There was another breaking story last week about a Christian leader who was involved in a smutty sex scandal. Ted Haggard, pictured above in the lobby of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, was the founding pastor of New Life and also president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an organization with a membership of 30 million. He has been identified by Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential men in America. However, last week he resigned as the president of NEA and was dismissed as the pastor of New Life Church. It is a sad story. I have been seriously praying that Ted and his wife Gayle and their five children will survive this messy episode in their lives. The national response to Ted's misdeeds has been predictable. His supporters are caught somewhere between denial and heartbreak. His antagonists are caught somewhere between smugness and delight. When I read Ted's book, Primary Purpose 10 or 12 years ago, I thought he had a pretty good grip on the kind of life we are called to live as followers of Jesus. But he recently confessed, "There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life." The biggest problem here is not that Ted Haggard has dark and repulsive issues in his life. A bigger problem is that Christians are in denial about how flawed most of us really are; and then we have a tendency to point our fingers at those who aren't as practiced as we are at hiding their flaws. Here's how we need to response to this recent scandal:
- We need to focus on Jesus as our first love.
- We need to repent of "Christian Hero" worship
- We need to realize that the heroes we create are flawed
- We need to spend more time reaching out to the poor and needy
- We need to spend less time consorting with the rich and famous
- We need to be completely honest about our flaws
- We need to deal with our flaws with transparency and grace
- We need to stop pointing our fingers at others
- We need to invite all who are flawed to find healing in Jesus.
Please pray for Ted and Gayle Haggard and their children-- Bob