Haggard Thoughts Part 2:.
For some reason, the situation with Ted Haggard has got a hold of me. My thoughts seem extra random and incomplete. I'm trying to piece them together, but here's an attempt.
1. Damn this makes me sad. Though I can have my moments of being sentimental, I'm rarely truly empathetic to other people in pain. I'm sick over this situation. The fact that I'm not a big Haggard fan what-so-ever, makes this more confusing to me.
2. Waiting for the info to come is the best policy. Several folks kept wanting to declare verdicts early on his guilt, I'm finding it's best not to rush to such judgments. Waiting might be hard, but withholding judgment is good. Would you come clean if you were confronted by stranger with a camera in your face hours after your darkest secrets are revealed to the world? If I'm honest, there's no way I would. Maybe you are a better person than I am, but I'm gonna lie, hide, conceal and hedge, because that's what I'd been doing for years on that issue.
3. Mr. Haggard seems to be doing the right thing.
4. Where is safest place to go and confess for you? Alone doesn't count. Alone is alone. The kind of darkness Mr. Haggard has been living flourishes when only you know. The fact is, that while the last few days have had to be the most painful days of the Haggard family, Mr. Haggard is likely experiencing freedom like he hasn't felt in years. His secret is out. The skeleton is out of the closet. He is no longer alone. This is good news! Do you or I know that kind of freedom right now?
5. If I'm brutally honest, I'd don't have a place to confess my own personal sin. Maybe that's why I'm feeling a connection to this situation. Though I've never had gay sex (or wanted to), or tried any illegal drug, I have my own sets of circumstances and that connects me to Mr Haggard in powerful ways. I guess I'm simply saying, we're all one decision away from bad decisions that bring this kind of pain. Shoot, it's hard to even use the singular there.
I'm one decision away. I can't be the only one. But it's a dangerous place to be.
6. I don't care if this is another reason for "non-christians" to point fingers at christians. That really doesn't matter to me. The church has to figure out a way to make confession a regular rhythm in the body of Christ. Scot McKnight has some good thoughts on this at
www.jesuscreed.com7. The other issue at work here is that there are certain individuals who are more inclined to destructive, risky, addictive and ugly behavior. These are often the folks who are strong leaders who connect with power in healthy and unhealthy ways and who love the adventure of experiencing life and controling it. These are currently the very people whe idealize as the best American Pastors for our culture. The church has to work through this as well.
Can you relate?
