Tim Challies has posted a chronicle of his reaction to the Ted Haggard scandal. I think that the process that he went through will sound familiar to many of us, but where he ended up is where we all should–if we truly recognize the depth of our depravity and the unmerited nature of God’s grace.
The concluding paragraph sums up the whole article…
If we look to Ted Haggard as a representative of all that is wrong in Evangelicalism, I think we miss the most important lesson. The lesson we need to learn is that we are every bit as sinful and fallible and willful and depraved as Haggard; perhaps more so. It is only the grace of God that, like a spider being held over the flame by a nearly-invisible web, prevents me from giving in to all the sin that is in me and being dragged down by it. Oh, that He would continue to extend this grace! And oh, that I would take heed lest I, too, fall, for what is in Haggard is in me.
But really, take a few minutes and read the whole piece.
I wish my initial reaction had been as grace-laden as that. I stand rebuked. The only difference between Ted Haggard and me is the length of the leash God has given each of us.
If I may redirect a bit — I think the Haggards would welcome that — it irks me to see the way the press is treating the members of Mr. Haggard’s church.
An article I just read referred to “a letter read Sunday to [Haggard’s] followers.” That strikes me as a cheap shot. It’s to be expected, but it’s still a cheap shot. I don’t suppose very many people at New Life Church ever thought of themselves as “Haggard-followers.”
May God grant that we never be thought of as followers of anyone but Christ — at Grace Fellowship, New Life Church, and in churches around the world. I long and pray for the day when, even in the face of frailty like this, the fame of God in the supremacy of Christ is so overridingly powerful that even the most ardent scoffer is stripped of his ability to mock or dismiss the Gospel.
Let us also pray that God brings himself unexpected glory through this broken man.
One more thought… it is properly humbling to recognize that it is grace alone that keeps us from falling. But it is also our responsibility to act in a manner consistent with the grace we desire.
God is sovereign. We are responsible.
God have mercy on us all.
I wasn’t entirely sure I agreed with Challies on this in all respects. Sure ‘there but for the grace of God go I’. However, Jesus’ strongest rebukes were for religious leaders who were hypocrites and this situation certainly fits that description. I see no problem at all seeing this as a symptom of the present state of the church in the US (somthing Challies objected to) and saying people like Haggard (at least like Haggard was until this week) in pulpits is symptomatic of some deep theological problems in the church.
Also, having seen some views of the inside of that church with large pictures of Ted smiling at me from the foyer and from the covers of books, I’m also not so sure the people there wouldn’t have seen themselves as Haggard-followers. Many of these mega-churches are pastor centered to a degree that is unhealthy and unscriptural.
If that was the case at New Life, I pray that God will use this to, among other things, refocus that congregation on Christ alone as the head of the church.
I know what you mean, Larry.
I wholeheartedly affirm the strict standard of accountability that James 3 sets forth. To the extent that I have any business making comment on the matter, it seems like New Life has applied that strict standard: the guy got fired and is professionally ruined, probably irreparably. And that’s appropriate. How New Life responds in its introspection is up to them, and I certainly pray their enduring response is to eschew an approach to leadership that tends toward a cult of celebrity.
Contemporary evangelicalism has its problems, and like Larry said, this may indeed be symptomatic of them. And yes, Jesus was harsh on hypocrites.
But the sting of the rebuke I took from Challies consists in:
1. I’m not Jesus; in fact, I’m more like they hypocrites he rebuked.
2. I’m not qualified to make sweeping statements about contemporary evangelicalism.
Most times I offer my own little critique of evangelicalism I find myself regretting it, wishing I had said less and prayed more.
The clear solution is that the Church needs to make a policy that only allows people that can keep their struggle with sin private 100% of the time to be preachers — like all us “true” Christians do. 🙄
So a constant battle with pride—that is probably lost most of the time—is “okay enough to be preacher” while a constant battle with sexual issues is not?
Hugh,
I’m not opposed to what you say, I just thought Challies presented us with a false dichotomy. Here in fact is what I posted on his site yesterday after having read his post:
“I don’t think this is an either/or proposition. We can both say ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ AND ‘this is symptomatic of serious problems with American evangelicalism’. Just as its not a stretch to say any of us could be taken captive by sin, it’s also not a stretch to say that only in a seriously disfunctional and flawed church (meaning nationally, not just his church only) could someone rise to such heights while simultaneously pursuing a path in direct oppostion to Christ.”
I still feel that to be true.
As you say it seems to have been dealt with appropriately by this particular church (at least from the standpoint of discipline). Hopefully they move on from here. Hopefully also Ted Haggard can move on and be restored. I guess my concern is if we just say ‘could have been me’ and dwell on introspection only (though it certainly should drive us to examine our own lives), not dealing with the possible underlying issues in the church that may have led to this, is simply asking for it to happen again with yet another church and/or individual.
Its not about piling on Ted Haggard. As you say, he’s ruined at this point and does not need me to tell him what he did was wrong. But I do think we as Christians have a responsibly to examine the situation and learn from it not just for ourselves and our personal sanctification but for the benefit Body of Christ as a whole.
In support of Larry’s point and in the name of being fair and balanced, take a look at this post on Reformation 21.
(I officially fall on the “both” side too.)
The “Denounce Ted” crowd has been pointing to verses like Eph. 5:3-5 and Col. 3:5-7. But like Ken said this past Sunday, how many of us can honestly say we don’t struggle with idolatry every day of our lives — whether sexually, financially, emotionally, whatever.
While I think there are some huge issues in the modern church, it is far too easy look at the situation with a narrow scope of addressing only “gross” sin. If we can prevent the scandalous, ugly issues everything will be okay, right?
How do we hold our leaders accountable for pride, gluttony, covetousness, self-righteousness? How do we hold OURSELVES as a church accountable? (ie. We need a bigger building. We are more spiritual/God-centered than NorthPoint. We need better print material — like North Point.)
Let’s not deal with this from a “mature Christians/leaders should be above these sins but not these” approach but by acknowedging that everyone is suseptable to falling and by guarding our hearts without becoming a legalist.
Do we think we are “good Christians” because we haven’t called a gay prostitute for meth today? Do we even acknowledge that everyday we metaphorically nail Jesus to the Cross again in ways we probably don’t even realize? Though different in some ways, a common thread in King David’s, Haggard’s, and our sin is self-deception. (ie. “God who?”, “It’s not really sin.”, “God will forgive it.”, and/or “This is the last time”.)
Just like the alcoholic, admitting it is the first step (see also confessing). Find someone to share your struggles with and pray for the strength to deal with the tempation.
If you still can’t think of anything, try Haggart’s prayer the week before the story broke:
Great piece at R21, Eric. My only rebuttal there is that I think my “just like Ted” sentiment isn’t the “We’re just like Ted” position critiqued in the R21 piece.
1. I am “just like Ted” in that my own sinful desires will take me down if God removes his hand. Consider 2 Chronicles 32:31, where it says of Hezekiah, “And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon… God left [Hezekiah] to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” For Ted Haggard, change it to “And so in the matter of the gay prostitute and drugs, God left Ted Haggard to himself…” Or change it to “And so in the matter of (???), God left Hugh to himself…”
2. I am so far removed from this whole thing that I want to approach it with a mixture of grace and detached astonishment. What I don’t want to do is act as if I have been wronged or pipe up with a chorus of “I told you so’s” or “this is what’s wrong with evangelicalism today.” The pride it would take to offer those sentiments is, I think, not far removed from the sin that took Mr. Haggard down.
I think you guys are really hitting a very appropriately balanced position here. The situation is sad indeed, and must be addressed with great love and humility. It also serves as a good reminder of why we desperately need the gospel in American Evangelicalism. Personal humility and love (Gal 6:1) and corporate discipline (1 Tim 5:20) are both appropriate responses.
I like what David said about our private sin that is so easy for us to hide as we are not public figures. Just keep it in and don’t tell anyone. And if someone finds out it won’t be on the news anyway right?
Pastors and leaders in larger churches can become so isolated from the congregation that they are supposed to be shepherding and usually do. There is a air of privilege and celebrity that comes with that as everyone looks up to them. With that celebrity can come money and freedom for things (like regular massages), and with that can come stronger temptations. Out of touch with the people they are supposed to be helping and leading.
This is one of the huge flaws of the Pastor/CEO church structure today IMO. Not to say that is the reason here, but maybe a strong contributing factor.
I have to wonder how many people in that church had any kind of one on one friendship with this man so they could have iron sharpening iron, to be transparent, real, and to bear each others burdens? Had that been the case there would have been other brothers in the church that knew of these temptations and could have been there to lean on.
Unfortunately this is a huge problem with churches large and small, and with all of us individually.
We all have our stuff and our own private sins. May GF become a place where men and women build relationships as the Body of Christ where we can get victory over sin with the help, prayers and encouragement of brothers and sisters that without fear of judgment when needing help.
This can only come from transparency and that is very hard in the culture today.
This will never happen until it comes from the leadership on down. I think our fours leaders at GF do a fine job encouraging us to be relational as a church as they are relational themselves. That is a good start but it is up to us from there to act on the prompting of the Spirit to share your burdens with others, and to be there for those that need it.