AIDS: Issues and Answers with Medical and Biblical Commentary

AIDS: ISSUES andANSWERS
with Medical and Biblical Commentary
ED PAYNE, M.D., Editor Proverbs 4:18-19
Is the Church Guilty in Its Response to AIDS?
(Focus on the Family Citizen, September 21, 1992, pp. 12-14)
"It saddens me to share this, but there have been two losers in
this epidemic. One is the homosexual community, because they are
dying. The other is the Church, because it has not been an example of
how to respond to suffering. If Christ were here today, I don't think
he'd (sic) tell the parable of the Good Samaritan any differently than
he (sic) did 2,000 years ago. The religious leaders passed by, while
the despised Samaritan -- or the despised homosexual of today --
reached out."
Commentary: This statement was made in this 3-page interview with
Shepherd Smith, who founded and heads the Americans for a Sound AIDS Policy
(ASAP). I don't believe that I have criticized him before, but I get weary
and angry with his and others' condemnation of the Church and its response
to the AIDS epidemic.
December 1992 ----------------------------------------------- Page 7
The Church has never responded perfectly to any social or medical
problem! However, with AIDS, its response has been greater than with other
medical problems. Are there Christian organizations or churches that
specifically minister to patients with heart disease, cancer, diabetes,
muscular dystrophy, etc., etc.?
There are numerous Churches and organizations that focus their attention specifically, if not solely, on homosexuals and/or AIDS patients. My
observation is that the Church (speaking generally) has responded similarly
to the world because of this special emphasis on homosexuals and AIDS
patients. In numbers and in suffering, there are far more patients with
other diseases who did nothing to bring on their illnesses.
Dr. Smith is not one to be making accusations about the Church. In
his book, Christians in the Age of AIDS, in the chapter "Risk-Producing
Behaviors," he omits homosexuality, far and away the most common "risk
behavior" for HIV\AIDS. Nowhere in the book does he condemn homosexuality
as sin, aberrant behavior, or illegal activity in most states. Often, he
lumps homosexuality under the label "intimate sex."
Nowhere does he discuss church discipline. Evidently, the church is
to welcome any homosexual with AIDS regardless of his spiritual status.
That is, AIDS alone qualifies him for a special ministry of the Church. In
these ways and many others, Dr. Smith is sorely lacking in Biblical understanding of the Church and many other areas. He is certainly not one to be
casting stones at the Church!

In the quote above, he (as many others do) maligns the parable of the
Good Samaritan. He equates the Good Samaritan with homosexuals! While
some homosexuals may do "good," their sexual behavior is far down the
ladder of sinful degradation, and they account for a higher prevalence of
crime in almost every category. Homosexuals are the Bad Samaritans of
society, and Dr. Smith wants the Church to welcome them with open arms?
Of course, when an organization receives federal money, as Dr. Shepherd's has done, it has to be careful how it speaks of homosexuals. Dr.
Smith's allegiance seems to be misplaced, especially for someone who has
chosen to berate Christians and the church.
The church should minister to homosexuals and patients with AIDS.
But, there has to be a Biblical balance. Otherwise, the Church of Jesus
Christ is degraded and dishonored. For the balance required, see my book
What Every Christian Should Know About the AIDS Epidemic, pp. 51-63.
Breakpoint with Chuck Colson (July 28, 1992) is more accurate.
"When AIDS activists appear on our TV screens upbraiding America
for not spending more money on AIDS, that, in my book, is utter hypocrisy. They themselves are the ones blocking even the most basic
public health measures that could limit the disease: things like
routine screening, early diagnosis, and notifying sexual partners."