​52. A Cacophony of Things

I’ve learned this concept from John Delony of “both and.” As a former “either or” person, I find it a little mind blowing.

Sometimes life is a cacophony of things, not a black and white detailed fact sheet that calms my insecurities.

We want easy and precise and categorized. We don’t want the mess of what life is.

Right now, I’m finding a lot of heat coming from the Christian community at the idea of vaccines. Here’s where I stand: we are human beings given to reason and a God who guides us. He will lead us in the decisions that are best for us and our families and the people around us. And as a fellow sister in Christ, I will honor those decisions and trust this process because God wants me to be an instrument of unity in truth, not another divisive barrier that breaks the human spirit.

And yet? There’s this maddening concept floating about that getting vaccinated is somehow anti-Christian.

And yes, I have read Revelation.

Here’s what we have to understand: as Christ followers we’re to be subversive. Like Daniel, we are in the world but not of it, following the rules and laws of our government until the point of following those rules keeps us from sharing the Gospel.

I am in no way championing one decision over another. That is your decision to make with God. But I am asking for grace for those who have made a different decision. Paul tells us in Romans 14 that if our brother’s conscience is different than ours in what to eat, drink, wear...even the days we deem special, that we should not look down on what God has accepted.

We all either stand or fall before the Lord, and He has made us to stand (paraphrase Romans 14:4).

He’s also made us to be merciful towards those we don’t agree with.

I know I can’t expect that type of gracious heart from our secular world. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect that from the family of God.