SPIRITUAL SIDE OF AIDS

In the HIV battle, we have spent an incredible amount of vital resources focusing on the scientific, psychological and socio-economical aspects.  But we have largely neglected the critically important spiritual side. The recent HIV finding in which a man in New York was diagnosed with having a highly virulent strain of the virus, which is described as three-drug-class-resistant HIV (3-DCR HIV), further debilitates efforts being made to rid the world of this gruesome plague. For some time now, technological and medical advances have been offering a glimmer of hope through  anti-retroviral drugs for infected persons.  It would seem, however, that this latest discovery (to some degree) suggests a return to square one. Researchers would now be challenged to find means of combating this new strain, which is resistant to three of the four anti-retroviral drugs already developed. 

Of even greater concern is the fact that resistance to the drugs has occurred in an individual who was not previously treated for the virus. Additionally, the accelerated onset of full blown AIDS subsequent to infection (from 10-11 years to 2-20 months in this case) may signal the reclassifying of HIV as a death sentence. There are some important factors which we now take into consideration in dealing with the HIV/AIDS challenge:

• Health and general well being of our people, which includes the provision of anti-retroviral drugs and adequate care facilities for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).  


• Combating stigma and discrimination.


• The socio economic impact, as the virus hits directly at the heart of the most productive segment of society. There is also the financial burden on the state to provide medical and psychological services.

While all of the above are quite in order, it would be indeed foolish for us to ignore the spiritual side of AIDS.  AIDS is primarily a sexually transmitted disease. There is deep spirituality and sanctity attached to human sexuality. God, the Creator, designed sex primarily for procreation — the reproduction of life.  Sex is therefore as sacred as life.  For this reason, sex was meant to be treated as a very holy and deeply revered activity, strictly reserved for the sacred institution of marriage (Heb. 13:4). The sexual union between a man and a woman was intended to be the initial act of covenant bonding: “They two shall be one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). In the same verse, the Apostle Paul also likens the marriage union to the blood covenant relationship between Christ and His church. 

Therefore, the spiritual aspect of sex must be given utmost consideration when dealing with HIV/AIDS. The Bible clearly relates sex to life and it outlines stern laws governing human sexuality.  Biblical history reveals that infractions such as adultery, fornication and homosexuality, resulted in severe consequences, mainly the death penalty. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, those cities were entirely destroyed by fire because of rampant homosexuality.  In the days of Noah, the people were destroyed because of their sinful activities, chiefly sex orgies and the like. HIV/AIDS can be viewed in a similar light. It is a plague that affects man primarily as a consequence of abominable sexual behaviour. 

The rapid spread of the virus worldwide, and the inability of the respective authorities to control the epidemic, is indicative of a global culture of sexual immorality, moral decadence, the absence of sound family values and disobedience to God’s laws. While every victim of HIV/AIDS is usually a beneficiary of sympathy and empathy, there are those to whom this grace is more readily directed:  Those guilty of no wrong, whose fate was determined by another’s ill choices and actions.  Among these unfortunate ones are the faithful spouse whose adulterous partner brought home the deadly plague, or the child who inherited the virus from an infected mother. 

There are some things that the human rationale and logical reasoning would never be able to comprehend (Deut. 29:29).  However, the other side of the coin gives the picture of the rain that falls on “both the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).  Perhaps its for this reason, in cases such as the AIDS plague, we see afflictions befalling “the innocent”. Unfortunately, some plagues are like that, the “innocent” sometimes suffer with the guilty.  Babies and other innocent (or apparently innocent) ones would have perished with the guilty in Sodom and Gomorrah and Noah’s flood. That’s the regrettable, and even puzzling, reality.

Interestingly enough, the earliest evidence of the AIDS virus was among the homosexual community in New York in the early 1980s.  Now, approximately 25 years later, the “spirit” of the virus has returned to its genesis, the homosexual community in New York, to unleash another strain, much more deadly than the first. In the HIV battle, we have spent an incredible amount of vital resources focusing on the scientific, psychological and socio-economical aspects. But we have largely neglected the critically important spiritual side.  Let’s heed this loud wake-up call, fervently repent and turn from the evil way.