Time to offend everyone again. :)
I've been a little hesitant to send this one because it's a bit more
controversial than usual. But hesitant or not, I believe it needs to
be said.
Enjoy.
-----------------
Thoughts on the Porn-Industry HIV Scare: Should I Rejoice or Should I
Mourn ?
Kerry Gilliard
Thinking Biblically Commentary
4/26/04

If you've been keeping up with the news over the past ten days or so,
you're no doubt familiar with the fact that the pornography industry in
the US has had a good scare as of late. Two of its' stars have been
tested as HIV positive and as many as FIFTY other people they've both
been in contact with could be infected as well. Responses from the
porn-hustlers and producers have varied. Most have called for an
industry-wide shut-down for sixty days, so that everyone can be tested,
a few fall back on the old 'safe-sex' mantra (promoting condom use
only in films) and still a few are more worried about their apartments,
cars and lifestyle than about contracting a fatal disease.

I wasn't surprised at all by the comments of one porn-maker:
"I'm against any stop in production," said Tyler Cash, a producer with
Sinamotion Pictures in Chatsworth. "It will put a lot of people out of
business. You'll have people who will start losing their apartments.
It's just not fair." (Fri Apr 16, 7:55 AM ET, LA Times.)

Commenting on a message board I frequent, I wrote the following:

*begin quote
In one aspect, I'd like to say Praise GOD because maybe this will shake
a few people up and make them realize that God isn't mocked - you do
reap what you sow. Corrupt God's beautiful creation of sex and
continually middle finger Him with each movie you make... and pay for
it.

On the other hand, I equally weep for them and feel genuine sorrow.
Death by HIV is probably one of the most horrific ways that a person
can die. To slowly have your body fall apart on itself is....well.....
sad.

Still, I already know what's going to happen.

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not
repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons,
and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot
see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic
arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. - Rev. 9:20

I pray that God grants many of these repentance from this evil and
wicked lifestyle.
*endquote

Of course, this drew no end of 'holier-than-thou' and 'who are you to
speak for God' statements from some in the local peanut gallery on the
board. In a world where there is no absolute truth (except that there
is no absolute truth), every Christian who takes a particular moral
stance and declares it as universally binding is 'holier-than-thou' –
that's the cop out line for the postmodernistic mind.

I got some constructive criticism from one person and wrote back to her
(and the rest of the board) expounding on my first comments above. I
pretty much broke it down to four points – and these points were my
view based on a Biblical understanding of truth, God's purpose for sex,
the consequences of sin and the believers' relation to Christ Himself
the world.

First off, folks who claim Christ ARE (in one aspect) holier-than-thou.
Now don't get it twisted. The holiness they possess is borrowed – it
is imputed, or counted on our behalf. It is what Paul calls an 'alien
righteousness' – the righteousness of Christ, counted on behalf of the
believer in Philippians 3:8-10. It is as if God looks at believers
with 'Christ-coated' glasses. He sees Christ's perfection given on
behalf of imperfect men and women like ourselves. It's not ours
intrinsically – we can't earn it, we don't deserve it and God would be
perfectly just if He never gave it at all. No room for boasting about
it like we merited it. That brings up the other aspect – practically,
believers aren't sinless, but as they grow in Christ and move onto
Christian maturity, they should sin less. This is called
sanctification. It is the process where God does the cleaning up of
the believers' lives as he/she daily dies to themselves and decides to
live for Christ who died for them.

This moves us to our next point. Sinlessness was never a prerequisite
for folks to tell the truth. I walk around in the same flesh as
everybody else, breathe the same air as everybody else, and commit some
of the same sins as everybody else. I ain't no different than Paul,
who in one breath spoke of homosexual folks as receiving in their
bodies the penalty due for their perversion (Romans 1:27) and in
another reminded everyone that he was just as human as the rest of us
and struggled with sin as well (i.e.- Romans 7, 1 Tim. 1:15). Struggle
is the key word. Not live in a consistent lifestyle with no remorse or
desire to change. But fight tooth and nail against, at every
opportunity turn away from and make every effort to get things right
IMMEDIATELY when we do fall into this stuff (1 John 2:1-6, Psalm 51 and
a host of other passages).

This fact – that it is God's righteousness and not our own, is reason
enough not to boast about being 'such a good person' for not engaging
in this sin or that. Sin is the thorn which keeps the believer humble,
ever present shame in the midst of his/her own pride and a reminder
that Christ alone is his/her only remedy for the horrendous malaise
that sin makes of our lives. It is at the foot of the cross that we
are reminded – DAILY – that our good days are never so good that we
don't need Christ, neither are our bad days so bad that we are beyond
His grace and forgiveness.

My Bible tells me that I am to be an imitator of Christ - love the same
things He loved, hate the same things He hated. My Bible also tells me
in 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 that I am His ambassador - so YEAH, I do speak
for Him - so does every person who claims the name of Christ, whether
they realize it or not. Some just don't do it accurately because they
don't know His word, don't take the time to study it, learn it and
apply it, etc... and could care less about proclaiming it and defending
it, even though ALL of these things are commands.

The same Bible supports my third point – God's purpose for sex. Just
like every other teenager growing up in a 'religious' but not
necessarily 'Christian' home, I and my friends dabbled in porn at
times. But when I became a Christian, I changed. This is the
important word. A lot of times, non-Christians (and some professing
Christians too) forget that Christ doesn't simply give 'fire insurance
faith', but actually changes folks. Over time, with study, I grew to
realize more and more of God's purpose for sex. I see porn for what it
is - a perversion of what God created *good* and a bastardization of
what He intended to be not only the earthly expression of His
relationship to His church, but also the highest way a man and woman
could show their oneness and enjoy each other as husband and wife. Sex
was never meant to be separated from marriage.

Pornography degrades the woman engaging in it into being simply an
orifice for sexual pleasure and degrades the man down to being a base
animal only out to satisfy one urge. It fosters the growth of an
unhealthy view of sex - which can create unrealistic expectations upon
someone's wife or husband to perform what they've been watching on
video when such actions may make them feel disrespected, cheap and
used. Even fabled professional wrestler Jake 'the Snake' Roberts made
this very point in his interview on the 'Beyond The Mat' documentary.

Marriage is to be held in honor by all and the bed undefiled, but God
will judge those who engage in fornication (Hebrews 13:4). We have
evidence of this in the very same Romans 1 passage I mentioned earlier
(Romans 1:24-32). Sometimes, God hands folks over to the consequences
of their actions or behaviors as a form of judgement . So yes, I am
saying that this is a form of God's judgment falling upon them (the
folks in the porn industry). There's plenty of Biblical precedent for
applying 'you reap what you sow' here.

The same God who is spoken of as being loving, forgiving and ever
faithful, is also wrathful, just and holy. He is not a doting
grandfather sitting on a cloud in heaven, giving a winking eye to sin
and not judging anything. If that's the view of God you hold, you hold
a fantasy and the wishful thinking of your own mind. The same God who
sent Christ to die in the place of sinners as well as healed folks when
He walked upon this earth as God the Son in His love, also destroyed
Sodom and Gommorah for their perversion and sent a flood upon the
earth, sparing only eight people, because of His justice. The same
Jesus who invited children to come to Him also threw over the
moneychangers tables in the temple because they'd made it a house of
thieves.

Don't be deceived.

That brings us home to the dichotomy of thought. How should a believer
feel about the issue, in light of the Biblical record ? Should I
rejoice or should I mourn ?

Both.

I'm somewhat happy. As a believer and someone who does hold the concept
of TRUTH dear, as well as other things which are close to the heart of
God, I *am* glad that something will temporarily stop this perverse
'industry' from further tempting men to break their vows to their wives
by delighting in women on screen and dull their appetite for their
wives. I am happy that the one man somewhere who might have been
tempted to watch that one particular movie with this chick in it... may
not see that movie now because it won't be made. And he may get the
idea to call his wife up instead and talk about what makes him feel
'un-manly' at home that has him turning to porn to satisfy his desire
for control over his emotional life. And they may end up in counseling
and may end up having a stronger marriage as a result of it. PRAISE
GOD FOR THAT.

This may scare away that one teenage girl who was raped at 13 and now
has issues with sex, has become promiscuous and was considering getting
into the porn industry at 18 just because she liked to feel like she
now has 'control' over men to make them want her and desire her just
like someone once had control over her. And she may stumble into
someone's church where the pastor's wife had a similar experience
(rape) @ age 13 and be able to talk this girl through all she's got
bottled up AND show her how to get into a right relationship with God.
That's healing. PRAISE GOD FOR THAT.

In another aspect, I'm quite *SAD*. I've been a victim of 'learning
the hard way' on several occasions, including times I've been kicked
off discussion boards for letting my mouth run ahead of my brain. And
in those cases, I've done my best to right the wrong as soon as
possible. That's the Biblical pattern. In one file on my site, I
mention a situation of a particular person whom I know who is now HIV
positive, grew up in 'church' and has not renounced his lifestyle,
still engages in unprotected sex, etc... I seriously feel for that boy.
I teach several homosexual students and sometimes I overhear the mess
they've gotten themselves into as a result of their lifestyles and the
choices they make associated with it. I sometimes ask them if they're
havin' all these issues and problems, why not walk away from the
lifestyle just like they walked into it ? I get varied responses –
"this is who I am", "I can't change" and much more. I ask is "it
worth it ?" and most of the time, I hear 'no' or 'I don't know'... and
some of them know people who took all the 'precautions' and still ended
up HIV positive or burnin' with something else.

Do any of these kids *deserve* HIV ? They sure are busy tryin' to get
it by their behavior. Does the drug dealer who was once an honor roll
student deserve to get gunned down in front of his momma ? He sure is
asking for it by his actions and lifestyle. One part of life is taking
responsibility for your choices and realizing there are consequences to
your actions.

And there is genuine sadness when people I know have to go through the
horror of either watching their own body fall apart from Kaposi's
Sarcoma or see someone they love fall apart because the medications
cost too much for them to afford and their HMO won't cover it. It's
sad to see folks walk away from them and no longer speak to them,
leaving them in further isolation. It's sad to see them turn their
anger outward and declare that they'll sleep with and try to purposely
infect others. Or to hear someone hack and cough because of PCP until
they almost break a rib.

So when I say I pray that they turn from their wicked lifestyle and
find the true and living God , I mean it sincerely. HIV positive or
not, the life they live, even though part of it was wasted on their own
pleasures and lusts, may be yet redeemed for His purpose and glory.
One of Jesus' own entourage was an ex-prostitute and the chick at the
well in John 4 wasn't exactly a virgin herself. A life yielded to God
will change.

Therefore, when ministries - either by individuals who were involved in
the porn industry or people who reach out to people infected by HIV-
pop up and show compassion, I also say PRAISE GOD for them as well.
Whether it be something as simple as a hot meal to a shut-in ex-junkie
too weak from PCP to go outside or some as simple as general health
care and a Bible study for victims of other HIV-related diseases, I
PRAISE GOD for these folks being in the right place to reach out to
those afflicted with this plague. I pray for their salvation most of
all.

But the other statement I said was also true. Some, even in the face
of severe judgment, simply will NOT change (Rev. 9:19-20). The dude in
the article who complained about people losing apartments and stuff
proves my point picture perfect. I pray God changes folks like that,
too.

For Theologically Correct dot Com, I'm Kerry Gilliard. Be blessed.


Soli Deo Gloria,
Kerry Gilliard
Director/Founder
Theologically Correct dot Com Ministries
http://www.theologicallycorrect.com
Internet: kerry@...
AOL: BeAManOfGod1914
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