January 29, 2009
Do Not Let Grace and Truth Forsake You
A couple of years ago, I was about to board a plane when I opened the USA Today newspaper to read a small article that Ted Haggard was facing slanderous accusations. They seemed so far fetched that I didn’t believe them. It was a moment that registered in my memory. Within the next few days revelations came forward that Ted was living a bazaar life of hypocrisy.
I wondered, “How can a man who has such an illumination of scripture also have the depravity of character?”
Ted Haggard has allowed an HBO special to be aired detailing his life after the revelation. I don’t have HBO so I won’t be watching. I did watch the interview with Oprah.
My response is the same as it was when the news broke in the first place. Sympathy. I am very compassionate toward his wife, Gayle, and their children. As far as Ted, I don’t need nor am I compelled to make a statement or a judgement toward him.
Let me say it this way, when Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart, Marvin Gorman, and others hypocrisies were exposed in the late eighties, my response was ineffective simplicity and judgment. Now, I hope that I have matured in my character to extend mercy without denial of God’ truth (Proverbs 3:3).
Listen to these words:
“The greatest test of character is our response to someone else’s sin. If our responses are from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which emphasizes punishment instead of restoration, judgment instead of redemption or justice instead of mercy, then our responses might sow seeds that will ultimately destroy our own lives. But if our responses are out of the tree of life, we will not only protect our own hearts from subtle deception but will give the one who is trouble maximum opportunity to find liberating life.”
These profound words are those of Ted Haggard in his book, “Life Giving Church.”