Christian author and speaker Beth Moore posted a series of popular tweets Tuesday urging Christians to stop politicizing the COVID-19 virus and to consider the lives and needs of others before their own.
Moore posted the comments as several states battle all-time highs in cases and hospitalizations, and as the debate intensifies over the vaccine and masks.
"If we are in Christ, it is unconscionable for us to in any way politicize this virus," Moore wrote. "What on earth are we doing??? Our sides are not more important than lives. We are Jesus people called to serve sacrificially. For the love of God, we gotta love our neighbors. Even our enemies!"
If we are in Christ, it is unconscionable for us to in any way politicize this virus. What on earth are we doing??? Our sides are not more important than lives. We are Jesus people called to serve sacrificially. For the love of God, we gotta love our neighbors. Even our enemies!
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) August 10, 2021
The tweet received 2,000 re-tweets and more than 12,000 likes. Moore, though, wasn't finished.
"For all our Jesus-talk, where on the ever loving earth is our Jesus-walk? If you are not a Christian, I'm not talking to you. But if you are, Jesus wasn't playing when he called us to a whole different ethic from the world," she wrote. "We're not loud mouth boasters. We're servants. We SERVE."
"Stare in the face what some of you are saying: MY RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR LIFE. SORRY, NOT SORRY," Moore added.
"If you're not going to get vaccinated, for the love of God, PUT ON A MASK IN PUBLIC PLACES WITH VULNERABLE PEOPLE. Go ahead & unfollow me. I don't care. FOLLOW JESUS."
Stare in the face what some of you are saying:
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) August 10, 2021
MY RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR LIFE. SORRY, NOT SORRY.
If you’re not going to get vaccinated, for the love of God, PUT ON A MASK IN PUBLIC PLACES WITH VULNERABLE PEOPLE.
Go ahead & unfollow me. I don’t care. FOLLOW JESUS.
Although 71 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, these rates trail many of America's allies, including Canada (81 percent of 12 and older), the United Kingdom (90 percent) and Israel (78 percent of 12 and older).
The Florida Hospital Association says 95 percent of COVID hospitalizations in the state involve patients who are not fully vaccinated. The Texas Department of State Health Services says 99 percent of COVID deaths since February have involved the unvaccinated.
Support of the vaccine among white evangelicals has grown since March. A survey of 5,123 adults by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Interfaith Youth Core in June showed that 56 percent of white evangelicals either have received the vaccine or plan on getting it. In March, it was 45 percent.
Related:
Pastor Holds Vaccine Clinic after 6 Unvaccinated Members Die of COVID: 'I'm Tired of Crying'
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
