I was reading through an e-newsletter from the Christian organization Sojourners last Thursday when a headline caught my eye:  “The fallout from Ted Haggard.”  Oh no, I said – what happened now?  As I read the article, I heard about the breaking story that was only in its infancy but was clearly going to get uglier over the next few days – Pastor Ted Haggard, pastor of the megachurch New Life Church of Colorado Springs and President of the National Association of Evangelicals, had been accused of participating in drug-fueled trysts over the past three years with a gay male escort.  What made the story even more shocking, of course, is that Pastor Haggard has been crusading against gay marriage across the country, getting amendments prohibiting gay marriage on the ballots of many states for today’s election.  And all the while, he had apparently been struggling with the very thing against which he had been crusading.

I knew this was an awful situation, whether or not the allegations would prove true.  If it were true, it would be another sorry example of a prominent Christian leader having a significant moral failure.  If it were false, then it would highlight how one accusation, even if false, can taint not only a person but his entire ministry for the rest of his life.  As it stands today, it seems clear that a significant portion of the accusations leveled against Haggard are true, and he has been officially fired from his pastorate and lost his position with the NAE. 

A month ago, I preached from Daniel 9, where Daniel speaks to the Lord about the failings of the people of Israel and their consequent enslavement by the Babylonians.  Daniel, one of the most righteous men in all of the Bible, had every right to separate himself from his immoral brothers and sisters and point an accusing finger at them.  But instead, he identified with them, and used the word “we” again and again as he prayed for God’s mercy and redemption, so that God’s name might be honored.  Daniel knew that the failings of the Israelites hurt him, because it harmed God’s name.  My point was that it is all too common to hear Christians rail against “the church” or different strains of Christianity, separating themselves and standing in judgment on the sins and failures of Catholics, Pentecostals, modern Christians, the emerging church, and just about every other type of Christianity you can think of.  But all the while they miss something that is so crucial – they are also the church.   There is no us vs. them; there is only we.  When one part of the church fails, we all fail, because God’s name is harmed.  I can’t say that loudly enough – when Catholic priests molest children, or churches leave the teachings of historic Christianity, or a small church dies, or a pastor commits adultery with a male escort – we all fail, because God’s name is harmed.

That is why any sort of self-righteous response to Ted Haggard’s moral failure is stupid and selfish.  That sort of response is not concerned with God’s honor, as Daniel was, but with personal honor, with tearing someone else down out of a sense of superiority.  It is easy to look at Pastor Haggard’s hypocrisy, his pride, his deception, and somehow think we are better and above that.  But we are not, and if we are concerned about God’s honor, we will weep along with him, his family, and his church for the harm that has been caused to God’s honor (I strongly encourage you to read Pastor Haggard’s statement to his church, as well as his wife’s statement on their church’s website, http://www.newlifechurch.org/)

Besides mourning for the harm that has been caused to God’s name, I would also encourage you to take note of the importance of accountability in the life of a believer.  Nobody is so righteous that they are not tempted (even Jesus was tempted, according to Hebrews 4:15 and Luke 4) – for some it is sexual, for others it is drugs or alcohol, for others it is food, or violence, or any number of other things.  The Bible encourages us to confess our sins to each other (James 5:16), because when sin is named and brought into the open, there is a power over it that is broken.  Pastor Haggard’s letter to his church confessed “when I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me.”  When I began in ministry in 1998, I decided to meet regularly with a friend of mine for this very purpose, to be sure that there was someone to whom I was always accountable to for how I was living.  I shudder to think where I might be if I was secretive about my struggles, and I am eternally grateful that God has used my friend to remind me of the power of bringing secret things out in the open. 

This has been a sober essay, because I am sad at how God’s name has been harmed yet again by the failings of a Christian leader.  Please learn from this about the deceptive power of sin, but more importantly about the greater power of confession and accountability.  Find someone with whom you can be completely honest about the darkest secrets in your life.  You will probably fear how the other person will react.  My experience has shown me that the other person will be honored that you trusted them enough to confide in them, and they will commit to praying for you and helping you understand the grace and forgiveness that is over you.

One final thought:  Pastor Haggard wrote in his letter that “the public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete,” and his wife wrote “for those of you who have been concerned that my marriage was so perfect that I could not possibly relate to the women who are experiencing great difficulties, know that this will never again be the case.”  I have always wanted my legacy as a pastor to be that I made God accessible to people.  I want people to look at me and essentially say, “You know, Eric’s just as much a screw-up as I am, but I can tell that God loves him and is using him in great ways.”  I have no desire to seem perfect or inaccessible, because I know I am not.  Instead, I would much rather have people learn from watching me that God loves to use imperfect people, those who are honest about their failings and humble in spirit.  If God can continue to love me and use me despite my many failings, I know he will do the same for you.  I believe that God will be teaching Ted and Gayle Haggard lessons like these in the upcoming years.  Pray that this may be the case in their life, so that God’s name may again be honored.

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