Tuesday, November 27, 2007

AIDS: The New Leprosy

Tomorrow, some 2000 people are expected to converge on Saddleback Church for the 3rd annual Global Summit on AIDS. Saddleback is home to "Purpose Driven" Pastor, Rick Warren and his wife, Kay. Rick made the decision years ago to leverage the fame, notoriety and financial resources generated from his best-selling books for the purposes of having a positive impact on some of the world's most difficult problems. The AIDS pandemic is near the top of that list.

A new feature at this year's gathering is the first-annual Youth Summit on AIDS to be held on Saturday, Dec. 1 (World AIDS Day). The youth summit aims to prompt students to care for those with HIV and strengthen their knowledge, engage their abilities, and maximize their potential to assist to end the global pandemic.

First of all, I applaud Rick Warren for having the guts to take the stands he has taken on this and many other issues. In a world where people who achieve the kind of success he has achieved generally sit back and enjoy the kind of lifestyle fame and wealth offer, he chose to funnel that wealth toward ministry and making a difference.

Secondly, the church has to understand that the not-yet-Christ-followers are watching to see if we stand behind the Word of God... you know... the Word that commands us to care for the sick, the oppressed, the orphaned and the widowed. The chapter and verses are too many to mention. We have got to have a global vision for not only the spiritual welfare of mankind, but also the physical welfare as well. How do you witness to someone who is too sick to comprehend what you are talking about, or whose stomach is growling so loudly she can't hear the words you speak?

Finally, I can only imagine what my church and most any other church in our area would do if we rallied students to "care for those with HIV and strengthen their knowledge, engage their abilities, and maximize their potential to assist to end the global pandemic." I can hear it now, "You ain't tak'n my baby near them AIDS places!" AIDS is the new leprosy. We can't remain ignorant or uneducated about the disease. We must recognize the role that Jesus would want us to play in this drama. He went, He looked, He saw and...yes, He even touched. We need to love and learn. Imagine what the church could do if we marshaled our resources and "soldiers" in a focused way to touch the world.

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