Forgiveness for Ted Haggard

I received an email from the Evangelical Network today that really touched my heart. (For more on the Evangelical Network, go to: http://www.theevangelicalnetwork.com/)


The email said, in part:


The Evangelical Network response to Ted Haggard - Thank you, Ted!


"Now that I am disqualified, I'm qualified". Those words may never be truer coming from the once mega-star Evangelical, Ted Haggard. As a person who knows and has seen and found God's grace and mercy, I freely give it to Ted Haggard and those who have come before him and those who will follow. All too often the church world has developed a habit of putting their leaders on pedestals but even more sadly is the overwhelming pressure to be "super-human". That simply is not possible. I applaud Ted's willingness to be vocal about his inner struggles and it saddens me that the church environment was not safe enough for him to talk about it before.


Unfortunately, it's no better today, years afterwards. What we see that has happened is the church was quick to sweep it under the carpet and try to move on. At some point the church world is going to have to stop and get real about some real life issues that they so frequently like to stick their heads in the sand about. Let's take this one that Ted brings up and that is people are not all pre-disposed to heterosexuality or homosexuality but that he finds himself somewhere on that continuum. There's no doubt that sexuality is complex and still is greatly mis-understood by society and the medical profession at large. Only "the church" has all the answers, it would seem, but in reality they don't.


Look at this excerpt from Hillsong church (mega Evangelical church in Australia). http://www2.hillsong.com/church/default.asp?pid=2034


Sharone here again. What touched me about this email was there was so much truth in it. The bottom line with people like Ted Haggard is that they are as lost as many of us were before we realized that we weren't these horrible reprobates that we'd always been told we were. Mr. Haggard has a long way to go before he comes out to himself, so to speak.


However, I'm really sickened by many in the GLBT religious circles and those in the mainline churches who seem to take glee in the fact that Mr. Haggard fell from grace. Maybe that's a harsh statement, but I have seen so many articles and blog posts that seem to intimate that Mr. Haggard should be drawn and quartered, not necessarily for having gay affairs, but for daring to do what many mainline Christians do...bashing gays. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that those who seem to protest the loudest about this sin or that usually end up being the biggest offenders. Not all the time, mind you. I'm just saying it happens a lot.


So, before we all get into the "he's a hypocrite!" mode, let's take a look at ourselves and remember that Jesus died to give grace to ALL of us. God's grace is sufficient for even Ted Haggard, and all of us other hypocrites.