Christian Vaccination

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. - Revelation 3:15-16

In the 18th century, smallpox was a killer. Those infected would become covered in horrible pustules and die a painful death. Those who were fortunate enough to recover were left with ugly scars called “poc marks” on their skin.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had seen people in Turkey deliberately infect themselves with a mild form of smallpox in order to develop immunity to the more virile form - the first form of inoculation. She brought the knowledge back to England in 1721. Unfortunately, many died from the smallpox they were using to protect themselves.

Edward Jenner noticed that people who had contracted cowpox rarely caught smallpox. In 1796, he deliberately infected an eight year old boy named James Phipps with the pus of a cowpox sore. The boy became ill but recovered. Jenner then infected the boy with the normally deadly smallpox. The boy never caught smallpox and the practice of modern vaccination was born.

Vaccination against disease is a good thing. But I firmly believe that too many parents are giving their children a small dose of Christianity, which makes them immune to the real thing! The children know the religious rituals of Sunday but know nothing of a relationship with God Monday thru Saturday!

We attend church fitfully, read our Bible occasionally, and pray half-heartedly. Our worship is nonchalant and does not affect our day to day lives. Then our kids fail to take God seriously when they come of age because we have given them just enough “religion” to inoculate them against Christ.

Even worse, we convince ourselves of our Christianity because we are members of a certain church, or because we have regularly donated to charity, or whatever we decide to put under the “Christian activity” list. We fail to recognize that God is not impressed by our works. Our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment according to Isaiah 64:6. What a terrible thing to fool yourself into believing you possess something you do not. Jesus described what will happen to those poor self-deluded souls:

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Do not vaccinate yourself against the only thing in your life that can make you right with both God and man. Do not satisfy yourself with just a little religion. Take Christ – all of Him.