It is not true that the vaccinated have no faith in God.
It is also not true that the hesitant and anti-vaxxers don’t have faith in science.
In reality, the vaccinated, the hesitant, and the anti-vaxxers are all “walking by faith.” Yes, they are.
We are taught faith is stepping into the unknown, and usually, Hebrews 11:1 is used to support this position. This is not true. Faith is acting on the information one has received. (Romans 10:14-15 NLT)
The vaccinated, hesitant, and anti-vaxxers gather enough information from the medical and non-medical professionals which supports their thesis and based on that act. This act is faith.
Before Jenny and I went in for the vaccine, we gathered evidence from medical professionals who are for or against the vaccine, and the overwhelming nod was the vaccine was good for us. Based on this, we leaped by faith.
All of life works this way. How does pre-marital counseling work? A counselor mines data or information from the two prospective individuals through interviews. The data is then presented to the individuals. The individuals must then decide whether to marry the person they are dating based on the received and assessed data. This faith action is informed by the information they have. We do this with our finances, health, diets, and even relationships.
In our world, data is big business. Data science is the new degree of choice. Whoever has the data owns the business. Companies invest billions of dollars to get data because data reveals their customer’s preferences and may predict whether customers will buy their products and services. Once data is obtained and mined, these companies customize their products and services and hope the customer bites. This is an act of faith.
Jesus said this to people who wanted to follow him.
John 14:25-29 NLT
A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ requires you to look at the data, interpret the data, and decide. Your leap of faith must be a well-informed one.
The atheist Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if he met God. His response was, “Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence.” Some need a whole lot more evidence to be convinced, and even with enough evidence, they might still choose not to accept. Some need just enough evidence to make up their minds.
At the end of it all, we all have to take leaps of faith—all of us – even the atheist.
That’s what grace looks like.
Photo by Marisol Benitez on Unsplash
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