety far outweighs any command to welcome the stranger, make disciples, or avoid partiality by seating some visitors in favored places.Grace Cathedral\u2019s pastor told Deseret News that even though no government regulation compelled his church to require vaccines, he ultimately wanted to emphasize \u201chealth over accepted traditions.\u201d By that he evidently meant traditions like those found in Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.Given how often progressive ministers baptize leftist rhetoric with out-of-context Christianese, it would be easy to assume mandates are only cropping up in churches that proudly fly rainbow flags and hang Black Lives Matter banners in their sanctuaries. But that is hardly the case.No one could accuse Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina \u2014 one of the largest non-denominational Evangelical churches in the country \u2014 of leaning left politically or theologically. Yet last month, in a memo shared with The Daily Wire, chief of staff Jordan Shaw announced that for the safety of preschoolers, employees in the Child Development Center would be required to get the vaccine.His announcement minced no words, saying, \u201cFor those who choose not to comply with the vaccine requirement and those who refuse to disclose their decision by October 8, we will consider that you have voluntarily resigned.\u201dDespite the fact that children face extremely minimal risk from Covid exposure, Calvary offered no exceptions for the young, female teachers who made up approximately half the staff, some of whom had objections based on the new vaccine\u2019s still-unknown, long-term impact on fertility and pregnancy.The result of this gauntlet throw? Dozens of families who relied on Calvary for childcare were left in the lurch due to caregivers who quit rather than comply. \u201cIs this a joke,\u201d one mother wondered when told she\u2019d have two weeks to make other arrangements at a time when daycares have miles-long waiting lists. \u201cHow in the world can they treat us like this?\u201dRegardless of one\u2019s feelings on the efficacy and safety of Covid vaccines, Christians must ask whether, in this uniquely unsettled time, where the need for fellowship has arguably never been greater, God would have his shepherds draw this dividing line through his flock.So much for vaccine requirements providing a loving Christian witness to a watching world.While the public has been busy arguing over whether individuals of faith can credibly claim a religious exemption to government or employer vaccine mandates, many churches have moved well past that stage and have already taken on an enforcer role.Regardless of one\u2019s feelings on the efficacy and safety of Covid vaccines, Christians must ask whether, in this uniquely unsettled time, where the need for fellowship has arguably never been greater, God would have his shepherds draw this dividing line through his flock.Love Your Neighbor, Get Vaccinated?Many of the pastors mandating vaccines are doing so based on Mark 12:31: \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201dThey\u2019ve been bolstered in this logic by several influential Christian thinkers, foremost among them Christianity Today editor (and former Ethics and Religious Liberty Center president) Russell Moore and political pundit David French.\u00a0Both, in their constant insistence through multiple articles, podcast interviews, and social media posts that neighbor-love equals Covid inoculation, have reinforced the sort of spiritual social credit system some churches are adopting by separating vaccinated Christians from unvaccinated.In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Moore equated believers who get the shot with the friends of the paralyzed man in the Gospel of Luke, who dropped his bed through the ceiling by ropes. \u201cSimilarly,\u201d he argued, \u201cevangelical Christians should join with other Americans in holding the ropes for those who are in danger of serious illness or death.\u201dWhat Moore\u2019s metaphor didn\u2019t grapple with is the fact that if ropes (vaccines) are effective, the rope-holders (vaccinated) should face no additional danger from the rope-less (unvaccinated). Nor did it address the fact that, like breakthrough infections, having a rope in your hand won\u2019t necessarily prevent you from falling through the roof onto someone else\u2019s head (i.e.., spread the virus). It just means you likely won\u2019t hit the ground as hard.But if Moore went for a rather tortured analogy, at least it was a positive one. French, for his part, has gone to extreme negatives, lumping Christians who choose not to get the vaccine in with corrupt leaders and gross sexual abusers and accusing them of not knowing their Bibles.In a reference to the scandal-ridden former head of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr. and the late evangelist Ravi Zacharias, who has been credibly accused of rape, French wrote in The Dispatch: \u201c[If] I\u2019m concerned for the health of the church, then corruption at the highest levels of the world\u2019s largest Christian university, sexual predation by arguably Christianity\u2019s most influential apologist \u2026 and disproportionate disregard for the health and well-being of neighbors do more harm than the worst of Joe Biden\u2019s culture war regulations \u2026\u201dIs this how one Christian shows love to others who have a different point of view on a medical issue \u2014 comparing them to depraved and abusive hypocrites?\u00a0 French has given believers who want to violate Romans 14 and despise their brothers and sisters over disputable matters no shortage of ammunition.In a separate essay in September, he wrote that the only reason \u201cwhite evangelicals\u201d have been resistant to getting the vaccine is because of \u201cpartisan politics\u201d and because they \u201cdon\u2019t have much clue about any of the teachings of the church.\u201d\u00a0French makes no distinction between skepticism over vaccines in general and the new Covid vaccine, and he offers no evidence that hesitant Christians are guilty of scriptural ignorance. Is it any wonder, given French\u2019s outsized influence over high-profile pastors and Christian leaders (as evidenced by the many op-eds, interviews Christian media affords him) that so many churches feel justified in separating these \u201clesser believers\u201d from others?In yet a third essay in August, French asked rhetorically, \u201cWhat does the anti-vax Christian seek? The liberty to risk both the lives of others (through the physical danger of COVID and\/or the danger of swamped medical facilities) and their pursuit of happiness \u2026\u201dHis concluding argument was repeated ad nauseum on Twitter as a defense for mandates: \u201cSuch an extreme and dangerous assertion of individual autonomy at the expense of colleagues and neighbors is not a legitimate exercise of religious liberty.\u201dIn making such arguments, French, Moore, and their acolytes have created a false moral caste system that puts one group in the loving and selfless category and the other in the unloving and selfish. At no point in their writing on the subject have they seriously considered whether those who choose not to get the vaccine can do so unto the Lord, convinced in their own minds of the rightness of their decision and at peace with their own consciences.Yet the possible, rational arguments for delaying or refusing the vaccine are numerous.Some young women might naturally worry about the adverse effects this new treatment could have on a future or current pregnancy. Parents of teen boys may look at the latest studies showing higher rates of myocarditis in that group compared with the likelihood of their son contracting a life-threatening case of Covid and decide the vaccine isn\u2019t worth the risk. Adults with known heart issues might also fear the side effect of heart inflammation. Some pro-lifers may object to the fact that it was developed from fetal cell lines initially obtained from an abortion. And, of course, many may have weathered a bout of coronavirus and concluded, based on sound scientific evidence, that they already possess all the protection the vaccine might convey (if not more) thanks to natural immunity.All of these reasons, too, can be motivated by love: love for an unborn child or hoped-for child, love for a young man, love for the family that needs you, love for the cause of life, and, yes, love for the liberty of the country you call home.Worldly WisdomFew pastors bring as much depth of understanding to the vaccine mandate issue as Kirk Milhoan, who, along with shepherding a church in Maui, also happens to be a pediatric cardiologist and was a medical missionary to Liberia during the most widespread Ebola outbreak in history.He tells me that given that the vaxed are nearly as infectious as the unvaxed once they contract Covid, it\u2019s nonsensical to claim the first group is putting the second at risk. The only people who are really safe to be around, he says, are those who have recovered from Covid.\u201cI\u2019m afraid the church is just mirroring our society right now as opposed to being led by Jesus Christ. We\u2019re afraid of Facebook posts. We have become pleasers of the world, as opposed to pleasers of God\u201d\u201cThey\u2019re the only ones who have very good, very durable immunity,\u201d he explains, \u201cAnd that has been shown over in 84 studies.\u201dBased on this, Milhoan believes this \u201clove your neighbor\u201d messaging to push mandates stems not from a theological or scientific rationale but a social one. \u201cI\u2019m afraid the church is just mirroring our society right now as opposed to being led by Jesus Christ. We\u2019re afraid of Facebook posts. We have become pleasers of the world, as opposed to pleasers of God,\u201d he says.The driving force of this failure? Shame.\u201cNo disease, not even HIV, has been attached to this much shame,\u201d says Milhoan. \u201cIf you get Covid, people will say things like, \u2018How did you get it? Were you having fun? Did you go to a party, go to church, what did you do? What spreading event did you go to?\u2019 There\u2019s so much shame associated with it.\u201dThe fear that has driven ministries to look for ways to baptize mandates with religious language comes in part, he believes, from government pressure. And he\u2019s witnessed firsthand health departments inexplicably zeroing in on churches as risk spreaders.One nurse in his congregation, for example, became infected while working on the Covid floor, yet health department officials insisted the man must have contracted the virus at church. \u201c\u2018They said [to the nurse], \u2018Do you go to church?\u2019\u201d Milhoan recalls. \u201cHe goes, \u2018I was working on the Covid floor.\u2019 The health department still responded, \u2018Well, we think you got it from the church.\u2019\u201dMilhoan believes government officials have focused on observant Christians out of a desire for control. \u201cThey wanted everybody to isolate. The churches didn\u2019t want to isolate. So public health came up against the churches and vilified them.\u201dNow, the desire to prove such vilification wrong may, ironically, be leading ministries to fail to love their brothers and sisters in the faith.In a move even their more liberal counterparts in the United Methodist Church have so far resisted, the International Missions Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention recently announced that any missionary or member of a missionary family over the age of 16 must be vaccinated against Covid. (Originally it was 12 until outcry prompted IMB leadership to raise the threshold).\u00a0\u201cAnd when those people come to the church doors in search of balm for their bruised and battered souls, should the pastor\u2019s response to them be, \u2018Show me your papers?&#8217;\u201dYet there is emerging evidence that for younger males, the risk of heart inflammation from the vaccine is higher than the risk of Covid hospitalization. Due to research like this, four Scandinavian countries have stopped administering some Covid vaccines to younger demographics.Despite new studies like this, the IMB has offered no exception for teen boys or young adult men to its vaccine mandate.A Witness to the WorldAccording to the CDC\u2019s latest data, only 57 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. Meaning 43 percent, nearly 100 million people aren\u2019t. After two years that have witnessed massive social upheaval, unprecedented isolation, and increasing economic uncertainty, how many of those 43 percent may be suddenly hearing a still, small voice in the back of their minds reminding them of a long-forgotten Sunday School lesson? Perhaps a lesson about the one who offers a peace that passes understanding.And when those people come to the church doors in search of balm for their bruised and battered souls, should the pastor\u2019s response to them be, Show me your papers?What of brothers and sisters who have long gathered together as one, unified body in Christ. Should these temporal, disputable matters separate them, creating a caste system in God\u2019s house between clean and unclean?Romans 16:17 has a warning about such behavior: Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.As Phil Johnson, Pastor Executive Director of Grace to You, one of the most popular sermon broadcast ministries in the world, told me when I asked him about church vaccine mandates:When a congregation gathers to offer their collective praise, \u201cthere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus\u201d (Galatians 3:28). Any policy that creates a class of untouchables and imposes physical segregation has deliberately erected a middle wall of separation in the church. It\u2019s hard to imagine anything more inappropriate\u2014or more at odds with the biblical principles of church unity and fellowship.In a later email, he added:\u201cAll of these rules have one thing in common: they erect barriers that hinder authentic displays of biblical-style love and Christian fellowship. That same aberrant notion of \u201clove\u201d has consigned countless elderly people to virtual seclusion, and it has left multiple thousands of terminally ill people to die in isolation, cut off from loved ones. That is not at all how Scripture says authentic love works.The New Testament book of James says, \u201cReligion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction\u201d\u2014not to find as many ways as possible to obstruct Christian fellowship and service to one\u2019s neighbors.Precluding Christian Liberty, Binding ConsciencesIn an article for Public Discourse, three prominent evangelical ethicists followed the argument of loving your neighbor to make an argument for Christians getting vaccinated. Yet unlike French and Moore, Andrew Walker, Matthew Arbo, and C. Ben Mitchell allowed for freedom of conscience.\u00a0\u201cDespite our own convictions about the rigorous protocols to ensure safety and efficacy,\u201d they wrote, \u201cwe believe that Christian liberty requires that each person be free to choose whether or not to receive these new vaccines.\u201dAnd that should ultimately be the crux of the matter.That ubiquitous word \u201cscience\u201d itself shows this isn\u2019t about safety so much as it\u2019s about Christians deeply embedded in the higher ranks of secular culture burdening their fellow believers with man-made standards for Christian fellowship. It\u2019s about heaping Pharisaical judgment on the Body of Christ.Back to Romans 14, it contains a message that seems as applicable to Covid vaccines as it is holy days and dietary restrictions:The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt for 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\u2019s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall\u2026\u00a0One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind \u2026You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God\u2019s judgment seat.Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister\u2026 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.Milhoan tells me that as a pastor and a Christian doctor, he is far more afraid of the forces trying to separate the church than he is of Covid or the unvaccinated.\u00a0\u201cYou know,\u201d he says, \u201cthe one who goes about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour always wants to separate us\u00a0 from the herd. We\u2019re much more vulnerable that way. God has called us to minister to others and meet together. He never called us to a risk-free fate.\u201dThe views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-920975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}