Jesus Vaccine

Most of you are familiar with the concept of vaccination. You give an altered, maybe even dead version of a virus to a person so that they will develop immunity (virus protection) in the form of antibodies. That way when the person is exposed to the real virus, the antibodies attack and they repel the real invader. Well, I've been thinking about a new concept, the "Jesus Vaccine."

Some people seem to be immune to our message of grace and hope.

This has puzzled me. The Gospel is the most wonderful news of all. Why wouldn't anyone want to be a Christian?

The answer to that, I believe, has to do with being vaccinated against our message. People get a little exposure to a lesser, altered or deadened form of the Gospel and then reject the real thing when it comes along. Essentially, they've received a "Jesus Vaccine."

It sounds a bit crazy, but I thinking of it in this way may be able to help us understand how to overcome their "immune" response.

In immunology, or the study of our own host defenses, we use the term "antigenicity" when referring to how big of an antibody response is generated. If something is highly antigenic (or has high antigenicity), the immune response will be strong, and many antibodies will be formed. If something is only weakly antigenic, the response will be lesser.

I'm sure that in my life, there are times when I've been a Jesus Vaccine rather than "infectious" or contagious for Jesus. My behavior will either be antigenic ("I don't want to be a Christian if that's what it's all about") or contagious ("I want to know why he can have peace and hope during a difficult time"). In terms of Christianity's history, the crusades stand out as a period of mass Jesus vaccination. What a turn off to the truth of the gospel!

I Googled, "Why I'm not a Christian" and the results were revealing. There are lots of blogs are out there with people sharing why they can't believe. There are a myriad of reasons people give, but almost all of them have been exposed to a lesser gospel or a weakened, twisted form of the truth. In nearly all cases, they have been exposed to Jesus without love.

Someone said, "Build a bridge of love strong enough to carry the message you want to give." The gospel is wonderful news. But there are aspects of the gospel message that are hard for people to swallow. Sacrifice. Taking up the cross. Suffering.
Unless we've built a bridge of love into their lives, our efforts might look more like a vaccine than we'd like.

I believe love is contagious. Perhaps my tendency to rely on false gospels such as legalism (If I work harder, God will love me more...what a joke!) is a Jesus vaccine to the world.

A bridge of love...That's what medicine has been for me....a way to build a bride of love into the hearts of my patients. It's one reason that I'm so outspoken on the value of medicine as a spearhead for the gospel. I've said it many times: "Love is the language of the Great Commission." If that is true, then medicine is the dialect of that message that I speak.

My prayer is that my actions are more contagious than antigenic for the gospel!

Some of you are wondering about my transition back into life in the USA from Africa. I'm still processing that one. I'll give you an update in my next post. Transitions are the bane of missionary life!