A breakthrough or a watershed

Researchers today announced a crucial breakthrough in HIV/AIDS research--an experimental vaccine has been found to prevent HIV infection. Some 16,000 volunteers in Thailand took part in what was billed as the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial. Preliminary results showed that the vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 per cent. This study was sponsored by the U.S. Army and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an arm of the National Institutes of Health.

Several years ago, during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, I was a researcher on an HIV/AIDS Prevention clinical trial funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and conducted by Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. Some 6,000 volunteers participated in this study. The five-year study confirmed that HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease. When sexually transmitted, the risk of contracting HIV is significantly reduced, if not prevented, through regular condom use, monogamy and /or abstinence from sexual activity.
While I applaud any breakthrough in modern science and medicine that will eradicate disease and ease the suffering of those afflicted, I am concerned about what may result from the discovery of this vaccine. On its face, the vaccine removes the fear and may give more people a license to engage in risky behavior. Like the vaccine now being marketed to girls as young as 11 and 12 years of age to prevent the sexually transmitted HPV (Human Pappillomavirus) virus, the HIV/AIDS vaccine sends a morally defeating message, namely that "Its OK to sleep around again."

This cannot be the message that is allowed to go forth unabated. As Christian leaders, individuals and families, we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand on this one. We must instruct our children that sex outside of marriage is wrong, even though we may have brought them into the world that way. We must confess our own sin, ask for forgiveness, and show them a better way-- if we expect to earn their respect. We must stop turning a blind eye to the sexual sins that go on within the Church that defile the body of Christ. And we must continue to talk about HIV/AIDS as a consequence of risky sexual behavior. Nearly fifty per cent (49 per cent) of the almost 54,000 newly diagnosed AIDS cases in the U.S. in 2006 were among African-Americans, who make up less than 12 per cent of the population. The Kaiser Foundation reported that Black women, age 13 and older, accounted for 66 per cent of the AIDS cases diagnosed in 2007. According to the CDC, HIV/AIDS continues to take a heavier toll on Blacks, bi-sexual and gay men than any other segment of the population.

Let's set the record straight. God doesn't compromise; he hates sin. And no vaccine known to man will exempt humankind from its consequences, unless we repent: "Come now, and let us reason together, " says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow..." (Isa 1:18).

You Lie

A sidebar to the current health care controversy raging in this country is the unprecedented outburst of a U. S. Congressman who called the President of the United States a liar during his address to a joint session of Congress. This Congressman has been roundly criticized for voicing his view publicly and, as a result, not only faces sanctions by his Congressional colleagues for his actions but also may lose his bid for reelection to his House seat because of it. Oddly, few have readily addressed whether or not this Congressman's assertion is true, only that he had the nerve to speak his mind aloud. I wonder how many others in that audience thought the same thing but chose to ignore their conscience and keep silent out of fear of embarrassment or reprisal? Likewise, how many times do we as Christians keep silent in the face of what we know to be lies about and assaults against our faith? And how often do we fail in our responsibility as followers of Christ to speak truth to power?

Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He addressed sin openly and directly with those who were sinning. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes were the power brokers of his day. He called them out for their phony religiosity and legalism; and because of it, they were determined to shut him up. But Jesus was a God-sent messenger who would not be silenced. In fact, he responded to his critics by announcing: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18 NKJ)."

With Jesus' departure from the scene, the anointing to do God's work now rests upon the shoulders of the people of God. It is the responsibility of every Christian to carry on this mission. We are not to keep silent on the issues of the the day like abortion, sex education in the schools, corruption in government, crime in the streets, poverty, homelessness, homosexuality and immorality. And we must not neglect or be afraid to police our own house -- even the church. As Christians, if we don't speak up, if we don't promote this gospel to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed and sinners, then it must also be said of us, "You lie."