Theologian and author John Piper released an article Tuesday (Oct. 19) encouraging Christians to get the COVID-19 vaccine, joining voices like Russell Moore, Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, Daniel Darling, Beth Moore, and Max Lucado.
Piper addressed his article to unvaccinated Christians who fear they will be “out of step with people they respect, and in step with people they don’t admire.” Bethlehem Baptist Church’s former pastor of nearly 33 years shared what he called a simple message to those who feel that way. “You are free,” he said.
Piper told those who have checked their conscience, consulted their doctors, and have chosen to remain vaccine-free, to “tearfully and cheerfully” go on their way.
Piper explained that Christians should be tearful because over 4.5 million people have died from COVID-19, over 700,000 of which being Americans. And they should be cheerful “because Christ makes it miraculously possible to love people by being ‘sorrowful yet always rejoicing,’ ” as 2 Corinthians 6:10 says.
Piper Provides Statistics
The Don’t Waste Your Life author cited the Associated Press, Evansville Courier and Press, KRTV—Great Falls, Lexington Herald-Leader, and Fox43 to point out that nearly all COVID-19 related deaths in the United States have occurred among unvaccinated people.
Related article: Franklin Graham Urges Christians to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine Before It’s ‘Too Late’
Piper pointed out that even if one was hesitant to get vaccinated because of governmental pressure, the vaccine is proving its worth regardless of who might be behind it.
Piper said, “The team called ‘vaccination’ just made a first down, even if monkeys are holding the chains. For friends around the world who don’t know American football, that means a win is a win even if all the coaches and referees are incompetent.”
Piper’s Point: Resist Political Peer Pressure
Piper argued that allowing fear to be the driving force in the decision to refuse the vaccine is unbiblical, saying that it is “God alone [who] owns us. And God alone [who] rules us. We are not ruled by any man. We are free from all human ownership and rule.”
Piper explained that Christians should follow God’s leading, not the political left or right.
“We might think that the point of this biblical reality of bold, brokenhearted Christian freedom would be this: You don’t have to be vaccinated when the government tells you to. You are free. Live as people who are free,” Piper wrote. “That’s true, of course. If your Father in heaven makes it clear to you, by His word and wisdom, that His glory and your neighbor’s good will be better served by not being vaccinated, you are free to risk COVID for love’s sake. No Christian is obliged to bow to unwarranted mandates.”
Related article: Russell Moore: Sickness, Death From COVID-19 Likely Reducing Some Vaccine Hesitancy
However, Piper reiterated that Christians should be guided by conviction rather than political alignment. “Don’t be enslaved by fear of man. Don’t be enslaved by the fear of breaking ranks with ideological allies,” Piper said. “The old name for this is peer pressure. You are free.”
Urging Christians not to let the government determine their vaccine decision, Piper said, “Your conscience is increasingly clear. It says, ‘Get vaccinated.’ But there is this niggling fear of looking left wing, or progressive, or Democratic, or compromised, or woke! — So, my message to such folks is this: ‘The children are free!’”
Quoting Proverbs 29:25, Piper said, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe,” explaining that freedom is what allows Christians to make a conscientious decision to get vaccinated.
Related article: Biden Says Vaccine Mandates ‘Not About Freedom’; Draws Sharp Faith Leader Response
Piper wrote that Christians are “free from the fear of man, being labeled, being called a compromiser, and of being doubted as not really part of the courageous resisters,” adding, “especially when you know that thousands of those resisters really are courageous, wise, and thoughtful.”
“Don’t be slaves to a government yoke, an antigovernment yoke, a left-wing yoke, or a right-wing yoke because Christians have been set free in Christ,” Piper said.
Because of that freedom, Piper said, “You are free to say with integrity, ‘My decision to be vaccinated is not a political decision. It is not right wing, or left wing. It is a biblically informed act of love.’ The sons are free. Tearfully, cheerfully free. Therefore, ‘live as people who are free.’”