Last month, we “celebrated” the one-year anniversary of the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much has changed over the past year. As part of the staff of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and School, I was fortunate to be among the earlier groups of people in our state eligible to be vaccinated for COVID-19. I received my vaccination shots in January and February, and I am thankful to God for the blessings of science and technology and the vocations of all those whose work has enabled millions of people to be immunized and freed from the fear of this deadly disease.
As the number and availability of vaccines have increased rapidly over the past few months, some Christians have expressed genuine concerns about the cells used in the design, development, production, and testing of vaccines. Our church body, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has adopted resolutions at several synodical conventions supporting the sanctity of human life and opposing abortion both in our churches and in the public square. It is important to remember that for our denomination to make a definitive statement about anything, it must be adopted by the Synod in convention, which last met in 2019 and will not be meeting again until 2023. For this reason, there is no official Synod position that specifically addresses COVID-19 vaccines.
However, this does not mean that we have no guidance at all. A number of verses of Scripture can inform our decisions about these kinds of choices. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:24: “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” With that in mind, we also remember the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not murder.” Verses like this lead Christians to avoid vaccines that would come about directly as the result of the death of someone else.
Perhaps the biggest question is whether or not it is ethical to use COVID-19 vaccines that were tested or developed using cell lines derived from abortions. Thankfully, the current FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna do not use aborted human fetal tissue in the design, development or production of the vaccines. The two cell lines pertinent to COVID-19 vaccine testing were developed from abortions that occurred several decades ago. It is important to note that these abortions were not performed for the purpose of medical research.
I can’t help but think of Genesis 50:20 in light of this. In that verse, Joseph comforts his brothers, the ones who had sold him into slavery decades earlier, by saying “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive.”
Ultimately, each Christian must act on the basis of his or her conscience when it comes to decisions regarding this vaccine. It is also wise to consult trusted health care providers as their God-given vocations include caring for our health. Anyone seeking to learn more about the sourcing and testing of COVID-19 vaccines can learn more from the pro-life researchers of the Charlotte Lozier Institute (www.lozierinstitute.org).
Finally, I hope and pray that in all of these discussions and decisions we will heed Paul’s words in Romans 4:13, “Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”