{"id":37754,"date":"2021-09-09T11:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T16:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=37754"},"modified":"2021-09-09T11:24:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T16:24:00","slug":"masks-vaccines-and-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/masks-vaccines-and-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Masks, Vaccines, and the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n<p>The following restates the biblical principles that should govern our speech and behavior when it comes to masks, vaccines, and discussion of the same.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/masks.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/masks-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a>In areas where we are given liberty by man and God, we must respect the liberty of others. We must not judge or show contempt toward those who use their liberty differently (Romans 14:1-3).<\/li>\n<li>When we talk about these things, we must speak graciously and in a way that edifies everyone. Speaking in a contentious, self-righteous, angry way is ungodly (II Timothy 2:23-25).<\/li>\n<li>Elders must not lord it over the flock but rather lead by force of example (I Peter 5:3).<\/li>\n<li>Christians under elders must obey, submit to, and follow them so that their conduct gives the elders joy rather than grief. &#8220;Am I making the elders&#8217; work harder or more unpleasant?&#8221; is a very important question for all of us to ask (Hebrews 13:17).<\/li>\n<li>Christians must obey the government, saving only the times when it commands us to do something that directly contradicts the law of God (Romans 13:1-3).<\/li>\n<li>We must not confuse our personal convictions, whether based on conscience, our understanding of the Constitution, or anything else, with the divine commandment. If we do, we likely will fall into serious error (Acts 26:9-10).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Matthew W. Bassford The following restates the biblical principles that should govern our speech and behavior when it comes to masks, vaccines, and discussion of the same. In areas where we are given liberty by man and God, we must respect the liberty of others. We must not judge or show contempt toward those&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1039,310,908],"class_list":["post-37754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-complaints","tag-government","tag-health"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92818,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-autonomy-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":0},"title":"Church Autonomy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Dewhirst via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993 The word autonomy is not a Bible term, but it is certainly a Bible principle. It means independent or self-governing. Universally, the church is under the headship of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:22-23); we are His body and must take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92639,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/churches-preparing-for-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":1},"title":"Churches Preparing for Elders","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Don Bunting via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 If a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country (Matthew 13:57), then it should not surprise us that it is difficult for churches to appoint and submit to elders. While we may dream about qualified men\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-need-more-teaching-that-elders-must-have-more-than-one-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":2},"title":"We need more teaching that elders must have more than one child","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your article, \"Must elders have more than one child?\", was very well written and researched. We need more of this to support the correct teaching. I was just recently visiting a congregation in which the preacher was also an elder but with only one child. I was very disappointed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-the-current-eldership-select-additional-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":3},"title":"Should the current eldership select additional elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it scripturally correct for elders to choose another elder and have him installed by an outside evangelist? The process I'm speaking of was one where two elders announced to a group of the members that the elders would be \"selecting\" the new elder(s) and deacon(s). Shouldn't the \"selection\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98306,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/challenges-of-shepherding\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":4},"title":"Challenges of Shepherding","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by George Slover \"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you\" (Hebrews 13:17). In this verse, the author refers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/overseers-of-the-flock\/","url_meta":{"origin":37754,"position":5},"title":"Overseers of the Flock?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Marvin L. Weir A faithful child of God realizes that he must battle with those within the kingdom as well as with those outside the kingdom. It is sad that one's energies and efforts must be expended on exposing those who \"will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Julien-Dupre-A-Shepherd-and-His-Flock-300x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}