HIV in Australia - reflections from Botswana

As the world stands shocked at the loss of life from the Malaysian Airlines flight being shot down over Ukraine, it has inadvertedly been alerted to the fact that delegates from around the world were meeting for an International conference on HIV/AIDS, since several passengers who died on that flight were headed for that conference.

A couple of Aussie news headlines of recent days have been very interesting to us in relation to HIV/AIDS, as we look from the perspective of living in the country with the second highest infection rate in the world.  A rate, that despite massive educational campaigns, and free availability of ARV drugs is not falling but rising.

The first headline was the fact that HIV rates are climbing in Australia too and of particular concern is the large amount of casual unprotected sex occuring in the homosexual community. Although gay marriage promoters would like us to see homosexuality as 'faithful' relationships, the reality is far from that.  Australia may pride itself on being a 'developed' nation of informed and intelligent people, but it seems not enough to even use 'protection' in the face of HIV/AIDS. 

(Although, mind you, condoms do not provide full protection from HIV as some would like to suggest. They must be always used and correctly used (proper placement and removal, correct lubricant, right size), stored properly, no holes or tears or faults - including those you can't see. Quality is not consistent world-wide and a batch 'passes' even if a few in each batch 'fail' the quality test. Essentially they are only 87% effective. Latex condoms are better than 'natural-skin' ones, and apparently are 'double-dipped' in latex unlike latex gloves, but are still not fail-safe and research testing showed the virus still able to pass through a proportion of those tested.) 

The second headline is that HIV is increasing in Australia in young people (including a 36% rise in infections in 15-19 year olds last year), and in the heterosexual community (25% of infections are heterosexual an increase from 16% in 2012 and a 38% increase from 2001 - 2010) although the Kirby Report of October 2013 that just under 60% of new heterosexual cases are attributed to those born in Africa or Asia or whose sexual partners were born in these regions. "  One could say that therefore its not such a big deal as its within that African or Asian community, but note that it is not only affecting African's or Asians but partners of those folk. And if those partners separate and start a sexual relationship with another person, so the virus spreads.

The third headline was not directly about HIV but had a very interesting piece of information related to it - on the topic of 'concurrent' sexual relationships.  Recently in Queensland Gerard Baden-Clay was convicted of murdering his wife Alison and sentenced to Life in prison.  In the trial Gerard gave evidence of his multiple infidelity and said (according to the Courier Mail newspaper):

 "It was purely about the physical aspect of that, that I went to those other women," he said. "Some of them over an extended period of time, admittedly. Many of them concurrent."

  - the key word there is 'concurrent'.  Here in Botswana one of the biggest reasons for the spread of HIV is the fact of 'concurrent' sexual relationships (of a heterosexual nature).

It seems that there are those Australians who have a very mis-guided notion that the AIDS crisis of Africa is far away and of no relevance to Australians except to maybe donate to charities working in Africa with AIDS orphans.  However, sinful hearts are sinful hearts wherever they may be and HIV/AIDS knows no geographical restrictions.  In addition to the fact that some Africans going to Australia seem to be bringing the virus with them, the same issues of 'casual unprotected sex' and concurrent sexual relationships that cause the spread of HIV in Botswana, exist in Australia too.

Wake up Australia! - you don't have the luxury of immunity from HIV or an immunity to the bias to sin.  You can't keep playing with fire and kid yourself that you cannot be burnt!

And just as an aside as to the some further latest HIV Botswana data: there is much concern since it has been revealed that the very same children who were spared getting HIV from their mother through the massive efforts of the 'Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission', are now becoming infected as adolescents through their own sexual immorality.  Given the chance for 'life' they are choosing sin and getting 'death'.  

The lie of the promise of pleasure that Satan used in the Garden of Eden is still very much alive and well!....and what a reminder this is that we cannot 'blame' Adam and Eve for our sin problem, because given even just a small example of a similar situation, we are just as easily tempted to choose what brings death rather than be content and satisfied and happy with the 'life' we have already been given.

All of this is a reminder that, whether in Botswana or Australia - hearts need Christ!

Comforts and Cautions!

I was just reading in Exodus (16) and Numbers (11- 14) about the Israelites just after they left Egypt and entered the wilderness.  Its a passage I've read many times before, but this time a few more things impacted me - along the lines of comfort and caution! They are relevant and worth pondering for myself, for us in ministry.....and for anyone.

1. It's so easy to complain and grumble, instead of being what we should be - thankful.

2. God is sooooo patient - He endured their complaining again and again, and gave them food to eat daily and water to drink. (Although Psalm 106 warns us about what we complain/ask God for - He gave them what they asked for but sent leanness to their soul.)

3. But we shouldn't mistake God's patience for his tolerance of sin - the Israelites had to endure 40 years of punishment, wandering in the desert. A judgement day is coming.... (2 Peter 3:9)  

4. Just because at one time we trust God and step out in bold faith and follow His commands exactly, doesn't mean we will continue to do the same thing.  

5. Even in the midst of suffering the consequences of our lack of faith in God and our own self-centredness, God is faithful and oh so gracious to sustain us for what we NEED. 

6. Though sin is disobedience to what God says to do or not do, it is primarily dishonour of God Himself. 

Because of our honour/shame research, I tend to notice parts of Scripture in new ways.  There's nothing new there, its just that I'm actually seeing what IS there and has been there all along. So, let me share a little further on this point......

All through the record we have of this event in the book of Numbers, God uses some interesting vocabulary when He talks about Israel's sin.  Their grumbling He called wickedness. He calls them wicked for essentially rejecting the fact that He had brought them out of Egypt and was to bring them into a new land (Numbers 14:27,31,35).  But a close read of Numbers 14:20-23 brings us again to the fact of how sin is to be understood both as disobedience and dishonour - a disobedience that has as dishonour as its source. 

Once upon a time, I would have focused in on the 'disobedience' factor and paid almost no attention to the 'dishonour' language filling these verses.  Yet, Scripture is full of the inseparable one-ness of disobedience and dishonour.  Our disobedience is actually dishonour of God Himself and is observable/definitive proof of that dishonour, and our dishonour of God (in our heart's attitudes) is evidenced by our disobedience of God's commands and will (actions).

"But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it."

(Numbers 14:21-23 ESV)

It's interesting to note:  God puts Israel's sin in the context of His GLORY (majesty, honour) filling the earth and being shown to the Israelites - a glory that they have chosen to ignore or disregard so much that they put God 'to the test' and disobeyed His commands (voice).  He then summarises by saying 'none of those who DESPISED ME shall see it' (Emphasis added). This is a statement of disobedience sandwiched between honour contexts and vocabulary. The fact of disobedience to what God says is not in any way disconnected or detached from despising God Himself.  

Disobedience to the 'law' is inextricably linked to Dishonour of the 'lawgiver'.  In a sermon on 1 John 3 John MacArthur says a similar thing when he makes the following comment about v4....

Look at verse 4, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness and sin is lawlessness." Literally the original says, "Everyone doing sin is doing lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness." Not a transgression of the Law, that's not what he said. He didn't say sin is a transgression of the Law. Sin is hamartia, missing the mark, or wandering off the way. Sin is adikia, a failure to be righteous. He says here we're not talking about sin as a violation, we're talking about sin as an attitude. Everyone doing sin, practicing sin is engaged in practicing lawlessness. And lawlessness is an attitude. It is not so much the transgression of the Law, as the indifference to the Law. Construction here makes sin and lawlessness identical. It's living as if there is no Law. It's living as if there is no law-giver. 

7. In the midst of all this unbelief and doubt and grumbling and in contrast to it, stood two spies who were willing to look to God and not their circumstances - to honour the One who brought them out of the land of Egypt and trust Him to bring them into the land of Promise. 

Oh how easy it is to complain, grumble and be filled with self-pity and hopelessness when we look at the difficult circumstances around us. But by God's grace we can choose to honour the One who is sovereignly and supremely bigger than our circumstances. We can come to know not only the punishment of God, or even the patience and provision of God, but the Power of God at work in and through us by His Spirit, in order to enjoy the fullness of the Promise of His presence and purposes for our lives.

'been thinking about...grey hair!

I recently came across an article that seemed to re-iterate some thoughts I've had in the back of my mind for a while on this topic.  

http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/trends/blogs/the-big-idea/why-dont-women-go-grey-20140612-39zxy.html

So far I've only had a few grey hairs turn up - in fact I remember noticing my first ones over six years ago and I then had quite a number appear and I thought that I would be completely grey before long at that rate...... and then it seemed they disappeared and hardly anymore have come.  I'm not sure what is going on there, but it raised the issue for me of the reality of grey hair.

One of the issues raised in the article is about our desire to avoid the realities of aging and wanting to stay 'forever young'.  In the West, 'young' is seen as 'better' and thus more honourable than 'old'. People seem to want to avoid being seen as 'old' or feeling 'old'. This troubles me when I read in God's word that grey hair is given for a 'glory' (honour) and is nothing to be ashamed of or hidden.

Gray hair is a crown of glory..

(Proverbs 16:31 ESV)

The glory of young men is their strength,

but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

(Proverbs 20:29 ESV)

"You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

(Leviticus 19:32 ESV)

Living in another country and culture has been a great opportunity to see how that grey hair is traditionally seen as something to be respected and honoured rather than despised.  This seems to be more in line with what God desires than what we see currently in the 'West'.

Here are some quotes from the newspaper article that warrant some pondering, especially for us as Christians.....

"If you're covering up your physical attributes and what makes you a unique person, ultimately you're trying to be someone you're not. If you get your hair colour from a bottle, you're going to have the same hair colour as thousands of other people," she says, explaining that it's perhaps healthier to learn to accept yourself as you really are, rather than present yourself as someone you're not.

O'Donoghue says going grey is not about letting yourself go. "Exercise and keeping your mind active are productive ways to approach getting older; you also don't have to cave into physical ailments. But other activities like cosmetic surgery and perhaps dying your hair are more about denial, conformity, or an active non-acceptance of what is a very natural part of life," she says. 

O'Donoghue says one way to move towards an acceptance of ageing is for us to speak more openly about death and aging, rather than pretend it's not going on.

"People don't accept ageing and death as natural parts of life. Perhaps people are frightened of their own mortality. Yet all of us are on a one-way journey to [the grave]. Another way to encourage acceptance is to stop isolating older people from society by sticking them away in nursing homes," she says.

The idea being that if we see more people with grey hair around us, rather than pretend they don't exist, we'll more easily be able to accept our own ageing process and ultimate demise. "We may even develop a greater sense of compassion for the elderly and frail as we may begin to see ourselves in them."

In our society we tend to glorify youth and all that comes with it, and shun older people. But if we acknowledged the entire human experience, rather than focus on the youthful and gorgeous, we won't feel so bad when we find our first grey hairs and wrinkles.

I was challenged by this article, since, as Christians we should be examples to the world around us of a confidence and contentment to be who God created us to be.

• We don't need to be frightened of our mortality, when we have great hope beyond the grave.  (I am reminded of how the medical staff were really impacted when my Grandma was dying, that she was so calm about just letting her body take its natural course rather than be so desperate to undergo every possible intervention no matter how slim the chances were of positive effect - as so many other people are).  As Christians we should be the one with courage and calmness to embrace each stage of life.
• We should be examples of loving and caring for the elderly in our society and being unashamed to have them as part of our lives.  
• We should be unashamed to be and be seen as the age we are by those around us. If getting older is not shameful before God, we have no reason to be ashamed.
• We also should be not so self-focused that we 'stick them away in nursing homes' so we can get on with our lives.  I worked in an Aged Care Facility and know all too well about families who have relatives in such places with hardly a thought for them.   

God gives us all our days - from the frailty of infancy to the frailty of old age and everywhere in between - and no stage of life is 'more important' than any other in God's eyes.  Here, a secular article is calling our society to 'acknowledge the entire human experience', and yet what are we saying to the world by our words and actions as Christians about it?
Living overseas, separated by oceans from my mum and one remaining grandparent, if anything, I have realised even more deeply the value of spending time around those who are 'getting on in years'.  Oh how I miss the opportunity to just sit and chat and learn more from my almost 92 year old Grandma.  She has a perspective on life and what's important and not important in the light of the experience of 92 years that's not something to dismiss or take lightly.  In fact, could I be so bold to suggest that our Western culture's general negative attitude toward aging and the elderly is a reflection on the pride and arrogance of a generation who is too foolish to benefit to the maximum from the wisdom that can come from those who have the ability to look back so far in personal experience and world events.  

From one who has felt the reality of not having the ability to spend the amount of time I would like to these past 13 years with my Grandma and mum (and dad before he died), I would encourage others to make a conscious effort to make time to spend with the older generations, to make it a priority to enable kids to build good relationships with their grand-parents and have as much time as possible with them.  Let them grow to know that those with grey hair have got more that can enrich their lives than they realise.  Let them value and embrace the elderly as God would have them do, and let us set the right example for those kids who are watching us, and will follow our example - good or otherwise. 

Instead of just 'acknowledging' our entire human experience, as Christians, lets go one step further and celebrate and rejoice in each stage of life - in our own lives and the lives of others and with thankfulness receive the blessing that God intends each 'age stage' to be!

(This issue is not entirely unrelated to one which has also been in my thoughts for a while now - and that is of whether our modern society where the 'elderly' don't live with their children, is actually really the most 'God-honouring' way to live?- Living in a culture where the elderly still live either in the same house or in the same yard as the extended family, since to my knowledge there are no 'old-age' homes in Botswana at all, has had a way of prompting me to think more deeply about this.  In the West, there are some ways in which we have come to assume our 'independance' in old age is a good thing and that it is somehow 'less' to live with your kid's family, either in a room of the house or attached 'Granny-flat'.  But are we losing valuable life-learning opportunities, character building situations, even sharing of house-keeping/child-care/financial burdens and a great many opportunities to give and receive love in the process?.....what do you think?)

Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net".

The Language of Vocabulary vs the Language of Meaning

'WONDERFUL'

'LOVE'

'RICHES'

'HEALING'

'GOD'

'SIN'

'FORGIVENESS'

All these words have something in common.....

I have just finished reading a post on Jackson Wu's excellent blog, about whether or not it is right or best to say in evangelism that 'God has a wonderful plan for your life'.  You can read his post by clicking here.  And I would encourage you to do so.

But I thought I would post on this blog, the comment that I put on Jackson Wu's blogpost as it is highly relevant to the research and writing that we are doing on honour/shame.....

Great Post and a topic that needs MUCH more significant consideration.

I think this is all about assumptions and care with terminology - some of the basics in effective communication of any sort. In so many areas of evangelism and discipleship we fail to be aware of possible mis-understanding of words. We make so many assumptions, and we neglect to ensure that the hearer has understood the meaning we intended with clarity and accuracy.  

This is a much bigger problem than just 'wonderful plan for your life'.  When we say "God loves you" - we have to ask what the person listening understands 'love' to be.  If we don't clarify and correct any mis-understandings, that person will interpret our words in the light of the meaning they apply to those words whether that meaning be correct or incorrect.  The words 'God has a wonderful plan for your life' and 'God is love' are not incorrect if understood with biblical meaning. God's idea of 'wonderful' and 'blessing' are not our idea.  His thoughts are far above ours but we so often neglect to communicate that in our effort to (wrongly) make the gospel simply 'attractive'.  Words such as 'success' and 'prosperity' and 'riches' that are used in Scripture are used in certain contexts with much wider meaning than material 'stuff' and 'money'.  Healing in Scripture is used in more than the physical sense. When an evangelical asks a Roman Catholic if they have 'received Christ', a Roman Catholic will say 'yes' as they understand they 'receive Christ' in the wafer at the Mass'. The trouble is, in our evangelism and discipling new Christians, we so often fail to stop and think that the hearer is most probably not putting a biblical meaning to the words we speak. They will be putting their own meaning from their own religious, cultural and personal experiences. We may both, in a sense, be speaking the same language in vocabulary but we are speaking vastly different languages in meanings!

This extends to even the basics of the gospel message.  We need to understand the way the hearer will understand words such as 'God', 'sin', 'forgiveness', etc.  

This of course is so relevant to the honor/shame context as well as other cross-cultural contexts.  'Sin' (ie doing wrong) in honor/shame contexts for example is interpreted as bringing shame before people. 'God' in the context we work in is understood as the 'highest ancestor, uninterested and detached and uninvolved in humanity'. 'Forgiveness' is understood solely in the context of restoring relationships with no taking into account the actual 'breach of law/guilt' or need to confess that which brought about the damage to relationship. If we simply say "God wants to forgive your sin" - what is the hearer understanding?

When we add this to what I believe has been a 'half-gospel' that has been presented which, as you rightly pointed out, has not emphasised the cost involved in following Christ - what it means to be willing to deny self and cease seeking honor from people to do what God requires and we have failed to do - to honor Him above all else, we are going to have all kinds of problems. There will be problems in the church and with 'Christians' who don't see a need to confess sin but just want everyone to love each other and enjoy happy relationships, but also see God as failing to live up to what He promised when they don't get rich and don't cease having difficulties in their earthly relationships.

To complicate matters further, when reaching honor/shame emphasis cultures - in particular the one we work in, the hearer is not about to tell you that they don't understand something or that they are confused about what is being said, as that will seem to bring shame on themselves (since they don't understand) and/or shame on the person speaking (for not explaining themselves clearly or putting that person in a position of not knowing an answer to something).  So it is even more difficult to ascertain that a person is mis-understanding.  Yet this just highlights the even greater need for us to make every effort to better understand the context in which the gospel message is being heard so that we ensure it is heard the way it is meant to be heard...otherwise actually that person remains 'unreached' with the gospel.

Ah, yes, Jackson, you have highlighted a VERY important and rarely spoken about issue indeed!!

....We soooo much need to remember that we need to have our minds renewed with the truth - and the truth includes getting God's definitions on words so that we get God's meaning into our hearts. It's only then that we can expect God's intended transformation of lives.  We need to learn to think differently and we need to help others to see the need to think differently.  If we don't, they will continue to remain in the bondage of their wrong understandings.

We may not think of it this way, but this need to have one's thinking change is a 'battle zone'. Wrong thinking about Shame/Honour has far reaching impact into all corners of a person's life and can keep them away from the freedom in Christ that God longs for them to have. I have a quote from a sermon by John MacArthur  where he commented on 2 Corinthians 10:4,5 which I will leave with you (unfortunately I didn't write down the exact details of the source at the time so I can't give you the link) ..." So what is spiritual war, it is the smashing of ideas that have become the fortifications in which people live, which become their prisons and end up their tomb."