Pastor, if you’ve not given much thought to how you will respond to a request for religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine, let this be your encouragement to do so. Here is a helpful article to aid your thinking and here’s why you should read it:

It’s thoughtful

As Christians, we can nuance problems and issues to arrive at a better conclusion because God’s Word and His Spirit guide us. Everything is not as black and white as you would like it to be. Wisdom does not work that way. Just take a look at Proverbs. In one moment, riches are evil, and in another, it’s a sign of unrighteousness. It’s not black and white; one must have the fortitude to consider deeper things when making ethical decisions. We know the truth and then apply that truth to our situation.

If an MLB player thinks he is only getting fastballs, he will fail miserably when the curveball comes his way. No, he must apply what he knows about hitting and adjust. If you, Pastor, think you will only get theological fastballs that can be hit easily, well, when the ethical curveball comes your way, you might strike out.

It defines what constitutes religious exemption well

Defining terms and issues clearly are of utmost importance. We cannot arrive at a healthy decision if we don’t know what makes something right or wrong. It might be possible that one is claiming religious exemption when they are actually misguided and working from preference, philosophical presuppositions, or political identity.

If you go swinging at balls outside the strike zone, well, you will not be successful. If we go swinging at issues not in the strike zone of biblical mandates, we will not do very well at being moral people.  

(By the way, if you’ve not read The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams, you should. It might help you develop critical thinking skills. He was way more thoughtful about hitting than most pastors are about pastoring.)

It gets the conversation rolling.

Pastor, there are so many issues flying in your face daily; this is overwhelming. We often don’t have the time to consider every problem that arises in our cultural setting. So, why not take advantage of others who have given it some thought as a way to jump-start your thinking. Even if you disagree, at least you started thinking.

To have a game of baseball, one must simply start by throwing the ball. To have a pastoral response to the ethics of claiming religious exemption has to begin with you, Pastor, reading, thinking, and talking with other pastors.

Follow this link to learn more.