Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 00:28:19 -0400 From: CasaCristo@aol.com Subject: AIDS and God's Wrath? AIDS AND GOD'S WRATH by Pastor Fred L. Pattison Casa de Cristo Evangelical Church (T-E-N) There are countless preachers, teachers, and Christian writers who claim that the HIV virus and accompanying AIDS is evidence of God's wrath upon homosexuals. These people teach that God is pouring out judgement upon our land because of rampant homosexuality. IS AIDS GOD'S PUNISHMENT? Let me say right up front that the HIV virus and AIDS is indeed God's judgement upon homosexuals IF, AND ONLY IF, other diseases in this world are God's judgement upon heterosexuals who get the flu, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other rampant diseases. AIDS is God's judgement IF, AND ONLY IF, the bubonic plague was sent by God to destroy millions of people throughout the world as mistakenly taught by the organized Church at the time of its outbreak. This same Church also taught that the bubonic plague was sent because the Church had not eliminated the Jews. What a travesty! The bubonic plague, which sent millions of lives to the grave, was neither God's judgement nor God's wrath upon the Jews. Modern research has shown that it was caused by the common flea. CONSIDER AIDS IN AFRICA AIDS is not God's judgement upon homosexuals any more than it is His judgement upon Africans, people of a country where AIDS is rampant. AIDS is found in epidemic proportions in many parts of Africa and fastly becoming so in Asia. The World Health Organization states that 75% or more of all those who have contracted the HIV virus worldwide have done so through heterosexual sex or through the transfer of blood carrying the virus. This fact alone rules out the fallacy that AIDS is a homosexual or gay disease. As the situation is now in Africa, so will it undoubtedly be in our land in the not too distant future. No longer will homophobic preachers be able to smugly point their finger of judgement at homosexuals. It is only a matter of time before the churches of American will have to deal with the fact that an increasing number of their own church members and children are HIV positive. THE NEW COVENANT God's approval or disapproval of homosexuality does not change the fact that, under the New Covenant in which we live, He will not punish humankind through disease . Putting disease upon people is not part of God's job description. Let me say that any preacher who claims that God has told him that AIDS is God's judgement is hearing strange voices, but these voices do not include the Voice of God!! Jesus addressed the correlation between sin and disease in this manner: As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered them, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (John 9:1-3) IS AIDS GOD'S WRATH? Where do we find a blanket condemnation of homosexuality in the Scriptures? NOWHERE! Certain aspects of homosexual behavior and acts ARE condemned in Scripture. These acts are ALWAYS associated with pagan religious practices usually connected with prostitution; both male and female. Homosexuality is not sin when it is acted upon in a committed, loving, and responsible manner. The HIV virus is largely a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and contracting it can be the result of carelessness on the part of some victims. However, this is not the same as equating it with God's wrath. Remember that, according to the passage quoted earlier, the purpose of the bind man's blindness was to let God's work show forth, not to punish the man. AIDS is NOT a judgement levied upon homosexuals for a "sin"....if anything, it exists in order that God's work may be seen. AIDS is NOT God's wrath or judgement! RECLAIM YOUR SPIRITUALITY It is time for gays and lesbians to reclaim their spirituality...a spirituality that both Judaism and Christianity have for too long denied the homosexual community. It is time for gay men and lesbians to be born again by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than to be hood-winked into believing that the so-called new age movement, wicca, paganism, and theological liberalism have the answer. All of these non-Christian belief systems are false. It is only through a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ that gay, lesbians, all people!, can find the true meaning to life, real peace, and eternal hope. The biblical command "to be born again" is given to both homosexual and heterosexuals alike (see John 3:1-7). Homosexuals are just as acceptable to God as heterosexuals. Remember that the Bible says, "For God so loved the world..." Through the new birth, we become children of God by faith. All believers are the sons and daughters of God - God has no stepchildren! It is necessary that every man and woman come to God through Jesus Christ, for Jesus emphatically taught that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). God's plan and His offer of salvation is through Jesus Christ. God's plan of salvation is NOT through religion. That is so very important to understand; please read it again, and again, and again. AIDS AND THE STORY OF JOB The Old Testament book of Job offers further insight into the problem between sin and suffering. We read in Job 1:1, "There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He worshipped God and was faithful to God. He was a good man careful not to do anything evil." It is important to note that Job is referred to in the above passage as "a good man." Yet, terrible calamities befell him. He lost nearly everything he had. He lost his possessions, he lost his wealth, and he lost his family (Job 2:7). Several of Job's friends, as well as his own wife, refused to believe that Job was innocent. In his anguish, Job cried out, "God gives and God takes away: Blessed be the name of God!" In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin against God by blaming Him for his troubles." (Job 1:21-22.) JOB AND KAPOSI'S SARCOMA Job was very much like those with Kaposi's Sarcoma. Like Job, they too have sores all over their bodies. But just as it was not Job's sin that caused his boils, it is not the fact that the individual is a homosexual or heterosexual that causes Kaposi's Sarcoma. Job's calamities were not proof of God's judgement upon him anymore than AIDS is God's wrath upon homosexuals! In fact, to believe so is to "sin by blaming God" (Job 1:22). To blame and attribute such acts to God is standing on very dangerous ground. PREACHERS BEWARE! A GAY PLAGUE? As Biblical Christians, we are assured that God is not in the business of punishing people through disease and suffering. Let the preachers rant and rave - we shall trust God. AIDS is NOT a gay plague or homosexual disease as some ignorantly teach. There is still much that we do not know about this disease. The HIV virus probably came by way of Africa and Haiti to our shores. In Africa, the virus presently affects men and women in equal numbers. Increasing numbers of heterosexuals are becoming HIV positive in the United States. The virus is spreading especially rapidly among teenagers and minority groups. The blatant condemnation heard from many pulpits needs to stop. Biblical Christians need to rise up and demand that what is spoken from the pulpits of their churches is indeed factual. God's Voice must once again be heard from church pulpits instead of the opinions and tangents that have too often replaced God's Word. When will we demand that preachers who claim they are speaking for God when they lash out at the sick be silenced and replaced with those who speak only truth? GOD'S LOVE AND YOUR GOOD HEALTH God's love is not limited to people in good health. God loves us in all situations. If Christians are unwilling to display God's love to people living with AIDS and HIV, the Church is indeed in trouble. How far indeed has Christendom strayed from delivering the Message it was commissioned to proclaim, a message sent to save a lost and dying world! The AIDS crisis has called upon Biblical Christians to learn and practice UNCONDITIONAL love. Such love is not a luxury, but the basic need of the human condition. Jesus taught, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another, As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) The professed Christian who does not display this kind of love is like an ocean without water. Without love, there is no reality in Christianity. Biblical Christianity is based upon love: love for God and love for people. WILL WE SUFFER EVEN THOUGH WE ARE CHRISTIANS? God did not originate sin, sickness, pain, suffering, or death. All of these were introduced into this world by Satan at the fall of humankind in the Garden of Eden. Satan, not God, is the originator of all the evils that befall humankind and creation itself. We Christian gays believe that, because of the redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, healing, peace, and resurrection are our legacy. Being born again, we live in the grace of God. Through the example of Job, we have learned that suffering can come to the righteous and godly in spite of their station in life. Our Lord taught, "...He (the Father) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45.) The next time you hear someone smugly spout-off that AIDS is evidence of God's wrath upon gays and lesbians (homosexuals), GENTLY remind him or her that they are wrong - don't just ignore the ignorance. Untruths need to be nipped in the bud or they spread and are eventually believed by the unthinking. Then, pray that the attitudes of these perpetrators of falsehoods will have a change of heart, mind, and attitude. Meanwhile, keep informed and display God's love as a believer in Jesus Christ. CRISTO PRESS LITERATURE The Cristo Press is a non-profit, Christian gay community outreach of Casa de Cristo Evangelical Church in Phoenix, Arizona. It offers over 120 pamplets, most of which are free for the asking. Also, some books are available at our cost. All material is presented from the viewpoint of Christian gays, is solidly biblical, and is theologically evangelical. You may obtain a catalog by writing at the P,O, Box below, or you can watch the "T-E-N Folder" under America OnLine/Gay and Lesbian Community Forum/Message Boards/Spirituality for downloadable text. Write to me at our P.O. Box address and share your faith. God Bless! Pastor Fred Casa de Cristo Evangelical Church P.O. Box 16104 Phoenix, Arizona USA 85011 602-265-2831