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Posted on 01/15/2014 5:30:34 PM PST by Gamecock
Ted Haggard, a preacher who stepped down in 2006 from his position as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., following a sex and drug scandal, recently spoke out about Isaac Hunter’s suicide, an event that took the evangelical world by storm last week.
Focusing specifically on the scandals and charges of wrongdoing that have surrounded many famed preachers — himself included — Haggard said that evangelical Christians sometimes fail to properly apply the gospel when dealing with faith leaders who fall from grace.
Hunter, the former pastor of Summit Church in Orlando, Fla., had been facing personal issues since stepping down from his position late last year. His death, following the suicide of Pastor Rick Warren’s son, Matthew, earlier this year, has brought additional attention to mental health in evangelical circles.
“The news about Pastor Isaac Hunter breaks my heart. Great speaker, lover of God, and my guess is he loved the church. But he, like all of us, fell short,” Haggard wrote. “In the midst of divorce with accusations swirling, he resigned from the church he founded. He gave it his best shot, and his heart was broken.”
He continued, “This makes me sick to my stomach. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sick that he fell short, that’s a given for everyone except Christ Himself, I’m sick that our message did not do what we all hoped – it did not fix the problem.”
Haggard said that, in the past, evangelical leaders who have been immersed in scandal were often seen as not true believers, however he said this simply isn’t the case. In fact, he argued that most people who are in ministry “are sincere followers of Christ.”
While many Christians assume that a conversion to the faith heals all past problems, Haggard said this wasn’t the case in his own experience. While he said that becoming a believer made him “a new creation spiritually,” Haggard noted that there was some “simple care” that would have helped him avoid the scandal and pain he caused his family.
“I was so ashamed in 2006 when my scandal broke. The therapeutic team that dug in on me insisted that I did not have a spiritual problem or a problem with cognitive ability, and that I tested in normal ranges on all of my mental health tests (MMPI, etc.).” he wrote. “Instead, I had a physiological problem rooted in a childhood trauma, and as a result, needed trauma resolution therapy. I had been traumatized when I was 7 years old, but when Bill Bright led me to the Lord when I was 16, I learned that I had become a new creature, a new person, and that I did not need to be concerned about anything in my past, that it was all covered by the blood.”
But Haggard said that his past was still impacting his life.
In the end, the former megapastor claimed that his Christian training was delivered by people who didn’t respect the mental health and neural science professions. This translated, he wrote, into a counterproductive situation, as he was taught to view all issues as being entirely spiritual in nature.
“If I prayed and fasted, I was more tempted. If I just worked in ministry, I experienced relief and was not tempted,” Haggard continued. “I thought it was spiritual warfare. It was not. My struggle was easily explained by a competent therapeutic team.”
Haggard said that he believes wholeheartedly in the Bible, but that Christianity has “abandoned the application of the gospel” and that, as a result, too much time is spent on image management and damage control.
“Every one of us have had sin horribly intrude in our lives after being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and God is faithfully healing us or has healed us,” he continued. “Why don’t we tell that? He has never left us or forsaken us when we’ve said and done the wrong thing. Why don’t we tell that?”
Let me fix that: following a homosexual prostitute and drug scandal
The YBPDLN Ping List is generally published infrequently but based on the exploits of the megachurch pastors posts can spike for a season. If you would like on or off of this list please FReepmail me.
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Just a few months before Haggard’s fall I heard an interview given by him where he insisted that he led a sin free life and that he resists all sin.
As a Reformed guy I was troubled by that statement because we hold to the belief that we are still sinners, and will remain such until death.
What I sense here is a bit of arrogance instead of repentance.
What I sense here is a bit of arrogance instead of repentance.
What I sense here is a bit of arrogance instead of repentance.
As a Catholic guy, I would, on the surface of it, agree with your assessment.
Whether or not you agree with the effectuality of the Sacrament of Penance, I would certainly hope that anybody would see the value of a periodic examination of conscience. Properly done, it shows us the great grace that God continues to extend to each of us.
Funny, I thought the problem was that evangelical faith leaders fail to properly preach the Gospel.
I would suggest Mark that for most of us there is a continual self assessment process going on in light of the gospel - where we fall short, where we can improve, why we do the things we do. I do think though that a conscious, intentioned self assessment from time to time is a good thing and will most often lead to a humble and contrite heart!
Mel
Not knowing if there are Roman Catholic nuances tied to that statement, on the surface, I agree.
They hone their oratory skills and know how to rivet the listener's attention through voice inflection, emotional projection and other acting techniques. They are very good at what they do.
However, I am convinced that the ones who capture the imaginations of their listeners are often charlatans who do not believe a word of what they preach. A good salesman can sell anything and even an insincere religion is a powerful convincer.
These people will bear higher scrutiny when they stand before God Almighty. They are either complete nonbelievers or utterly self-deluded. Either way, they are false to the core and more concerned about mammon than God.
Evangelicals would be better served to find a small church with a devoutly sincere pastor who will shepherd them according to Biblical principles. He (it should be a man - beware of woman pastors) should speak to congregation in a steady and genuine manner without shouting, hectoring and storming about the stage. Jesus only seems to have yelled when he was angry such as when he cleared the temple with a whip of cords or upbraided the falsely pious Pharisees.
More discipleship and Christian growth is achieved in one small group Bible study than ten Sunday services.
If the pastor doesn't know your name, you don't have a pastor.
Yes, we all deal with sin even after we're saved. But many people are not enslaved to addiction and those who are should not be Christian leaders.
This guy continued on as a leader although he knew he was enslaved to a perverted lifestyle. He should never have allowed himself to go that far.
I wish the best for him and hope he experiences total freedom...but I don't really think he's saying much of value here.
I really do not get his point, these “leaders” should step down down and start repenting. They cannot continue to be “leaders”, duh.
bump
I totally agree
From a Reformed perspective, one should do so as part of preparation for partaking in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
Amen to that. It can be life-changing; provided you get with some people truly grounded in the Bible, who do not view this as a social gathering around snacks, and who will vow not to gossip or divulge what they hear in prayer by others in the group. The group should be small, I would say 7 people max; but with some way of tapping new members if someone has to move away.
To be sure.
We Reformed folk will say that sin so permeates our existence that we don't even know the depth of it. God id merciful and doesn't expose it to us at once, otherwise we would crumble under the weight of all of out sin. We certainly should examine ourselves, especially before the sacrament of communion
There's not any particularly nefarious papist nuances.
For me, I evaluate my thoughts and conduct (acts of commission and omission) in light of the 10 commandments, the 7 precepts of the Church (which I fully recognize that non-Catholics would not recognize), the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope, charity).
I briefly (informally) run through the above list nightly before my prayers and generally will do so in a more disciplined fashion on a weekly basis.
Other people may have other "templates" (for lack of a better word).
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