Forgiveness and Ted Haggard
It’s official—Ted Haggard is once again the head of a church. Three and a half years after the sex and drug scandal that caused his resignation from Colorado Springs’ New Life Church in November 2006, Haggard has incorporated a church named St. James in the barn on Old Ranch Road where he began hosting overflowing “prayer meetings” last November. At that time, Haggard told the Associated Press that the meetings were not the beginning of a new church.
Haggard and his wife Gayle have been conducting paid speaking events around the country for more than a year, buoyed by the sale of Gayle’s book and Ted’s DVD regarding the experience. Haggard said that he had incorporated the church “to keep the accounting in order” for those engagements. But there’s a significant difference in the kind of paperwork that one files for a church and that for a paid speaking organization, so Haggard’s true intentions must differ.
The real question in all of this is how we, as Christians, should handle the questions of forgiveness, making amends, and eligibility for spiritual leadership.
Christianity’s detractors often point to hypocrisy as their reason for shunning the church. They have a good point; most of us could do a far better job at living the life Christ taught. But the reality is that none of us is perfect, and to expect us to never do anything that is contrary to Christian teaching is unreasonable. I have failed to live a sin-free life, and so have you.
But in 1 Timothy 3, the Bible makes it clear that spiritual leaders are held to a higher standard. So the question is, if a spiritual leader fails what are the rules governing his ability to be a spiritual leader again?
Jud Wilhite and Mike Foster, creators of People of the Second Chance, say the process varies based on the individual and situation but there are clearly defined steps. WIlhite is a contributor to Preaching Unleashed and pastor of Central Christian Church in Las Vegas–where he has lots of opportunities to see people in need of second chances. He says, “We’ve all been on the receiving end of judgment rather than grace. The culture will judge us by how we treat each other.”
The first step in their process is owning the failure. Wilhite says, “We live in an age where it’s very convenient to blame others, to make excuses. But to grow, we have to own our own contribution to failures. You cannot give a second chance to someone who doesn’t own his failures. People weren’t nearly as upset with Tiger Woods about the affair as they were his refusal to own up to it.” And to really do that, they say that we need to go past the parts that have become public and we’re forced to confront, and also address the ticking time bomb underneath. That aspect of our failure that nobody knows about yet has to be admitted to and dealt with as well.
The second step in their process is amending the situation. Obviously this will take different forms based on the situation, but it is a critical step in the process—and it often takes longer than you think. But what kinds of things must it include, and are people ever eligible for spiritual leadership again? Wilhite thinks so. “We only hire broken people, because we live in a broken world. If I’ve got a broken person that has owned it and amended it, he or she will be more humble and more loving. Because every week people walk through your doors that got high or drunk before coming in, just to get up the courage to come. Every week people walk in with marks on their arms where they’ve cut themselves. They don’t need a church staff that acts like they have it all together.”
“Historically, we have handled the situation simply: ‘You’re fired.’ ” Wilhite says. “I’m tired of seeing ex-pastors selling cars. The church has their boilerplate of telling people they have to go to counseling, be out of service for six months, read Gordon MacDonald books, attend church every week… but I advocate personal faith-based restoration. In some cases, we’re removing people from the only thing that provides them stability and sanity! I think we need to get them back into service more quickly. Maybe in a different position, lesser role, something like that, but let’s work with them for restoration. Even if they can never serve at your church again, work with them to get them through restoration to the point that you can give them a sincere recommendation to another church.”
Why are Christians so quick to kick our own when they’re down? “I think we feel like it’s our responsibility to pour salt into someone’s wounds,” Wilhite says. “Trust me, they get it. They already know they blew it. So our responsibility is to stand beside them, to rebuild them. Making amends is not about six months or eighteen months. Our job is to walk beside them for the rest of their journey.”
There will be many on both sides of this issue; those who say Haggard should not be leading a church again so soon—or perhaps ever, and those who loved his teaching and think it’s about time. Spiritual leaders are rightly held to a higher standard, but they are still human and will disappoint us. What do you think is the appropriate stance toward restoration of those who have failed?
