It’s hard to believe we’re starting a New Year and still living with, and writing about, COVID after all this time. And we’re still having endless, no-communication-occurs discussions about whether or not one should take the vaccine. I really hate to see fellow believers at the forefront of this debate, especially when it involves non-vaccinated people putting down their vaccinated brothers and sisters for lack of faith. There’s never a place for that in the Kingdom:

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (Romans 15.1, 2, ESV)

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. (Romans 15.1, MSG)

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. (Romans 14.1, MSG)

As to the question itself, I’ve heard more than once something like, “I prefer the Psalm 91 vaccination plan. God will take care of me.” It occurred to me the other day that there’s an old story about “God will take care of me” that may or may not be relevant to this discussion. I present it here without further comment.

There was a massive flood, and a fellow was perched on his roof to escape the rising floodwaters. A man came by in a rowboat, but the fellow on the roof said, “No thanks. God will take care of me.” A few hours later, with the water even higher, another man came by in a rowboat offering rescue. “No thanks. God will take care of me.” Soon the fellow was at the very top of his roof with water lapping at his feet, and a helicopter flew over, dropping a rope. The man on the roof yelled up, “No thanks. God will take care of me.” A few minutes later he was swept away in the flood and drowned.

In heaven, he confronted God saying, “I placed great faith in you to take care of me. What happened?” God replied, “I sent you two rowboats and a helicopter. What more could I have done?”

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14.12, NKJV)