Let There Be No Division Among You

The world is being divided into two social groups, the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. The rift is growing, with vehemence on both sides. This division is seen in social media where people express their thoughts, friendships are wrecked, families are divided, and society is split. It threatens to leave members of our society marginalised.  

In history, things have divided people with tragic consequences—whether it be race, religion, politics, gender, etc. Now we have a new thing dividing us—whether a person has taken the Covid-19 vaccine or not.

How should the church respond? Do we allow this division to take hold? Or is there a better way?

In the history of the church, many things have divided Christians. In the early church, divisions took hold over whether a new non-Jewish Christian needed to be circumcised and submit to the law of Moses (become a Jew to be a Christian). Christians were divided over the divinity and/or humanity of Christ, and the Trinity. The Orthodox Church split with the formation of the Catholic Church. There was the reformation. Since the reformation, there have been multiple divisions so that now there are many thousands of Christian denominations and independent entities.

We learn from history that sometimes Christians divide. However, they should only ever contemplate this when the essentials of the faith in view. It is tragic when Christians divide over matters that are not essential to the faith. I would argue that being vaccinated or not vaccinated is not an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. While we all have views on the matter, and sometimes these are strong, a person’s salvation is not determined by whether we get a vaccine or not. That is a personal choice. As such, I say that we must not allow a person’s vaccine status to divide us.

The New Testament has a number of passages that help us here. I wrote my earlier blog on Galatians 3:28, arguing that in God’s people, there is neither vaccinated nor unvaccinated, we are one in Christ. I mentioned the great axiom, “God does not show favoritism” and we must not be prejudiced toward others on matters that are not essential to the faith (Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; 1 Tim 5:21; Jas 2:1–9).

2 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14–15 give living examples of how believers with differences of opinion should live according to their consciences, not judge one another, accept one another, and be bound together in love. I encourage all believers at this time to read them carefully and think about them. 

We must remember too that Satan’s modus operandi is to divide people and God’s church. In John 10:10, he is described as a thief who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. In 1 Peter 5:8, the apostle reminds his readers that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” It is critical that believers do not fall prey to this false division by giving space to the devil to rip us apart (Eph 4:27). He seeks to ensnare us and trap us in this false dichotomy (cf. 2 Tim 2:26). We must resist him, and he will flee (Jas 4:7).

His desire is to split the church, to divide and conquer. In that regard, Jesus warned that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matt 12:25).  

As such, I urge us to listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” As 1 Corinthians unfolds, it becomes clear that the unity he has in mind is not based on uniformity of opinion on non-essential matters, but on love (1 Cor 13). Love binds us together. Christian unity is not uniformity, it is seen as Christians with different views on non-essential matters of life and faith come together in love.

One of my favourite sayings sums up our attitude: “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Love (charity).” In that getting a vaccination or not is not an essential of the faith, we must allow each other liberty and show love to one another. Doing this does not solve the dilemma of how we meet together as churches, but it must be the dominant guiding principle as we work out what to do.

Of course, we will all continue to have our views on vaccinations, and we should continue to find constructive ways of discussing these things. Yet, something greater binds us, and that is God’s love. Let us not allow ourselves to be destroyed by a jab.

So, as we all grapple with how “to do church” best, let us work super hard to retain our unity as one people allowing differences of opinion on how to respond to this virus. Let us make our decisions ensuring that our love and unity is not compromised. Let us conduct the conversations with love and mercy toward one another. Amen.