Ted Haggard - A thought-provoking Christian response

[TyCobb 0]

November 5, 2006

 

The Haggard Truth

 

Gordon MacDonald on the lies all-too-easily believed

 

What are Christian leaders to make of the spectacularly painful experience of watching Ted Haggard this past week? The president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of giga-church New Life Community in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gradually admitted to purchasing methamphetamines and the services of a male prostitute. We asked Leadership editor-at-large Gordon MacDonald to reflect on what we should learn from this episode.

 

It is difficult beyond description to watch Ted Haggard’s name and face dragged across the TV screen every hour on the news shows. But as my friend, Tony Campolo said in an interview last week, when we spend our lives seizing the microphone to speak to the world of our opinions and judgments, we should not surprised when the system redirects its spotlight to us, justly or unjustly, in our bad moments.

 

We are still in the process of learning what has actually transpired over the past many months on the secret side of Ted’s life. In just the last few hours the leadership of New Life Church has announced that he has been asked to resign. His ministry at New Life Church and as leader of the NAE is over.

 

I’ve spent more than a little time trying to understand how and why some men/women in all kinds of leadership get themselves into trouble whether the issues be moral, financial, or the abuse of power and ego. I am no stranger to failure and public humiliation. From those terrible moments of twenty years ago in my own life I have come to believe that there is a deeper person in many of us who is not unlike an assassin.

 

This deeper person (like a contentious board member) can be the source of attitudes and behaviors we normally stand against in our conscious being. But it seeks to destroy us and masses energies that—unrestrained—tempt us to do the very things we “believe against.” If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage. Wallace Hamilton once wrote, “Within each of us there is a herd of wild horses all wanting to run loose.”

 

It seems to me that when people become leaders of outsized organizations and movements, when they become famous and their opinions are constantly sought by the media, we ought to begin to become cautious. The very drive that propels some leaders toward extraordinary levels of achievement is a drive that often keeps expanding even after reasonable goals and objectives have been achieved. Like a river that breaks its levy, that drive often strays into areas of excitement and risk that can be dangerous and destructive. Sometimes the drive appears to be unstoppable. This seems to have been the experience of the Older Testament David and his wandering eyes, Uzziah in his boredom, and Solomon with his insatiable hunger for wealth, wives and horses. They seem to have been questing—addictively?—for more thrills or trying to meet deeper personal needs, and the normal ways that satisfy most people became inadequate for them.

 

When I see a leader who becomes stubborn and rigid, who becomes increasingly less compassionate toward his adversaries, increasingly tyrannical in his own organization, who rouses anger and arrogance in others, I wonder if he is not generating all of this heat because he is trying so hard to say “no” to something surging deep within his own soul. Are his words and deeds not so much directed against an enemy “out there” as they are against a much more cunning enemy within his own soul. More than once I have visited with pastors who have spent hours immersed in pornography and then gone on to preach their most “spirit-filled” sermons against immorality a day or two later. It’s a disconnect that boggles the rational mind.

 

No amount of accountability seems to be adequate to contain a person living with such inner conflict. Neither can it contain a person who needs continuous adrenalin highs to trump the highs of yesterday. Maybe this is one of the geniuses of Jesus: he knew when to stop, how to refuse the cocktail of privilege, fame and applause that distorts one’s ability to think wisely and to master self.

 

More than once we’ve seen the truth of a person’s life come out, not all at once, but in a series of disclosures, each an admission of further culpability which had been denied just a day or two before. Perhaps inability to tell the full truth is a sign that one is actually lying to himself and cannot face the full truth of the behavior in his own soul.

 

But then all sin begins with lies told to oneself. The cardinal lies of a failed leader? I give and give and give in this position; I deserve special privileges—perhaps even the privilege of living above the rules. Or, I have enough charm and enough smooth words that I can talk anything (even my innocence) into reality. Or, so much of my life is lived above the line of holiness that I can be excused this one little faux pas. Or, I have done so much for these people; now it’s their time to do something for me—like forgiving me and giving a second chance.

 

I am heart-broken for Ted Haggard and his wife and family. I cannot imagine the torture they are living through at this very moment. Toppled from national esteem and regard in a matter of hours, they must adjust to wondering who their real friends are now. They have to be asking how these events—known by the world—will affect their children. Mrs. Haggard will not be able to go the local WalMart without wondering who she may bump into when she turns into Aisle 3 (A reporter? A church member? A critic?). Both Haggards will face cameras every time they emerge from their home in the next few days until the media finds another person with whom to have its sport.

 

The travel, the connections, the interviews, the applause of the congregation, the organizational power, the perks and privileges, the honor: gone! The introit to people of position/power: gone! The opportunity to say an influential word each day into the lives of teachable younger people: gone! The certainty that God has anointed one for such a time as this: gone? And what will grow each day is the numbing realization of regret and loss. In time they will be approached by people who will say in one way or another, “I used to trust you, but what you’ve done has made me very angry….you’ve turned my son away from the gospel….I thought I knew you, but I guess I didn’t.” It will be a long time before either of the Haggards feel safe again. Suffering over this will last most of a lifetime even after some sort of restoration is rendered. How I wish this could all be lifted from them.

 

Perhaps there will come a day down the pathway when there will be some kind of return to influence. But right now it is—or should be—a long way in the distance.

 

Among my prayers is that the leadership of New Life Church will not assume that “restoration” means getting Ted back into the pulpit as soon as possible. The worst thing in the world would be to raise his hopes that just because he models a contrite spirit he can return to public life in the near future. He, for his own sake, must take a long time to work through the causative factors in this situation. He will not resolve whatever is wrong in his own soul by going back to work. He and his wife must set aside a long, long time to allow their personal relationship to heal. Forgiveness is a long healing, not a momentary one. And there are those five children. Thinking of them makes me want to weep. And then there are countless people in and beyond their church who must take a long time to figure out what all of this means. No, the worst things Ted’s friends and overseers can do is to try and bring him back from this prematurely. The best thing they can do is ask him to retreat into silence with those he loves the most and listen—to God, to trusted elders.

 

The statement issued by the NAE Executive Committee late Friday afternoon seems flat to me. It appears to have been written by savvy PR people who wanted to say all the nice and appropriate things which might mollify the media and cause no heartburn for the lawyers. The burden of the statement seems to be that the NAE is already on to the question of who the next leader will be. The fact is that, all too often, we have seen the President of NAE on the news and talk shows speaking as the leader of so-called 33 million evangelicals. I’m not sure that most of us were polled as to whether or not we wanted Ted Haggard (or anyone) speaking for us. I know that last time I felt safe about anyone speaking for evangelicals as a whole was when Billy Graham talked on our behalf. But, as of late, an illusion was permitted to grow: that the NAE was a well-organized, highly networked movement of American evangelicals headed by Ted Haggard who, when he spoke, spoke for all of us. Now, unfortunately, that voice has misspoken, and our movement has to live with the consequences.

 

I have a fairly poor batting average when it comes to predicting the future. But my own sense is that the NAE (as we know it) will probably not recover from this awful moment. Should it? Leaders of various NAE constituencies are likely to believe that their fortunes are better served by new and fresher alliances.

 

Ever since the beginning of the Bush administration, I have worried over the tendency of certain Evangelical personalities to go public every time they visited the White House or had a phone conference with an administration official. I know it has wonderful fund-raising capabilities. And I know the temptation to ego-expansion when one feels that he has the ear of the President. But the result is that we are now part of an evangelical movement that is greatly compromised….identified in the eyes of the public as deep in the hip pockets of the Republican party and administration. My own belief? Our movement has been used. There are hints that the movement—once cobbled together by Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga—is beginning to fragment because it is more identified by a political agenda that seems to be failing and less identified by a commitment to Jesus and his kingdom. Like it or not, we are pictured as those who support war, torture, and a go-it-alone (bullying) posture in international relationships. Any of us who travel internationally have tasted the global hostility toward our government and the suspicion that our President’s policies reflect the real tenants of Evangelical faith. And I might add that there is considerable disillusionment on the part of many of our Christian brothers/sisters in other countries who are mystified as to where American evangelicals are in all of this. Our movement may have its Supreme Court appointments, but it may also have compromised its historic center of Biblical faith. Is it time to let the larger public know that some larger-than-life evangelical personalities with radio and TV shows do not speak for all of us?

 

And so I pray: Lord and Father, how sad you must be when you see the most powerful and the weakest of your children fall prey to the energy of sin and evil. There is nothing any one has ever done that we –each of us—is not capable of doing. So when we pray for our brother, Ted Haggard, we pray not out of pity or self-righteousness but with a humble spirit because we stand with him on level ground before the cross. Father, give this man and his wife the gift of your grace. Protect them from the constant accusations of the evil one who will seek to deny them sleep, tempt them to talk too much to the public, arouse conflict between them as a couple and with their children. Send the right people into their lives who can provide the correct mixture of hope and healing love. Deliver them from people who will curry their favor by telling them things they should not hear. Restrain them from making poor judgments in their most fearful moments.

 

Lord, be present to the leaders and people of the New Life Church. And to the NAE leadership which has to live with the side-effects of this tragedy. And to people in the evangelical tradition who are wondering today who they can trust. What more can we pray for? You know all things. We so very little. Amen.

[wiffleball 4,688]

He lost me at , "when they become famous and their opinions are constantly sought by the media",

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Faagard did everything GD thing in his power to get his face in front of as many cameras as he possibly could. I sincerely doubt most reporters gave a shiit what he thought and chased him down until he reluctantly commented.

[TyCobb 0]

He lost me at , "when they become famous and their opinions are constantly sought by the media",

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Faagard did everything GD thing in his power to get his face in front of as many cameras as he possibly could. I sincerely doubt most reporters gave a shiit what he thought and chased him down until he reluctantly commented.

 

They seek Falwell's opinion all the time. But in a car-crash sort of way.

[FranksTanks 0]

This deeper person (like a contentious board member) can be the source of attitudes and behaviors we normally stand against in our conscious being. But it seeks to destroy us and masses energies that—unrestrained—tempt us to do the very things we “believe against.” If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage. Wallace Hamilton once wrote, “Within each of us there is a herd of wild horses all wanting to run loose.

 

This is the kind of thinking from these guys that I have a problem with. These guys know this kind of stuff exists in everyone, whether its drugs, porno, being gay, etc., all the stuff the church speaks out against, yet they continue to suppress and demonize it. Haggard is who he is and they are not going to "cure" him like they want. If religion preached a more accepting message and truly forgave everyone, I think you would see more people let these issues go and we would move on quicker. But as long as they keep it all in the closet and talk down to those that they deem immoral nothing will change. They'll still be labeled hypocrites, and they will continue to turn more and more people away from religion.

[Voltaire 4,616]

Thanks for posting, you could have just buried this as it is rather embarassing for you Evangelicals -and you know how hostile a lot of us are- but you posted it. I was wondering what the Evangelical Christian community's response to this scandal would be but I hadn't taken the time to look it up. You call it "thought provoking", I think that's a good description.

 

You know, I use to be Christian myself so I have a good understanding of where this guy comes from. All his life, Ted Haggard has likely been fighting and struggling with his h0mosexuality issues. Praying straining. Cursing them both from the pulpit and in his own private consciousness. He views it as a dark stain on his soul and he wants it gone. And his whole life revolves around condemning this part of himself and condemning other people who don't fight this battle.

 

THe thing is though... his feelings are natural. Most people have a straight orientation, some have a gay one, some have both, but everybody has some form of sexual drive. And these are real natural and ordinary. So what Ted Haggard and the evangelical community need to learn to do is learn to love themselves and to accept themselves as who they are and understand that eeryone has a sexual drive. And if they want to keep their sexual appetites in check and preach that, that's OK. A reckless sex life can lead to unwanted pregnancies and diseases.

 

Ted Haggard is gay. No amount of praying and self condemnation and suppression is going to cure him of that. He already knows this, but he's just going to re-double his eforts anyways. What he ought to do is stop criticizing gay people, realize that it's normal, that he's normal, that there's nothing wrong with him and learn to love himself.

 

Unfortunatly, for all the help he's going to get.... he's going to look for it in the same places that condemn his orientation, he's not going to get the help he needs. He's going to hold to his beliefs that he's wrong and sinful and hate his gay side the rest of his life. I hope not. I think Ted Haggard could do the world a lot of good if he just accepts himself as he is and goes about trying to get evangelicals to accept h0mosexuals instead of ostracising them.

[MDC 5,999]

For the most part I think this is an excellent article and I agree with nearly all of it.

 

My only hitch, and this is probably my own failing as a Christian, is that Ted Haggard did a lot to make the lives of h0mosexual people like him miserable. It would be garden variety hypocrisy if Haggard had been caught doing meth or even caught being gay. But that he devoted so much of his time and energy into stigmatizing people who "struggled" with the same "affliction" he claims to struggle is IMO just galling and indefensible.

 

I feel very bad for his wife, who may have just found out that her marriage was a lie, and I particularly feel bad for his kids who are going to suffer for the bad choices their father made. But as for Ted Haggard, well ... I don't want to wish misery on him, but the disgrace he's feeling right now is deserved. I think it's admirable that his flock would forgive him, but Haggard himself made his own bed and now I suppose he'll have to lie in it.

 

It's a shame that Haggard hated himself and I feel bad for him in that regard. But instead of doing the right thing he redirected that hatred toward others and disgraced his entire family along with himself. So people should certainly forgive him - I kind of pity him - but being banished from a position of authority forever is what the guy deserves and in the long run it's probably the best thing for him.

[Boz/BoFan 0]

"Religion is the opiate of the masses".

 

It should be baaaaaaned.

[Voltaire 4,616]

The reason I have zero sympathy for the guy, and think this is so funny, is that the guy has spent his whole life criticizing and condemning and hating gays but he turns out to be gay himself.

 

These religious leaders put themsleves up as pillars of virtue, knowing that everybody struggles with their sex drive, so they can condemn the ones that deviate from what they say. It's unnatural what they expect to force people to swallow.

 

Who I do have sympathy for is the poor kid in the audience who listens to Haggard, who fights, supresses is hom0sexuality and thinks he's going to hell since all he hears all the time is how bad and evil he is.

[TyCobb 0]

Thanks for posting, you could have just buried this as it is rather embarassing for you Evangelicals -and you know how hostile a lot of us are- but you posted it.

 

You're welcome. I can take the heat.

 

I would probably differ with your conclusions, as I think the sin is still a sin whether Haggard committed it, condemned it, ignored it, accepted it, or whatever.

 

The real shame is the hypocrisy. Most pastors I know admit all the time they are sinners saved by God's unmerited grace. They are merely messengers.

 

Some, however, choose a more prominent role in "preaching" condemnation and judgment. And the added spotlight on their own lives is deserved.

 

It's unnatural what they expect to force people to swallow.

 

Pun intended?

[Voltaire 4,616]

You're welcome. I can take the heat.

 

I would probably differ with your conclusions, as I think the sin is still a sin whether Haggard committed it, condemned it, ignored it, accepted it, or whatever.

 

The real shame is the hypocrisy. Most pastors I know admit all the time they are sinners saved by God's unmerited grace. They are merely messengers.

 

Some, however, choose a more prominent role in "preaching" condemnation and judgment. And the added spotlight on their own lives is deserved.

Pun intended?

 

I'm not big on "sin" you know. I lead a good life, treat people well and do the same things I was doing when I was a Christian, I haven't changed much in that regard. I'm also older and less stoopid. I just don't beat myself up over my transgretions/sins whatever anymore.

 

As for tjhe pun, I knew when I typed it it sounded fishy, but I went with it. I'm really not sure if Haggard forces people to swallow. I'm not sure his take on the 'it's through giving of ourselves that we receive' bit.

[TyCobb 0]

I'm not big on "sin" you know. I lead a good life, treat people well and do the same things I was doing when I was a Christian, I haven't changed much in that regard. I'm also older and less stoopid. I just don't beat myself up over my transgretions/sins whatever anymore.

 

I don't beat myself up either (no pun intended here either). But that's because I'm forgiven, not because I've opted for the "I'm okay / you're okay" philosophy.

 

Sin is the catch, isn't it? Easy to get people "saved" ... not so easy to get em "lost" anymore.

[Riddlen 1]

that was a really long post

[MDC 5,999]

I don't beat myself up either (no pun intended here either). But that's because I'm forgiven, not because I've opted for the "I'm okay / you're okay" philosophy.

 

Sin is the catch, isn't it? Easy to get people "saved" ... not so easy to get em "lost" anymore.

 

I can't believe in a God who would make homersexuality a sin and curse people like Ted Haggard with it.

[Voltaire 4,616]

I can't believe in a God who would make homersexuality a sin and curse people like Ted Haggard with it.

 

I'm glad the only deviant behavior I was inflicted with at birth is being left handed. It's a generally benign condition in the western world and in Asia, even more so now that we've gotten rid of rotary phones. The one time it was a problem that I felt discriminated against was in microbiology class. I had to look at sh*t under the microscope on the test, we had to put the noteboard with our answer sheet on the right of the microscope before we looked in the viewer, but I chronically inadvertantly kept puting it on the left.

 

I've never been sentanced to hell in the Christian relgion for being left handed, but the Arabs I know used to criticize Presidents George H. Bush and Clinton for that.

[MLCKAA 421]

The reason I have zero sympathy for the guy, and think this is so funny, is that the guy has spent his whole life criticizing and condemning and hating gays but he turns out to be gay himself.

 

These religious leaders put themsleves up as pillars of virtue, knowing that everybody struggles with their sex drive, so they can condemn the ones that deviate from what they say. It's unnatural what they expect to force people to swallow.

 

Who I do have sympathy for is the poor kid in the audience who listens to Haggard, who fights, supresses is hom0sexuality and thinks he's going to hell since all he hears all the time is how bad and evil he is.

 

 

This demonstrates the power of the Lord to work in the lives of many people through just one dude. People who supported Haggard are now being forced to examine their attitudes toward gays. Hopefully they recognize that as Christians we should be non-judging and treat everyone with love. Such is the core message of Jesus Christ. Go Jesus!

[Voltaire 4,616]

I'm still trying to figure out why so many Evangelicals are allegedly so disappointed and turned off by politics. Don't get me wrong, if they want to leave, here's the door. I don't believe it for an instant, I think they're still extremely powerful, still the bane of western civilization, and will continue to spread political poison until they turn America into a theocracy and scrap the Bill of Rights.

 

So I'm reading this article...

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/...&ei=5087%0A

 

... and I can't believe it. It seems to me that the evangelicals were dictating policy and the whole administration was kowtowing to them and catering to their every whim. But they weren't satisfied? What weren'tthey satisfied about? And I still don't understand. The Evangelicals owned the government for 6 years and eveytinh they wanted got passed. The Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe v Wade. Banning Gay marriage passed every place but one. 49% of Missouri was dumb enough to try to limit stem cell research (thankfully 51% weren't).

 

And now they're disillusioned? WTF? They're not disillusioned they're just sharpening their claws for Allen/Santorum 2008 or some sh*t.

[Voltaire 4,616]

This demonstrates the power of the Lord to work in the lives of many people through just one dude. People who supported Haggard are now being forced to examine their attitudes toward gays. Hopefully they recognize that as Christians we should be non-judging and treat everyone with love. Such is the core message of Jesus Christ. Go Jesus!

 

Why can't more Christians be like you? These gay bashers have taken over the religion and pushed the church as a political instrument and are totally toxic radioactive to non-Christians.

[MLCKAA 421]

Why can't more Christians be like you? These gay bashers have taken over the religion and pushed the church as a political instrument and are totally toxic radioactive to non-Christians.

 

 

Just as there are Muslims and Islamists, there are Christians and Chistianists. The -isters hijack parts of a religion, just the select tenets that suit their needs, and they use those limited parts of the religion for political purposes.

 

Why does God say that homosexuality is bad? I dunno. But I do know that no one is without sin and all sins are equal. To say that one sin is worse than another trivializes the grace He bestowed upon us-- the undeserved gift of salvation-- since the crucifixion was the symbolic sacrifice for ALL sins. Every man and woman on this planet is equally undeserving which means that no man is in a position of judgement over another.

[TyCobb 0]

Why does God say that homosexuality is bad? I dunno. But I do know that no one is without sin and all sins are equal. To say that one sin is worse than another trivializes the grace He bestowed upon us-- the undeserved gift of salvation-- since the crucifixion was the symbolic sacrifice for ALL sins. Every man and woman on this planet is equally undeserving which means that no man is in a position of judgement over another.

 

Yes, and to say that one sin which God calls sin is not really sin but a lifestyle choice trivializes the crucifixion and God's grace too. IMHO.

[hoytdwow 202]

God doesn't care if you take it in the shitter. Neither does Jesus. No one will be punished or sent to hell when they die.

 

That's why they called it free will.

 

itsatip

[MLCKAA 421]

Yes, and to say that one sin which God calls sin is not really sin but a lifestyle choice trivializes the crucifixion and God's grace too. IMHO.

 

 

I don't disagree. Sin is sin. You have to call an apple an apple. I think homosexuality is a big mystery to a lot of people because people have a hard time understanding why it is a sin. Most sins have very obvious negative effects on others or on self. It is tougher to point out the negative repercussions of homosexuality. There are STDs, sure, but heterosexuals get those, too.

 

Regardless, I don't disagree with the point you made.

[Electric Mayhem 35]

Yes, and to say that one sin which God calls sin is not really sin but a lifestyle choice trivializes the crucifixion and God's grace too. IMHO.

 

Homersexuality is not a choice.

 

Jon Stewart put it best: "I think it's a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish. "

[VikesFan 1]

November 5, 2006

 

The Haggard Truth

 

Gordon MacDonald on the lies all-too-easily believed

 

What are Christian leaders to make of the spectacularly painful experience of watching Ted Haggard this past week? The president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of giga-church New Life Community in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gradually admitted to purchasing methamphetamines and the services of a male prostitute. We asked Leadership editor-at-large Gordon MacDonald to reflect on what we should learn from this episode.

 

It is difficult beyond description to watch Ted Haggard’s name and face dragged across the TV screen every hour on the news shows. But as my friend, Tony Campolo said in an interview last week, when we spend our lives seizing the microphone to speak to the world of our opinions and judgments, we should not surprised when the system redirects its spotlight to us, justly or unjustly, in our bad moments.

 

We are still in the process of learning what has actually transpired over the past many months on the secret side of Ted’s life. In just the last few hours the leadership of New Life Church has announced that he has been asked to resign. His ministry at New Life Church and as leader of the NAE is over.

 

I’ve spent more than a little time trying to understand how and why some men/women in all kinds of leadership get themselves into trouble whether the issues be moral, financial, or the abuse of power and ego. I am no stranger to failure and public humiliation. From those terrible moments of twenty years ago in my own life I have come to believe that there is a deeper person in many of us who is not unlike an assassin.

 

This deeper person (like a contentious board member) can be the source of attitudes and behaviors we normally stand against in our conscious being. But it seeks to destroy us and masses energies that—unrestrained—tempt us to do the very things we “believe against.” If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage. Wallace Hamilton once wrote, “Within each of us there is a herd of wild horses all wanting to run loose.”

 

It seems to me that when people become leaders of outsized organizations and movements, when they become famous and their opinions are constantly sought by the media, we ought to begin to become cautious. The very drive that propels some leaders toward extraordinary levels of achievement is a drive that often keeps expanding even after reasonable goals and objectives have been achieved. Like a river that breaks its levy, that drive often strays into areas of excitement and risk that can be dangerous and destructive. Sometimes the drive appears to be unstoppable. This seems to have been the experience of the Older Testament David and his wandering eyes, Uzziah in his boredom, and Solomon with his insatiable hunger for wealth, wives and horses. They seem to have been questing—addictively?—for more thrills or trying to meet deeper personal needs, and the normal ways that satisfy most people became inadequate for them.

 

When I see a leader who becomes stubborn and rigid, who becomes increasingly less compassionate toward his adversaries, increasingly tyrannical in his own organization, who rouses anger and arrogance in others, I wonder if he is not generating all of this heat because he is trying so hard to say “no” to something surging deep within his own soul. Are his words and deeds not so much directed against an enemy “out there” as they are against a much more cunning enemy within his own soul. More than once I have visited with pastors who have spent hours immersed in pornography and then gone on to preach their most “spirit-filled” sermons against immorality a day or two later. It’s a disconnect that boggles the rational mind.

 

No amount of accountability seems to be adequate to contain a person living with such inner conflict. Neither can it contain a person who needs continuous adrenalin highs to trump the highs of yesterday. Maybe this is one of the geniuses of Jesus: he knew when to stop, how to refuse the cocktail of privilege, fame and applause that distorts one’s ability to think wisely and to master self.

 

More than once we’ve seen the truth of a person’s life come out, not all at once, but in a series of disclosures, each an admission of further culpability which had been denied just a day or two before. Perhaps inability to tell the full truth is a sign that one is actually lying to himself and cannot face the full truth of the behavior in his own soul.

 

But then all sin begins with lies told to oneself. The cardinal lies of a failed leader? I give and give and give in this position; I deserve special privileges—perhaps even the privilege of living above the rules. Or, I have enough charm and enough smooth words that I can talk anything (even my innocence) into reality. Or, so much of my life is lived above the line of holiness that I can be excused this one little faux pas. Or, I have done so much for these people; now it’s their time to do something for me—like forgiving me and giving a second chance.

 

I am heart-broken for Ted Haggard and his wife and family. I cannot imagine the torture they are living through at this very moment. Toppled from national esteem and regard in a matter of hours, they must adjust to wondering who their real friends are now. They have to be asking how these events—known by the world—will affect their children. Mrs. Haggard will not be able to go the local WalMart without wondering who she may bump into when she turns into Aisle 3 (A reporter? A church member? A critic?). Both Haggards will face cameras every time they emerge from their home in the next few days until the media finds another person with whom to have its sport.

 

The travel, the connections, the interviews, the applause of the congregation, the organizational power, the perks and privileges, the honor: gone! The introit to people of position/power: gone! The opportunity to say an influential word each day into the lives of teachable younger people: gone! The certainty that God has anointed one for such a time as this: gone? And what will grow each day is the numbing realization of regret and loss. In time they will be approached by people who will say in one way or another, “I used to trust you, but what you’ve done has made me very angry….you’ve turned my son away from the gospel….I thought I knew you, but I guess I didn’t.” It will be a long time before either of the Haggards feel safe again. Suffering over this will last most of a lifetime even after some sort of restoration is rendered. How I wish this could all be lifted from them.

 

Perhaps there will come a day down the pathway when there will be some kind of return to influence. But right now it is—or should be—a long way in the distance.

 

Among my prayers is that the leadership of New Life Church will not assume that “restoration” means getting Ted back into the pulpit as soon as possible. The worst thing in the world would be to raise his hopes that just because he models a contrite spirit he can return to public life in the near future. He, for his own sake, must take a long time to work through the causative factors in this situation. He will not resolve whatever is wrong in his own soul by going back to work. He and his wife must set aside a long, long time to allow their personal relationship to heal. Forgiveness is a long healing, not a momentary one. And there are those five children. Thinking of them makes me want to weep. And then there are countless people in and beyond their church who must take a long time to figure out what all of this means. No, the worst things Ted’s friends and overseers can do is to try and bring him back from this prematurely. The best thing they can do is ask him to retreat into silence with those he loves the most and listen—to God, to trusted elders.

 

The statement issued by the NAE Executive Committee late Friday afternoon seems flat to me. It appears to have been written by savvy PR people who wanted to say all the nice and appropriate things which might mollify the media and cause no heartburn for the lawyers. The burden of the statement seems to be that the NAE is already on to the question of who the next leader will be. The fact is that, all too often, we have seen the President of NAE on the news and talk shows speaking as the leader of so-called 33 million evangelicals. I’m not sure that most of us were polled as to whether or not we wanted Ted Haggard (or anyone) speaking for us. I know that last time I felt safe about anyone speaking for evangelicals as a whole was when Billy Graham talked on our behalf. But, as of late, an illusion was permitted to grow: that the NAE was a well-organized, highly networked movement of American evangelicals headed by Ted Haggard who, when he spoke, spoke for all of us. Now, unfortunately, that voice has misspoken, and our movement has to live with the consequences.

 

I have a fairly poor batting average when it comes to predicting the future. But my own sense is that the NAE (as we know it) will probably not recover from this awful moment. Should it? Leaders of various NAE constituencies are likely to believe that their fortunes are better served by new and fresher alliances.

 

Ever since the beginning of the Bush administration, I have worried over the tendency of certain Evangelical personalities to go public every time they visited the White House or had a phone conference with an administration official. I know it has wonderful fund-raising capabilities. And I know the temptation to ego-expansion when one feels that he has the ear of the President. But the result is that we are now part of an evangelical movement that is greatly compromised….identified in the eyes of the public as deep in the hip pockets of the Republican party and administration. My own belief? Our movement has been used. There are hints that the movement—once cobbled together by Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga—is beginning to fragment because it is more identified by a political agenda that seems to be failing and less identified by a commitment to Jesus and his kingdom. Like it or not, we are pictured as those who support war, torture, and a go-it-alone (bullying) posture in international relationships. Any of us who travel internationally have tasted the global hostility toward our government and the suspicion that our President’s policies reflect the real tenants of Evangelical faith. And I might add that there is considerable disillusionment on the part of many of our Christian brothers/sisters in other countries who are mystified as to where American evangelicals are in all of this. Our movement may have its Supreme Court appointments, but it may also have compromised its historic center of Biblical faith. Is it time to let the larger public know that some larger-than-life evangelical personalities with radio and TV shows do not speak for all of us?

 

And so I pray: Lord and Father, how sad you must be when you see the most powerful and the weakest of your children fall prey to the energy of sin and evil. There is nothing any one has ever done that we –each of us—is not capable of doing. So when we pray for our brother, Ted Haggard, we pray not out of pity or self-righteousness but with a humble spirit because we stand with him on level ground before the cross. Father, give this man and his wife the gift of your grace. Protect them from the constant accusations of the evil one who will seek to deny them sleep, tempt them to talk too much to the public, arouse conflict between them as a couple and with their children. Send the right people into their lives who can provide the correct mixture of hope and healing love. Deliver them from people who will curry their favor by telling them things they should not hear. Restrain them from making poor judgments in their most fearful moments.

 

Lord, be present to the leaders and people of the New Life Church. And to the NAE leadership which has to live with the side-effects of this tragedy. And to people in the evangelical tradition who are wondering today who they can trust. What more can we pray for? You know all things. We so very little. Amen.

 

Wow. Well done and right on.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why so many Evangelicals are allegedly so disappointed and turned off by politics. Don't get me wrong, if they want to leave, here's the door. I don't believe it for an instant, I think they're still extremely powerful, still the bane of western civilization, and will continue to spread political poison until they turn America into a theocracy and scrap the Bill of Rights.

 

So I'm reading this article...

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/...&ei=5087%0A

 

... and I can't believe it. It seems to me that the evangelicals were dictating policy and the whole administration was kowtowing to them and catering to their every whim. But they weren't satisfied? What weren'tthey satisfied about? And I still don't understand. The Evangelicals owned the government for 6 years and eveytinh they wanted got passed. The Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe v Wade. Banning Gay marriage passed every place but one. 49% of Missouri was dumb enough to try to limit stem cell research (thankfully 51% weren't).

 

And now they're disillusioned? WTF? They're not disillusioned they're just sharpening their claws for Allen/Santorum 2008 or some sh*t.

 

I'm a disillusioned evangelical, but not for the reason you think. Evangelicals are being used.. Used by an administration that couldn't care less for them or their causes. They pick things like homosexual marriage b/c they know it won't pass. Abortion? They know full well that illegal abortions will end the evanelical movement supporting them... Iraq? Yeah, I like the idea of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's and thousands of Americans dying or being wounded over lies.. LIES LIES... when the war was really about oil... We like being lied to, used, etc... That's why some of us are disillusioned. It is unfortuante, that most of us are too stupid to realize that this is what is really going on..

 

What is worse is that if evangelicals actually took the money they gave to right wing PACs and spent it on ministry, so many of these problems that they want to resolve would be fixed... It's really, really sad how stupid we can be.

 

The bible teaches that man is deprave, and he will continue to get worse. Am I the only one who thinks it is foolish to assume that legislation will somehow make him better?

[Voltaire 4,616]

I honestly never cared very much about the abortion or gay marriage debate one way or the other. I'm marginally supportive of abortion rights, I guess, but not in my family life and not late in a pregnancy. I look at my pregnant wife here and how much I love this baby and couldn't imagine anybody getting an abortion. It's so big already, almost the size of my hand, and only 3.5 months.

 

As for gay rights, I feel bad for them and all but I've lived in an America my whole life without gay rights and--- it really ain't so bad. I think reasonable, well intended people can disagree on abortion and gay rights.

 

What really, really chafes my ass is the stem cell research restrictions and the Intelligent design debate. That's obscene Christianity run amuck. One prevents the cure of many diseases and illnesses, the other is enforcing retardation on a science curriculum already lacking.

 

Add that to the rampant corruption, incompetence, war, and overall low quality the Evangelical Christians brought to government -the whole government was FEMA-tised with dim bulbs, not just the legislature, and it makes me sick. NASA, FDA, and EPA Scientists bullied by incompentent 20-something Bible thumping administrators who demanded their research fit their ideology.

 

They totally hijacked the Republican Party. All the moderates who disagreed with the Christian Taliban were ignored or marginalized and have left or been forced out. The party, the entire government has been completly taken over by incompetent religious hacks.

 

I don't see how Christians were used at all. Everything they wanted they got. What did they want to accomplish that wasn't put front and center as Issues #1, #2, and#3 on the congressional agenda? I see them as the source of all the problems.

 

Like I said I honestly don't care about abortion or gay rights. When I was a Republican, we welcomed the "Robertson People" into the party. I was ready to throw the feminists and the gays under the bus to accomodate my friends. I really, honestly, never focking and still don't care about these issues. Pretty soon the evangelicals though, they stopped focusing on the "Contract With America" in favor of obsessing about Clinton's sex life.

 

They never cared about balancing the budget, they never cared about smaller government, they never cared about clean government, they never cared about fixing Americas problems or properly governing. They only cared about holding onto power and forcing their brand of religion down everybody's throats through any means necessary.

 

And I don't think they're done. There's nobody decent left in the GOP to stop them, they own one of the two major political parties so I don't see why they can't continue to wreck havok on America in 2008. It's up to the rest of America to join the Democratic party to keep the raging Christian machine in check. What I'm hoping that means is we can hijack the Dem's party in turn from the liberals to drive it to the middle. I'm just hopeful the Dems will accomodate the moderate former Republican voters. I haven't voted GOP in years at the national level and I know I'm looking for a new home.

 

See what the GOP does in 2008 and how the Dems govern these next two years to see if the Dems can keep me. I'd rather not vote for Hillary (but I liked her husband) I expect the GOP to nominate another flaming right winger. I don't trust them to put forward McCain or Giuliani, the'll likely pull another clueless retard from the extreme right fringe.

[itsbigmoni 1]

It seems like the extremist have hijacked every organization/religon and force us to believe what they say. Aren't most of moderates? But we fall into the trap because we don't want be called fake or whatnot. If you preach loud and hard enough, people will start to follow i guess. Maybe evangelist would accept gay folk but everyone is like, if i support gay rights, what would my peers think? Its even evident on this board. People throw around liberal like it means treehugging hippie. Then in turn people throw conservative like it means you hate everything non-western and if you could you'd shower in oil. But yea, the dems got hijacked, obviously the republicans, evangilist, muslims, fftoday message boards.

[garrowl 0]

Sin is sin

 

nope its....Self Imposed Nonsense

[VikesFan 1]

I honestly never cared very much about the abortion or gay marriage debate one way or the other. I'm marginally supportive of abortion rights, I guess, but not in my family life and not late in a pregnancy. I look at my pregnant wife here and how much I love this baby and couldn't imagine anybody getting an abortion. It's so big already, almost the size of my hand, and only 3.5 months.

 

As for gay rights, I feel bad for them and all but I've lived in an America my whole life without gay rights and--- it really ain't so bad. I think reasonable, well intended people can disagree on abortion and gay rights.

 

What really, really chafes my ass is the stem cell research restrictions and the Intelligent design debate. That's obscene Christianity run amuck. One prevents the cure of many diseases and illnesses, the other is enforcing retardation on a science curriculum already lacking.

 

Add that to the rampant corruption, incompetence, war, and overall low quality the Evangelical Christians brought to government -the whole government was FEMA-tised with dim bulbs, not just the legislature, and it makes me sick. NASA, FDA, and EPA Scientists bullied by incompentent 20-something Bible thumping administrators who demanded their research fit their ideology.

 

They totally hijacked the Republican Party. All the moderates who disagreed with the Christian Taliban were ignored or marginalized and have left or been forced out. The party, the entire government has been completly taken over by incompetent religious hacks.

 

I don't see how Christians were used at all. Everything they wanted they got. What did they want to accomplish that wasn't put front and center as Issues #1, #2, and#3 on the congressional agenda? I see them as the source of all the problems.

 

Like I said I honestly don't care about abortion or gay rights. When I was a Republican, we welcomed the "Robertson People" into the party. I was ready to throw the feminists and the gays under the bus to accomodate my friends. I really, honestly, never focking and still don't care about these issues. Pretty soon the evangelicals though, they stopped focusing on the "Contract With America" in favor of obsessing about Clinton's sex life.

 

They never cared about balancing the budget, they never cared about smaller government, they never cared about clean government, they never cared about fixing Americas problems or properly governing. They only cared about holding onto power and forcing their brand of religion down everybody's throats through any means necessary.

 

And I don't think they're done. There's nobody decent left in the GOP to stop them, they own one of the two major political parties so I don't see why they can't continue to wreck havok on America in 2008. It's up to the rest of America to join the Democratic party to keep the raging Christian machine in check. What I'm hoping that means is we can hijack the Dem's party in turn from the liberals to drive it to the middle. I'm just hopeful the Dems will accomodate the moderate former Republican voters. I haven't voted GOP in years at the national level and I know I'm looking for a new home.

 

See what the GOP does in 2008 and how the Dems govern these next two years to see if the Dems can keep me. I'd rather not vote for Hillary (but I liked her husband) I expect the GOP to nominate another flaming right winger. I don't trust them to put forward McCain or Giuliani, the'll likely pull another clueless retard from the extreme right fringe.

 

I should clarify a few things with my statement. While I do care about the abortion issue, as I do think it is a legitimate issue, you will never ever ever see Roe overturned. The Republicans know better. I'm not sure what we Christians have gained on this issue. I'm betting the best we'd get is the courts throwing this issue back to the states (which is where I think it belongs).

 

And Intelligent design... What exactly have Christians won here? Absolutely nothing. Having studied ID and evolution in quite some detial, I'll say that I think that ID has been publically mis-represented. Most who argue against it know absolutely nothing about it, and it does make some very good points which provide importannt counter-evidence to evolution... Might I also add, that if it is taught, it ought to be taught right, which forcing it back into the schools will largely fail to do. That being said, so what? What exactly have Christians gained here? I'm not one that thinks that evolution should not be taught in schools... Even though I'm convinced it is not true might I add. Isn't the point of an education to teach kids how to research opinions and come to a conclusion using a rational method? How will teaching only one argument do that? It will fail completely. But I forget that our politicans have demonstrated time and time again that an education is the least of their concerns... They want a system that makes it easier to brainwash people.

 

As for gays, I don't get Christian's response on it. Who cares if to gays want to get married? I don't. What I ask for (as someone who is going to be in full time ministry at one point) is the right to say no with no conerns of civil or criminal recrimination. If Christians really cared about the sanctity of marriage, they'd actually be going after divorce, adultry, and premarital sex. The largely ignore it, which ought to tell you their true opinions on the sanctity of marriage... As for the parts that are more concerning:

 

1) Increasing the size of the federal government

2) Increasing the deficits/debt. I personally think this is the single greatest problem facing the US in the next two decades. Failure to deal with this now will lead to a very unpleasant future.

3) Police state and erosion of freedoms

4) Pandering to special interests

5) Selling the government to big business

6) Iraq.. Nothing like Christians ignoring the fact that this administration essentially lied to get us into a war. If that were Clinton, we'd be screaming impeachment. I don't see why it is that Christians cannot hold Bush to the same standards they held Clinton too... Or do we only care about scandal when it's the other guy?

7) That waste of legislation known as the No Child Left Behind Act, which only accomplishes holding smart kids back at the expense of the masses... Not to mention that it assumes that every kid should go to college, which while ideal, is hardly realistic.

8) Electronic voting, or I should note the way it is being done, as there are intelligent ways to do this... We'd apparently rather adopt the ones that are unverifiable if an election is actually stolen.

9) Sheer and utter incompetence

 

 

So yeah, I'm a bit dissillusioned. I feel Christians have been largely used. I do have a solution for that....

Time to dump the Republicans. I've largely went to the libertarian party... I don't see any other solution.