When I heard the newest CDC guidelines that vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks in almost every public gathering, whether indoors or outdoors, I first thought of my children who are too young to receive the shots.
Then, I was reminded about food sacrificed to idols in the ancient city of Corinth.
It might not seem like an ancient opinion regarding such an esoteric topic has anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic or life in the 21st century.
But Paul made a distinction between knowledge and love: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). He does not devalue knowledge, and neither should we. We need facts; we need science.
Yet, Paul understood that knowledge is a means to an end. The goal is to further the safety and well-being of the entire community. An individual may be puffed up with knowledge, but a community is built up by love. Brené Brown speaks to the crux of this distinction when she says she’s less concerned with “being right” and more intent on “doing right.”
“Doing right” is about our responsibility to our entire church family as well as the larger community.
It is clear from Paul’s letter that the ancient church in Corinth was divided. This division was about “being right” — some felt that they could eat the meat sacrificed to idols because, hey, it was a free source of protein! And besides, they knew that idols didn’t really exist. Only God was truly God. Paul agrees in theory.
But the danger of this kind of religious freedom is to create a two-tier society between those who have the “right” knowledge and those who do not. The church I serve does not sacrifice meat to idols (or to anything else). But vaccination status is a potentially divisive issue for us and churches across our country. We should heed Paul’s warning: “Take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9).
I worry, however, that “the weak” becomes a pejorative term. Paternalism is not love.
In calling for loving care to be shown to all members, we should not say or even imply that people who are ineligible for the vaccine are “weak” as in physically, intellectually or morally inferior. No one can help having a preexisting condition like an autoimmune disorder, or the need to have medical treatment such as chemotherapy. And our youngest disciples certainly cannot speed up the clock and make themselves 12-years-old.
In fact, many people in vulnerable health are actually spiritually strong, for they have endured trials with faith. And Jesus said we are all to have the faith of a child.
In seeking to “do right” in our response to the threat of COVID-19, I think it is helpful to supplement Paul’s idea of not causing “the weak” to stumble with a concept from Eastern spirituality.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all share the idea of ahimsa or nonviolence. Literally, the word means “do no harm.” This was the bedrock concept of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance to the British Empire, which influenced Martin Luther King Jr. in the struggle for civil rights in America.
Ahimsa does not claim that some are weaker or inferior than others. Rather, the premise is that all living beings have a spark of divine spiritual energy. Ahimsa is an affirmation that everything that lives is holy. Instead of a two-tier community of the vaccinated and unvaccinated, we are one unified community.
Paul concluded his discussion of sacrifices to idols by claiming that, for the sake of unity of the body of Christ, he would not eat any meat (1 Corinthians 8:13).
For the sake of unity in our time and place, all worshippers should wear masks and keep social distance in public worship. This will do no harm.
It is also the right thing to do in order to build up our community with love.
