I thought I would reprint (with some edits) a comment I made to the same question on George Barna’s blog.
I do not ascribe to Ted Haggard’s prior sin of homosexual encounters with male hustlers any greater opprobrium than any other acts of “compulsive” sin committed by other men and women. Sin is sin. We may hate the sin, but as Christians, we cannot stop loving the sinner. So I have a lot of regard for what Ted Haggard appears to have done so far in regard to true repentance.
I don’t have an answer to George Barna’s question, because I believe in redemption. On the other hand, look at the standards the Bible requires of overseers and deacons as Paul counsels us in 1 Timothy 3. Does Ted Haggard have a long enough track record in his walk of redemption to match those standards, let alone be a pastor standing in leadership above overseers and deacons? I do not sit in condemnation of Ted Haggard because I do not feel that I measure up to the standards of 1 Timothy 3. For example, my son strayed from a belief in God, and during the period that he was under my covering and subject to my authority. 1 Timothy 3:12. Instead of being the direct spiritual authority in my household, I made the mistake of abrogating that responsibility to the youth pastors of my church. While those youth pastors acted in good faith, they did not have the maturity to impart the kind of spiritual mentorship my son especially needed during his adolescence. I lost temporary sight of what was required of me as a father during a critical point in my son’s maturation – that is, the need to lead my household in everything. The consequence of my inaction and abdication of heightened responsibility is that my son (a fine young man of whom I am proud in many ways) is living a secular existence at a major university. He is not at risk to alcohol or drugs because of many good things my wife and I did while he was under our roof. But he struggles in many ways from a lack of faith in God’s presence and a failure to perceive that God is real and has a purpose for him. This is my greatest regret as a parent for which I cannot rest until I have accomplished something meaningful to lead my son back to Christ.
This act of confession leads me to the single point I am trying to make. I suspect that a factor in my slow progress toward corporate spiritual leadership is the perception regarding the past exercise of my authority as a father. It is not that I am unloved within the Church. I am. It is not that I have been denied due respect in my areas of natural talent and gifting. I feel very blessed and am so grateful for God’s grace in the ways He has bestowed it upon me. It is just that the role of an overseer or deacon within a ministry has heretofore eluded me for reasons I have come to understand and accept.
The Bible is the story of consequences, of cause and effect. As a lawyer by profession and an actor by Christian vocation, I can relate to and accept this fundamental truth. The Bible is about action. Do this! Do not do that! That’s the way it is. The Word of God is “instructional” in every way. However, people today expect instant results. They confuse forgiveness with worthiness for leadership. The “take away” from 1 Timothy 3 (among several in this passage) is that we need to humble ourselves far longer than we may desire before we may be worthy again of anointing. If you want to be a leader, as my father always told me, you must first show that you are a faithful follower. That takes time, perhaps more than all of us impatient sinners, in seeking absolution, are comfortable enduring. But Christian obedience is not about comfort. There is a “right time” (Kairos) [cf. John 7], and every other time is the wrong time. To paraphrase John 15:9, “If you would abide in God’s love, you must first patiently keep His commandments.”
And when, through patience and obedience, God’s grace and unearned favor finally come to pass, the joy is that much sweeter.
Prison rape has been the subject of jokes in movies and on TV for a long time. It has provided intense subject matter in dramatic films such as The Shawshank Redemption. But it is no laughing matter. Every year more than 60,000 prisoners are attacked behind bars. These attacks threaten not only human dignity but also public safety. Disease, psychological damage and hatred spawned by prison rape endanger neighborhoods once prisoners are released. Sexual assault is always a crime — a violent crime — and we must hold abusers accountable. When we condone this act of brutality, we are saying that we really don’t care about basic human dignity for every child of God. If you want to stop this practice, there is a way for you to make your voice heard. You can petition the federal government to implement the standards proposed by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. Most of these standards can be implemented immediately with little or no cost. They provide concrete, well-researched methods so that prisons and jails can prevent, detect and prosecute rape.
