A sermon entitled Jesus was HIV Positive given by a minister at a church in Khayelitsha last month has attracted international media attention.
Newpapers in Britain, India and Australia have been among those that have covered Reverend Xola Skosana’s controversial service and the backlash from some quarters.
But the pastor, who gave the sermons at the non-denominational Way of Life Church in Khayelitsha at the end of August, said that it was not his intention to attract worldwide attention. “The aim was not to start an international dialogue but to create a dialogue in Khayelitsha, which has huge rates of HIV/Aids,” said Skosana, who preaches to a 200-strong congregation in the township on Sundays.
He said that he wanted to “portray a picture of Jesus who lives in their skin and walks in their shoes”.
“God is on the side of the destitute, marginalised and poor. He’s not out to judge or victimise people,” he said.
Skosana told British newspaper The Guardian he chose the title for his three-part sermon to draw attention to “a very serious issue”.
“In many parts of the Bible, God put himself in the position of the destitute, the sick, the marginalised,” he told the Guardian. “When we attend to those who are sick, we are attending to Him. When we ignore people who are sick, we are ignoring Him.”
Skosana, who has been in the ministry for 24 years and has lost two sisters to Aids, has received condemnation from some for his sermon. He said the reaction he has received has been “unbelievable”.
“Basically, people are very angry,” he said. “The worst of emotions are being expressed. People cannot stand the name of Jesus being in the same sentence as HIV. It tells us how people view HIV; that it is a sexual promiscuity thing.
“The message people are sending is that people with HIV must go to a silent death, even if they are a woman whose husband has been unfaithful, a baby who was born with HIV, or a woman who was raped,” Skosana said.
Skosana concluded his last HIV sermon by taking an HIV test in front of his congregation. Many church goers followed his example. “One hundred young people in my church were tested voluntarily. That for me was the most positive result of this,” he said.
The pastor did not, and would not, disclose his status, however, because he said that he did not want to put pressure on members of his congregation to do the same.
Skosana said that the response to his sermon from fellow church leaders has been mixed but he called on them to use their influence to address important issues affecting their communities, such as HIV/Aids. “Churches must wake up and smell the coffee. They must use the influence they have to contribute to positive things in society.
“Imagine how many people would be saved if church leaders did what I did?” he said, referring to his public HIV test.