or Fighting AIDS
Here’s a terrific Christianity Today story about Rick Warren, author of the ubiquitous “Purpose-Driven Life,” being publicly tested for HIV on stage during a conference and urging the church to take a more active role in responding to the AIDS crisis. Warren and his wife Kay have even opened a dialogue with AIDS activists and groups which have seen themselves in the past as fighting the church.
I’m one of an estimated three Christians in North America who have never read a Rick Warren book, but I have to say this is a courageous and positive step, for which he should be applauded.
During both of my Africa trips, we had constant reminders of the disease’s presence there — there was an AIDS prevention poster featuring the president of Kenya that I must have seen at least two dozen times on this last trip. I never felt like I was at risk during either trip, although, given the numbers, there’s a good chance that we were in contact at some point with people who had the disease.
The statistics on AIDS in Africa are just mind-blowing, but they’re certainly bad enough here. Compassion is supposed to be the hallmark of the Christian lifestyle, but there have been far too many times when we’ve wanted to lecture first, love second, rather than the other way around.
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