Jonah: The church is hosting that vaccination clinic next month, and I’m not sure we should be participating. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 6:19 is clear on that. I’m cautious about what I put into it—especially something developed so quickly, with ingredients I don’t fully understand. I trust God to protect my family.

Carl: I read that verse a bit differently. If my body is a temple, shouldn’t I maintain it? Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart, for everything flows from it. I see medicine as one way we steward what God’s given us.

Jonah: But there’s a difference between stewardship and lack of faith. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 9:12—”It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” We’re healthy. Why assume we need intervention?

Carl: That’s fair, but Jesus wasn’t dismissing medicine there—he was making a point about spiritual need. And he clearly affirmed that doctors have a purpose. Luke was a doctor, and Paul called him “beloved” in Colossians 4:14. Medicine isn’t opposed to faith.

Jonah: I’m not saying it is, but I worry we’ve made an idol of science. We run to the experts before we run to prayer. Where’s our faith in God’s sovereignty? Psalm 91 promises that no plague will come near our dwelling if we dwell in the shelter of the Most High.

Carl: I love Psalm 91. But even Jesus, when Satan quoted that during the temptation, responded in Matthew 4:7—”Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Trusting God doesn’t mean refusing to act wisely. We still wear seatbelts. We still look both ways crossing the street.

Jonah: Those aren’t the same. A seatbelt doesn’t involve injecting something into my children that I can’t undo.

Carl: I understand that concern, but consider Leviticus 19:16: “Do not stand idly by when your neighbour’s life is at stake.” Some people can’t be vaccinated—the elderly, infants, those with compromised immunity. When I got vaccinated, I was thinking of them too. It felt like loving my neighbour, as Jesus commanded in Mark 12:31.

Jonah: I agree the bible does ask us to consider others, but here’s my problem. What if I genuinely believe, based on what I’ve read and prayed over, that these vaccines carry risks? Wouldn’t giving my child something I believe is harmful also violate my duty to protect them? Proverbs 22:3 says a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Carl: That’s a thoughtful point. And I’d never tell you to violate your conscience—Romans 14:23 is clear that whatever isn’t from faith is sin. If you genuinely believe it’s wrong, acting against that conviction is its own problem.

Jonah: Exactly. And here’s something else. In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites demanded a king because they wanted to be like the other nations. God warned them through Samuel about the consequences, but they insisted. Sometimes the crowd is wrong. Sometimes what everyone else is doing isn’t what God is calling us to do.

Carl: I’d push back on that. That passage is about rejecting God’s direct kingship, not about rejecting practical wisdom. The Israelites weren’t wrong to want a king; they were wrong to want it for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. Motivation matters.

Jonah: And my motivation is protecting my family and honouring what I believe God has shown me.

Carl: I don’t doubt that. Let me offer another angle. In 2 Kings 20, King Hezekiah is sick and near death. He prays, and God hears him. But then what happens? Isaiah tells him to apply a lump of figs to his boil. God healed him through a physical remedy. The miracle didn’t bypass medicine; it worked through it.

Jonah: But Hezekiah was already sick. It was treatment, not prevention.

Carl: True. But consider Joseph in Genesis 41. He stored grain for seven years before the famine hit. That was prevention. God gave him wisdom to prepare for what was coming. He didn’t just say, “God will provide manna when the time comes.” He acted on the knowledge he’d been given.

Jonah: I’d say Joseph had a direct revelation from God. I’m working with far less certainty.

Carl: Aren’t we all? And that’s where I think James 1:5 becomes so important. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. I’m not claiming perfect knowledge here. I’m just trying to make the best decision I can with the understanding I have, trusting God to guide me.

Jonah: But what troubles me is the pressure from the government, from employers, from some churches. It starts to feel coercive. And Galatians 5:1 says we were called to freedom. Christ set us free. I’m wary of anything that feels like a new kind of bondage.

Carl: Fair point. Peter and the apostles said in Acts 5:29 that they must obey God rather than men. I believe that. But I also think Romans 13 calls us to respect governing authorities in matters that don’t violate God’s commands. And I don’t see vaccination as inherently sinful.

Jonah: That’s where we differ. You see it as neutral. I see it as a question of trust—who am I ultimately relying on? Jeremiah 17:5 warns, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh.” I want my trust anchored in the Lord.

Carl: And Jeremiah 17:7 follows with the blessing for those who do trust in the Lord. But using medicine doesn’t mean I’ve stopped trusting God. When I take my blood pressure medication, I still pray. When I got vaccinated, I prayed beforehand. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Ecclesiastes 7:12 says wisdom, like money, is a shelter—but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

Jonah: In Matthew 10:29, Jesus says not a single sparrow falls to the ground outside the Father’s care. If he’s ruler over sparrows, he’s ruler over viruses. Over my children. Over all of it.

Carl: Absolutely he is. But in that same passage, Jesus tells the disciples to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Trust in God’s sovereignty didn’t mean they shouldn’t think carefully about the situations they were walking into.

Jonah: I just don’t want to look back one day and realise I trusted the wrong voice.

Our faith calls us to continuously seek wisdom and understanding. It’s vital for us, as Christians, to engage in these dialogues, always aiming to reflect God’s love and wisdom in our lives and the lives of those around us.