The Gospel of the Vaccine

It all seems eerily familiar: 

1. the application of guilt
2. the laying out of the predicament and consequences of your guilt
3. the good news of a price paid for you
4. the promise of redemption through faith in the one who paid the price
5. and the plea to believe and trust so that you can be restored into a relationship and receive all the benefits of the redeemed.

It’s a presentation of a gospel, but not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Savior and Redeemer of the world. It’s the Gospel of the Vaccine, protector and restorer of some semblance of normal life, being proclaimed and propagated by true believers who want everyone to be jabbed. They are proselytizing and evangelizing, and the more I think about it the more they appear like Christians who want everyone to be saved.

Consider the similarities:

1. The first step in sharing the Christian gospel is to expose the sin and guilt of the unsaved. Likewise, the follower of the Vaccine seeks to establish the guilt of the unvaxxed. They are guilty of the sin of endangering the lives of others.
2. The consequences of sin is death, according to the Bible….physical death and the spiritual death of eternal separation from God. The consequences of refusing the Vaccine, according to these believers, is also, possibly, death – your death and/or the death of those you may infect.
3. The good news in the Christian story is that Jesus Christ paid the price for our salvation, that in his death and resurrection our sins were exchanged for his righteousness. In the Vaccine story, the good news is that the government has paid for the vaccine and in doing so has freely given what will save us.
4. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are saved from eternal death through faith in him. In the gospel of the Vaccine we are protected and protect others against death from COVID through faith in the government and federal health agencies by getting the vaccine.
5. Finally, we are implored to believe and trust in Jesus….to receive him….so that we can be restored into a right relationship with God and enjoy all the benefits that brings. Similarly, in the Gospel according to Dr. Fauci, we are implored to believe and trust in the federal government and its appointed experts and receive the vaccine so that we can work, travel, congregate, and enjoy all the benefits society bestows on those who comply.

So these vaccine fundamentalists who would rightly object to attempts to coerce or force them to believe in Jesus are attempting to force their faith in the vaccine on all who are resisting. They vehemently protest against Christians with “Don’t force your beliefs on us” in regard to abortion, homosexuality, marriage, etc. But there they are mandating faith in the Vaccine.

And it is a matter of faith. I’ve been vaccinated but I am standing up for the rights of those who choose not to believe. If we still have religious freedom in this country, we should be free to resist coercion from the Church of the Vaccine.