Should Christians Take the Covid Vaccine?

 The Answer is Not Really the

 Biggest Problem

It is a tragedy that some Christians - gratefully not many - are failing to take heed of two elementary aspects of Christian behaviour when it comes to the question of whether to vaccinate or not.

Perhaps they were never discipled properly when converted to Christ or perhaps they have forgotten the rules of love which should shape all Christian relationships.

So we end up with foolish arguments that are unecessary and fruitless.

Let's run through the two principles.

PRINCIPLE 1:

 Primary and Secondary Truth

There are two categories of Christian truth: Primary - can't fudge here. And Secondary - room and scope for many differences. Some believers who have never understood this, turn every truth into a primary truth, and so, like a dog with a bone, argue their particular view to the death. But there are Primary Truths - over which there can be no dispute (the divinity of Jesus Christ, for example), and Secondary Truths over which Christians are entitled to disagree and yet remain in loving fellowship over. 

Some Christians, for example, believe that Jesus will return after a 1000 year millenium ('post-millenialists'), some believe he will return before that millenium (pre-millenialists) while others still don't believe in a literal millenium at all (a-millenialists)! And guess what, great, godly and good Christian men and women belong in all three camps. Because while all Christians believe that the Lord Jesus is returning in power and glory, they differ on the exact how or when. That's OK. It really is!

(I've explored Primary and Secondary Truth in more detail HERE.)

Some Christians unaware that such a principle exists - and this really is a tragedy - go from church to church on an endless search for a church that believes exactly what they believe about everything. Of course no such church exists (and 'cult' might be a better description of such a gathering than 'church' should they find one, for cults are known for everyone believing exactly the same thing about everything). Sadly these believers leave a trail of disaster wherever they go -  broken friendships and stumbled young believers - often ending up in a church made up of just one person. Themselves. A lonely place, to be sure, but at least everyone in the church agrees with everyone else.

Whether you get vaccinated or not is a secondary truth, not a primary one. 

So secondary that I have delayed commenting on it for many months, and after this blog I will not comment on it again.  And the only reason I have written is because folk in my church have asked my opinion. 

Vaccine yes or vaccine no will not affect your salvation. 

Don't let anyone raise vaccination to primary truth status. 

And let no-one judge you for whatever stance you decide to take.

Principle 2

The Weaker Brother

The other principle is laid out in Romans 14 and 15 and 1 Corinthians 8, and it is often offensive to the scrupulous types, for Paul calls those with all the "I can't do thises" and "I can't do thatses" the weak brothers - just the opposite of what they so often think they are.

And he calls those who have no such scruples, the strong brothers and sisters, and urges them not to trouble the weaker ones.

Imagine this first century church scene. Two Christians are chatting one day after morning worship (if only!). One has come from a pagan background. He used to offer food to idols in his days of darkness. The prospect of eating such meat now that he has come into the light is unthinkable! 

However, the chappy he is talking to after morning worship (if only!) has absolutely no qualms about eating such meat. In fact just yesterday he was in the local market and headed straight for Temple Stall where all the meat from the temple was sold (because of course the dumb idols didn't eat it, because, hmmm, they can't, them is dead). Because the meat was good and cheaper at Temple Stall than elsewhere he bought it and that's what he was going to have for Sunday roast today!  

As I say they're having a chat after Sunday worship one day (if only!). The man who came from a pagan background discovers his brother eats meat offered to idols. He is truly horrified and begins to judge him "How can you be a proper Christian if you eat meat that has been offered to idols?! You're a compromiser!" He may even use other (Greek) words that I shan't print here. Tut tut.

Mr Can-eat-it-all, answers back, "You're the foolish Christian! Don't you know that idols are nothing at all and there is one God in heaven? God made the meat and it's good stuff and besides the money I saved I can give to the poor!" 

In walks Paul to this discussion. 

And guess whose "side" he takes? 

Paul takes the side of the Christian who has no scruples and can just eat the meat offered to idols! That Christian he calls the "strong brother." The guy with all the hang ups, he calls the "weaker brother."

(BTW: I have never met a "weaker brother" who did not think of himself as the "stronger brother" but "weaker brother" is what they actually are, divine revelation teaches).

Paul's advice to the one without any scruples is not to use his freedom to upset his weaker brother. "Don't talk to anyone about where you bought your meat. If the conversation comes up, just talk weather, pudding, fishing, weather, or whatever. You have the knowledge, you have the truth, you have the freedom, but don't flaunt your freedom and upset your weaker brother, whose mind is filled with scruples."

Applying these Principles to the Vaccine

So how shall we decide what to do? Shall we be vacinated or not? I suggest we each take these three steps.

Read up on it for yourself

But be  careful of the numerous false claims made by conspiracy theorists. There is no chip in any vaccine. The vaccine is not a plot by some secret world-government to control the world. (See this BLOG for how conspiracy theories work).

Make up your mind

Then make up your own mind and act. But be certain that whichever way you go, vaccine or no vaccine, another Christian will go exactly the other way. No doubt about it, because it is a secondary matter and a matter of Christian conscience.

Behave properly towards those who disagree

Once you have made up your mind and done (or not done) the deed, then seek to behave properly towards those who differ. If you are a strong Christian, don't despise the guy with all the hang-ups. But don't let him accuse you of doing wrong.

And if you are a weak Christian, don't judge your strong brother.

What will I personally do?

Having been through these three steps there is no question in my mind that when I am called up I will take the vaccination. Not only for my safety but for the safety of everyone around me.

And what is more, I would encourage all Christians to do the same.  Christian leaders should take a view and it is right for them to let their view be known.

At the same time I will respect and accept any believer who doesn't take the vaccine.

We should not argue with anyone who disagrees. 

We should not allow accusations of "compromise" to get under our skin. 

God, and God alone is our Judge.

"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to the God. Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another..." 

(Romans 14:13)

Why Christians Must Meet in Person

 

The Way God has Wired All Social Communities

No matter what group of people we consider, whether a small unit such as a married couple, a few friends, a family, or a larger unit such as a local neighbourhood, a local scout group, a school class - or a church, ties of community and mutual accountability are automatically fashioned every time we see one another in person.

These bonds are not necessarily created through electronic connections such as Zoom, Skype, email or phone, as good and necessary as those are in these days. They are mostly and most strongly created through the visceral flesh-to-flesh presence of people in the same room.

Call it mystical if you like, but if by mystical you mean beyond the ability of the mind to comprehend or science to understand, that's OK with me. 

When people meet in person regularly invisible bonds are formed.

Examples?

There are many examples of this.

We may, for example, possess the biological bonds of family with a brother/mother/sister/father and yet easily drift away from them in mind and even heart if we never meet up in person. 

'Out of sight out of mind' is more than a coloquial saying.

Boyfriend and girlfriend easily drift apart when they are separated by miles. 

School headmasters are worried today that many children are not joining online classes because there is far less social pressure to do so without the physical presence of school friends, class environment or teachers.

Church leaders are discovering that Christians can easily back out of meeting together on Sundays because online there is no social or pastoral pressure upon them. 

We drift apart when we do not meet one another in person - even if that 'meeting' is obscured by wretched masks, social distancing and minimal speaking.

And our mutual accountability to one another also diminishes with reduced physical presence. It is easier to "do what we want" when no-one is around.

And the ties that connect pastors to their flock can also be weakened and it becomes harder to admonish someone whom you have lost physical contact with. (It's always easy to encourage, but it's harder to lovingly admonish).

Every time we meet in person, rich and mystical ties are reinforced or formed. 

The Reasons

Why then are invisible bonds created each time we meet? And why do they dissolve when we cease from meeting?

First, because we are made in the image of a social God. We need one another's fellowship, because we are made like God, who is Three Glorious Persons in eternal and continually perpetual love and communion with One Another. How do we know that? Because the fourth Gospel reveals God the Son in constant communication with God the Father. 

So-called 'holy men' - hermits who live completely on their own - are an idea and category of existence completely unknown by Scripture. (In my limited experience, these tragic creatures are anything but holy and everything wierd - Google Simeon Stylites).

Second, love, the greatest command, requires, as part of its remit physical contact - which can't be done online. Five times in the New Testament - no less - we are exhorted to greet one another with a holy kiss. Whatever watered-down spins we may put on that command, a 'holy kiss'  requires being in the physical presence of the other.

Third, the Perfect Man needed the company of others. Jesus was no one-man band intinerrant preacher but was attended by followers whom he called friends.  Not only during the whole of his ministry, but especially in his darkest hour. The Twelve may have failed with sleepiness, but the case stands: Jesus needed others. And if he did, so do we.

Fourth, Paul's letters reveal the depth of longing-to-see-you-in-person love that beats in the heart of every Spirit-born saint. "But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you." (1 Thessalonians 2:17). If you or I were ever to rise anywhere near the standard of the apostle Paul's love, we would be desperate to be in one another's presence. As desperate, to use Paul's words, as a child separated from its parent.

Fifth, God does not overule, in the church, the natural social bonding mechanisms he has created. Christians should not think that the wonderful social wiring God has created for all mankind is somehow suspended in the church. In fact these 'natural bonds are reinforced in a Christian community, for where just a few gather togther, Jesus Christ, by his Holy Spirit is present, strengthening the bonds of love and peace. One reason we meet is to know in some fuller sense the presence of Jesus.

Conclusion

Every week that passes when we do not meet up in person is a week when the God-designed bonds of love and community and mutual acocuntability are weakened. 

Leonhard Schiemer, a 1500s Anabaptist leader, wrote to a little church in the Austrian city of Rattenberg these words: "Come together often. If you cannot all meet at once, let half come, or even a quarter."

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing" (Hebrews 10:25) 

Every church must take this truth to heart. If they want their community to survive lockdown, online and Zoom will never suffice. 

Believers must meet up in person, somehow, some way. 

They must encourage and engage in one-to-one fellowship, where allowed by the law. 

They must persevere with Sunday gatherings when they can. 

Pastors must visit on the doorstep where they can.

Let us all do what we can to keep the bonds of fellowship strong.

A Pound of Faith? Why God tests all true Faith

 Impurities

As little as we may like to admit it, all true faith is mixed with impurities of various kinds. Our trust in God is mixed with trust in idols.

Our so-called pound of faith is alloyed with an ounce of trust in our own righteousness, a few ounces of trust in our families, an ounce of trust in our abilities and a few more ounces of trust in our wealth.

Our "pound of faith", it turns out, is more like a few ounces of genuine faith in God alone, and a whole lot of faith in other idols.

Idols can be good gifts of God, but created gifts never designed to bear the weight of divinity or to satisfy the infinite longings of our souls.

The Tests of God

And so God allows our faith to be tested in the crucible of affliction. And little by little he exposes our idols and urges us to repent of them.

He allows our health to be tested, so to remove our trust in personal strength. He takes away some of our wealth, so to expose and diminish our trust in money. He allows us to pass through severe satanic afflictions to teach us not to trust in any of our own righteounsess. He allows strains in family relationships to expose our trust in family members. And ouch, he allows our reputation to be shredded in the mill of satanic opposition to show us how reliant we have been on what others think about us! 

And in pandemic era, our trust in Christians friends is being tested. Can the Lord alone meet all our needs - or not?

In the analogy of the apostle Peter, all the various trials we face, are like a fire that purifies the gold of our faith. 

Impurities remain locked solid in gold until the block is melted in flames of heat. We do not even know the impurities are there! It is only in the fire that they rise to the surface where they can be recognised and then skimmed away.

Idols are revealed in trials. The things that cause us the most pain, are likely to be the things we hold too dearly to and rely too much upon. So pain is a good barometer of idolatry.

But why do we need purer faith?

But, asks someone, why do I need purer faith? There are two reasons. 

For our good. The pslamist says this "My soul finds rest in God alone." (Psalm 62:1). God has made us so that we find our greatest joy when we trust in God alone. While our soul trusts in money, reputation, family, wealth or gifts, it will always feel uneasy and be fragile. Of course, for those things may fail at any moment. 

Take the idol of self-righteousness. If we secretly think God is pleased with us most when we are being 'good' (and there resides a bit of the Pharisee in every  redeemed saint), we shall sink to the depths when we fall. That drowning may include true sorrow and repentance, but it could also be sorrow for the damage to an idol - our supposed goodness. God may allow us to be tempted - and dare I say it, permit us to fall - to show us that "no good things dwells in me" (Romans 7:18) and to turn us back to Christ our only righteousness.

The Lord wants to wean us from all human idols, because only then can our souls truly rest, when they rest in God alone.

For the glory of God. More importantly, God purifies our faith to bring glory to himself when Jesus Christ returns. True faith emerging from the fires of affliction will "result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7).

Thank the Lord for Trials

And so, and so, and so, we ought to thank the Lord for all the trials he allows our way, because they will result in greater soul-rest and greater glory to God. 

The faith that emerges at the other end of a dark tunnel may seem smaller and even weaker, but it will, for sure, be purer.

Fear him, ye saints, and you will then
have nothing else to fear;
make you his service your delight,
your wants shall be his care.

Returning to Corporate Worship - my first attendance for 8 months!

 What a Weird Year!

I almost said it, "last Sunday I went back to church after 8 months." I am glad I stopped myself because I would have made the age-old mistake of confusing a building with church. I've been in fellowship over the last 8 months, but not in a larger group.

It was back in March of this year that I last worshipped with a large group of God's people at the school hall where Manor Park Church meets. 

Our church has opened up for smaller meetings since Government restictions have eased, and last Sunday evening was my first Sunday back....

 I was nervous!

Strange to say, but I was nervous about going to corporate worship! I have no idea why. It was not a fear of meeting people or a fear of the virus, but it reminded me how brave you have to be to come to a church gathering for the first time.

Part of the nervousness was mild confusion over what category of event I was going to. I have not been to any large gathering for 8 months so - don't laugh - I automatically put on my favourite aftershave (Aramis)!

Normally Aramis is reserved for dates with my wife, so that shows how confused I was about what I was going to!

I was met by masked friends

As I came into the building I was welcomed by masked friends - again this was so strange. I know eyes can smile but masks can't so we make up for smiles with welcoming words.

Old Expectations but new Rules

As soon as I came into the hall I wanted to say hello to everyone, so I wandered around the room and said my greetings - but then I realised that was a no-no, so I am having to learn new patterns of behaviour. I shan't next time.

One of our elders and our assistant pastor led the service. It was more laid back and shorter - just what we need when we are wearing those wretched masks. I will never get used to them, not least because as a wearer of glasses they steam me up all the time.

The other new rule was the need to sit in my own bubble - Yvonne and two sons, and for every bubble to be separated by a couple of metres.

 

Was it worth it?

After the short time of listening to songs and the Word it was outside where we were allowed to talk. Some folk will ask, was it worth while?

Yes it was. Getting to see our brothers and sisters is one step up from seeing them on zoom or hearing them on the phone. There is something about corporate worship that cannot be replicated in the comfort of your home. For the Lord Jesus has promised to be among his people, whether few or many are gathered in his name.

So if you haven't signed up, I'd encourage you to do so.

 

Why do we need a new Christian Publisher? Four reasons for starting Fisherman's Press

 

Many Good Publishers

There are, no doubt, many good Christian Publishing companies in the world, so why start a new one? Well, for many years now, I have had a growing burden for books and materials that fit the following four descriptions:

ONE - Accessible

According to the New Testament, the church is taken, says the apostle Paul, from the ranks of the "not many... wise by human standards; not many... influential; not many... of noble birth." (1 Corinthians 1:26) Therefore, the majority of Christians in the world, both now and those who have yet been called, come from the ranks of the ordinary.

But turn to the back of almost any Christian book and you will find this: The author defines himself or herself by their non-ordinary secular qualifications/ achievements/ positions/ etc. And then when you read the commendations you get exactly the same thing. 

Ordinary readers feel either intimidated or alienated or both.

I have never yet seen a contemporary Christian book which says something like this, "Written by John Owen, a pastor from South London" or from the person commending the book, "Read this exciting book.... Clara Simmonds, bank clerk, Lloyds.

We need a publisher whose material will be accessible to the majority of the church and so written by and commended by ordinary Christians for ordinary Christians. 

TWO - Affordable

In the age of digital printing, you would be amazed at how cheap it is to produce books. But that price is rarely reflected in what most Christians publishers charge. There is a place for a Christian press which can produce affordable materials for churches which are not middle class and wealthy.

THREE - Practical

One of the greatest needs of our age is to train the next generation of deacons and elders with materials that have been practically road-tested in church life. This is a real lack in the Christian Publishing world, as far as I can see. 

FOUR - Translatable

Finally, since most of the world is non-western, and since the non-western part of the world is where the Gospel is most flourishing, we need materials which can be translated without a long tangle and trial of legal mumbo-jumbo to impede the progress and triple the price. All the material we produce will be easily translatable into any language, without any fees or red tape.

We pray that the Lord would use these humble efforts for his glorious Kingdom in the years to come.

Fisherman's Press

 

Lives Less Ordinary - Extract 1

Sabbatical Joys

One of my tasks during sabbatical - a joyful one -  is to publish the biography of my parents, a fifteen year labour of love!

 

Marlin and Barbara Summers spent 8 years in India followed by 12 years in Pakistan as missionaries. Then they came to Wolverhampton in 1973 and by God's grace founded the Asian Christian Fellowship there (follow this link: ACF.)

Every week on FaceBook I plan to write an extract from the book...

Marlin and Barbara Summers were very ordinary people. They were not well educated, were not wealthy, were not from posh backgrounds, and yet the Lord was pleased to use them for his glory in a remarkable way.

EXTRACT 1

 Chapter 1

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

War, Depression and Turmoil

When Yip Harburg penned his lament, Brother Can you Spare a Dime? it struck a chord with millions of Americans caught up in a deep economic depression. His generation had worked long hours in the opening decades of the twentieth century to build their country into a mighty industrial giant. They had offered up sons to war. But now in 1932, caught in the grip of the Great Depression, it seemed as though their sacrifices counted for nothing, and their dreams lay shattered in the dust:

 

They used to tell me I was building a dream...

Once I built a railroad, I made it run...

Once in Khaki suits, gee, we looked swell...

Say, don’t you remember? They called me ‘Al’

Why don’t you remember? I’m your pal?

Say brother, can you spare a dime?

 

Marlin Summers was shaped by the hardships and turmoil of the Great Depression and the two World Wars sandwiched either side of it. He was born to Charles and Mary Summers on the 6^th of August 1912 in the small town of Carrington, North Dakota. Younger brother Laurel and older sister Mildred completed the family of five....

The Lives of Bees - Book Review

 

Reading for Pleasure

 "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." Judges 14:14

On holiday this year I read a most fascinating book, "The Lives of Bees" by American bee expert - and world authority - Thomas Seeley. 

Pastors read books for pleasure - always with the squirreling hope of finding a sermon illustration somewhere.

Seeley takes us on a journey - his journey - of bee hunting and bee watching over his whole lifetime. Guess when his interest in bees began? When he was a boy. There's a sermon illustration right there - what we introduce our kids to when they are young has a deep influence on them for the rest of their lives (for weal or woe).

His main purpose in writing is to show how bees live in the wild compared to how we have "tamed" them to live in man-made beehives. Here's the famous Langstroth bee-hive which we've all seen:

And here is a natural beehive, normally up high inside a tree trunk:

Thomas Seeley's book is how the bees behave - naturally  -  in the wild.

Things I learnt about Bees!

Here's what I learnt about bees.

How new hives are formed

Just before new queen bees hatch, the existing queen bee is unsettled by the other bees to encourage her to take off and form a new hive. They feed her less and also encourage her to buzz around the hive more - she gets weaker. Taking the hint, she takes off with 10-20 thousand fellow bees - all her own offsrping - and creates a new hive somewhere else. 

Good job she leaves, because as soon as a new queen bee hatches, she kills the existing queen bee and seeks out all the other queen bee larvae and knocks them off too!

The reasons we can domesticate bees

Bees, as we know can be really dangerous, so how come we can encourage them to serve us in making honey and beeswax? Well, first of all, the size of the nest cavity they enjoy is 20-40 litres - which is a size of many things around human beings, such as large pots. So we could say that bees have domesticated humans, rather than the other way round, finding places near us just right to set up shop. Secondly, bees are not aggressive under two cirucumstances, which we've exploited. They're not aggressive when they are filled with honey or when they smell smoke. The smell of smoke is not a signal to escape the hive but a signal to hunker down and save the rest of the nest. So we can use puffs of smoke to make the bees calm down.

The difference between natural and man-made bee hives?

Natural bee hives are spread out from one another by about a kilometer. We put hives next to one another! That is silly, because some bees mistake one hive for another, and placing them all together allows a dangerous mite to spread harming the health of all the hives.

Beehive keepers should separate their hives from one another.

Bees eat pollen and honey

This was new to me. Bees collect three natural products: nectar, pollen and tree sap (and water). They use the sap to waterproof the chamber, they use the pollen and honey as food. Why so much honey? Well, bees are rare - they live throughout the winter and they use the honey to live on during the winter months (and rainy season too - no foraging possible when the rain is tipping it down).

Bumblebees by contrast, do not survive as a hive over the winter. Their hives are much smaller (around 300 bees) and only the queen bee lives over the winter. Just before winter she adds antifreeze to her blood and hibernates! But honey bees live all year round thanks to that delicious stuff called honey! (A hive needs around 20kgs to survive the winter).

Hive organization

A few little points here. When the bees return from collecting pollen or nectar they are met by other bees who take it from them and store it. In the case of the nectar, the collector bees add compounds to it which thicken it up from watery nectar to sticky syrup.

Hard working Bees

On average during one summer the bees of a hive, all together:

• make 4 million foraging trips 
• travel 12 million miles 
• cover an area of 40 square miles
• each trip is the equivalent of a human 360 mile trip! (since they fly at about 18mph and each trip takes on average 12 minutes, each trip is about 40,000 body lengths)

During the winter to increase the temperature of the hive, the bees exercise wing muscles - without moving their wings - and this generates lots of heat. An olympic athlete generates around 20 watts of power for every kg of weight. But a bee can generate 500 watts of heat for every kg! (No wonder they need all that honey!)

Bees use hexagonal cells rather than circular ones because by doing so they save around 50% building material (beeswax). 

They prepare a brood in the winter so they will have plenty of workers for the winter. 

What amazing creatures!

How much is there left to know about bees?

Seeley is an unsual scientist! Most scientists tell you they know everything, but on page 290 Seeley lists all the things we do not know. There are lots of mysteries about bees left to be discovered. 

A human being can spend all his or her life learning about one of God's creatures and still never get to the end of the knowledge. 

So there is lots to do in heaven.

The difference between Seeley (and Attenborough) and Christian

The problem with all unbelieving commentators on nature such as Seeley  - and Attenborough - is that they fail to glorify God, the Creator. I know to criticise David Attenborough is to touch a modern saint, but whenever I have watched one of his wonderful programmes, I have always been left profoundly empty. 

Why? Because Attenborough does not go far enough. He stops at the creature, rather then ending with the Creator. 

None of "nature's" wonders, including the humble honey bee, came about by themselves.  All of them are the handiwork of God.

Every time we observe a wonder of creation we should end by saying - or singing - what an amazing God made all of this. 

How great Thou art!