Well, no comments on Haggard's statement, and I can say as I blame you. This journey has been an interesting one for me, and as I've discussed it with others it probably has a greater effect on me than others.
My experience has shown me that there are people in churches who are not paying attention to the Evangelical Movement in America, they are not paying much attention to the Religious Right and Moral Majority, and most have no idea who Ted Haggard is. The news, which didn't get as much play as I thought it would've, didn't seem to make it on the radar of many people. The two groups most affected seem to be the Opponents and the Pastors. The Opponents, obviously those who are promoting the Homosexual Agenda jumped on the opportunity to use this moral failing as a means to political gain. But I would say there's a large portion of the gay community who probably didn't know who Ted Haggard is and only chuckled at the irony.
The other affected party was the Pastors. I'm not sure why, but my own experience was very deep. I had a psychological experience unlike any that I have ever experienced. I was absorbed by this story. As mentioned in a former post, I considered him a mentor. Someone who had shaped my view of ministry (and I still am thankful for it, it was a very positive thing). I guess it was because it was a fellow tradesman. I would guess that CEOs all over America experienced something similar when Enron and WorldCom were exposed. Or maybe I know how the Baltimore Orioles felt when Raphael Palmeiro was exposed for steriods. It's a feeling of shock (Why?), betrayal (He cheated and embarrassed us), and depression (I'm no less susceptible to sin than he is). It played out in my emotions (I felt I was on the verge of tears for most of the weekend), my appetite (Not such a bad thing in my case), and other ways.
I talked to other pastors who seemed to have a very similar set of symptoms, and to a lot of people who didn't care. I asked my wife why we had not learned our lesson from Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker, and heard from an elder Christian that it would likely happen another couple times in my lifetime. And I faced the fact that it could be me and that was probably the most scary part of this journey.
And I walked around my block yesterday, and I prayed in a type of groan that wasn't audible but echoed through my soul.
--Ben
3 comments:
too hard to comment on! I, too, was grieved by this news, if "grieved" can even sum up my feelings. I assumed it was all over the news back home, because I get my news from the Net and its been in all the headlines, practically by the hour. I saw a terrible YouTube video that had spliced together pieces from his sermons that almost made me literally sick. I admired the honesty of his letter confessing to the church and I feel that his poor wife must need so much prayer, too.
Years ago, a pastor at VFCC told us (in spiritual emphasis week) that if we didn't dedicate our sex lives to the Lord, along with every other area of our life, the devil would use it not only to bring us down, but to do it in the most public way possible and therefore, lead many away from the Lord. It pains me to see his warning lived out in the example of a Christian pastor who apparently did not dedicate 100% of his life to the Lord.
Here's a question for you: Does this revelation put everything that Haggard has ever said and/or done into question?
That is, was he "right" about everything he taught/preached/represented and only "wrong" in this one area, or does this revelation make the whole package suspect?
Most of what I've read about this event from Christians is filled with compassion and forgiveness - and for the most part I think that's appropriate. But there is part of me that asks why we aren't condemning this man - because this revelation is bound to have caused severe damage to the Body (at large) as well as possibly turning thousands from the Lord.
I can see that people don't want Satan to win in this situation - again, I think that's appropriate; but I am distressed that this man (whom I admittedly know little about) has done so much damage. Many of the lost people in my life marginalize Christianity as being irrelevant and Christians as being two-faced hypocrites. This only serves to prove their case.
That makes me angry.
I've got more work to do to dispel these myths. I am tempted to point my finger at this man and say "you're right, here's another example of how Christians blow it; what a loser."
Dear B4d6uy,
No this doesn't put everything he's ever said/done/preached in question. He has a pretty good record of biblical preaching. And the Bible is truth.
No the whole package should not be in question. His hypocrisy doesn't render truth false.
Forgiveness yes, tolerance no. We should never tolerate sin, and "should expel the immoral brother". But we're all about redemption that is what Christ's work is, and to every repentant heart redemption is applied. If he is unrepentant than kick him out of the body.
What major harm to the body is there? This is a question that I have wrestled through as well. It really seems to me that the only major damage came among the political society of gays and gay rights activists. Mostly no one else knew him and the only attention was because of his constaninian approach to government. (I'm not in favor of this track and think this is the fallout of playing the unChristlike game of politics.)
Ted Haggard was never going to be the reason thousands came to the Lord, nor is he responsible for thousands moving farther away. God has revealed himself to all men so that they will present themselves before the Lord without excuse. (Rom. 1)
Hypocrisy is regularly an alarm raised about Christians. I think it's deplorable at whatever level, but I also think that taking a situation like this and overlaying on all Christians is a shallow attempt at denial and any honest person would see that. I don't think this proves their case, it only further stands as a straw man for their denial.
It's interesting in light of your arguments leading to your last point, I think the work that's left to do is point the finger at myself saying look I blow it, I'm the loser Jesus sought like a woman who's lost her rent money and turned her house upside down to find it or a father who is waiting for his extravagant and estranged son to come home.
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