so i was watching a (somewhat) recent episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" last night, and the episode featured a women who had adopted and was caring for children with HIV. During the episode, the makeover team visited a camp for children with or affected by HIV. Can't remember the name, but seemed like it was run by an incredible organization.
so while they're at this camp, a teenage attendee stands up to share how important and meaningful the acceptance she's felt at this camp has been for her. mind you, this girl has contracted hiv through no fault of her own (either birth or transfusion-shouldn't matter anyhow). she proceeds to explain how years prior, she and her family had decided to attend church together, presumbably as a means of seeking out some sort of community and support. what they experienced was the pastor of this church asking them not to return upon the knowledge of this young girl having hiv.
in an instant my heart sank and my eyes welled with tears, and in another instant i was filled with outrage. it took everything in me not to scream at the tv. "what the hell kind of a pastor does that!" "did this guy never read the gospels!?! "never read about jesus dining with and healing the sick and diseased?!" "this man cannot possibly know the same jesus i know!!"
as i step back from this today, i find myself battling an even wider range of emotions and entertaining even more questions. "how long ago was this?' "what did this pastor know about hiv?" "was he being hateful, or just trying to defend his flock the best he knew how?" "do any of these questions justify his actions?" "what about this girl?" "will she ever attend church again?" "will she ever seek God out again?" "has this experience been a permanent stumbling block to her?"
i think all of these questions and emotions are legitimate, but most of all, i think the church, along with this family, took a hit that day. the families' hit is obvious, the church's less so.
that pastor, well-intended or not, missed out on an opportunity to be Jesus-in-the-flesh to that family. his church missed an opportunity to be living love to a family that desperately needed community. it is of no small consequence that they had to find that community outside of the church, which i believe is one of the greatest tragedies the church can face. and because of all this, the body of Christ took the hit of missing the parts that this family would've been to the church. could there be a vacancy without them?
i don't have any answers, and certainly don't claim to have an authoritative perspective on this. i just know that it's tragic, for this girl and her family, for this pastor and his church, and for the body of Christ at-large, and i know that it sucks.
i am praying for a love that sees through and beyond fear, prejudice, ignorance, and anything else that stands in the way, because i know that i do not posess it on my own...
