Would God approve this message?

I was watching a baseball game last night, and there was a commercial in which someone was advocating getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In the commercial, the speaker was inside a church and quoted 1 Corinthians 13:13 in support of the vaccine: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." The speaker was talking about how getting the vaccine not only helps you, but shows that you care about other people as well.

My initial reaction was outrage. They've tried just about every tactic to pressure us into getting this vaccine, and now they're using religion too? I thought about it some more and wondered, would God really approve of us using His Word to support this?

Now, I'm not against vaccines. I do believe that science should be used for good whenever possible. I believe that God created ways for us to combat disease and that, once we discover them, we should use them to our advantage. My problem is that, at least in this case, His Word was being used as part of a larger plot to try to scare us into getting this vaccine. Would God approve of this?

While I believe in the power of science, I also do not believe that the Lord intends for us to live in fear. The Bible mentions this in quite a few places. For example, 1 John 4:18 reads, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Further, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline."

Again, I believe that we shouldn't live carelessly and just trust that God will take care of us. I believe that we should take precautions to protect our health as much as is possible; that is part of what it means to follow Christ, in my opinion. I just don't like the fact that God is being used in this situation to scare people, as this whole situation that has been going on for the past year and a half has been all about fear. Perhaps you disagree with me, but I do not believe that what is happening now comes from God, but rather is evil.

If our society truly cared about following God's Word and loving our neighbor, then why are we so obsessed with fighting COVID-19 while not addressing the other issues in our society? What about hunger, for example? Every day, thousands of people die of starvation. What are we doing about that? Think about what we could do about hunger if we put half the effort into feeding the hungry that we have in trying to get people to get this vaccine. We could be so much better off.

I think we know the answer to that. The media can't scare or divide people over hunger, or any other issue that our society is facing, the same way that they can when it comes to COVID-19. People get upset about masks and vaccines, on both sides of the issue, but there's no money to be made or fear to be mongered over hunger.

Again, you may disagree with me, but I do not believe that God's Word is intended to be used to try to guilt people into getting the COVID-19 vaccine. I believe that we are to love others and that we are supposed to take care of each other, but I don't think God approves of this use of His Word. If you see this commercial, or any other religious pleas to get the vaccine, remember Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

We may be going through difficult times right now, but God is always there. And I will choose to lean on that.