Of sin and schadenfreude
So if you missed it, a prominent conservative evangelical preacher from Colorado, Ted Haggard was forced to resign from his church and confess to at least some of a homosexual escort’s allegations that he was paying for meth-fuelled gay sex while campaigning against same sex marriage. I don’t really want to add to the discussion of this. I actually don’t pay a lot of attention to US evangelicals so until the news came out, I didn’t really know who this guy was.
However, I had a couple of thoughts about this generally. It seems to me that if there is an element of the culture wars to be found in the worldwide christian church (and I believe that there is), it tends to show us all in the worst and least Christian light. For those that disagree with Haggard’s politics or theology, this dramatic downfall seems to be almost a gift. In one fell swoop everything he has ever preached, believed or created is completely undermined. His entire ministry will now forever be appended with an implied footnote - yeah, he grew this church from nothing to 14,000 people and had the ear of the president, but it turns out he was a fag, so what does that tell ya?
At once, he becomes the poster child for “those hypocritical conservatives” or, more broadly, “those hypocritical Christians”. However, none of this really logically follows in my view. A thriving sub-set of preachers and speakers on issues of sexual sin speak from a background of self-declared sexual struggle (a variation of the “I have conquered my evil thoughts” or “I have embraced that part of me that I once thought was sinful”). Obviously the guy is in crisis right now, but there doesn’t seem to me to be any reason why he couldn’t pursue his calling in some appropriately honest and forgiven way in the future.
As I have said, before the last week or so, I wouldn’t have known Ted Haggard if I tripped over him. With only the most casual glance over his political and theological positions, I am fairly confident that I would have disagreed with him on a whole range of issues. However I confess to being very uncomfortable with the implied breathless glee that comes with reports of yet another fallen moral crusader. I just can’t be pleased and self-righteous about the fact that a guy’s life has unravelled through his own sinfulness.
Similarly I can’t summon much shame and chagrin when people point out that leaders and speakers who influence my thoughts once wrote a couple of sentences which could be understood to be heretical, or that they once extended support to someone who it later turns out is not worthy of support.
I believe that in this “culture war” atmosphere, more and more we seem to take joy from the failings of others and use them as a reason to ignore or de-emphasise their point of view. Serious and major mistakes such as the ones I have been reading about appear to lend credence to the idea that smaller, even petty, shortcomings should similarly disentitle someone to express a political or theological opinion.
In Ben Elton’s book Blast from the Past he paints a picture of the US military in which the most important quality to acheive peace time promotion is to be innoffensive and free of controversy. The book suggests that in a climate which is anxious to stamp out scandal, the only people likely to assume positions of power are those that are too ineffectual to do the job. I wonder if the same can be said of moral leadership.
Some of my greatest spiritual heroes are people who have struggled with decisions about what is right or not. Sometimes they have made mistakes. But I always thought that this made them stronger. I like that Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrestled with his own conscience about whether to be involved in an assasination plot as an expression of his faith. I admire the fact that Oscar Romero was originally appointed ArchBishop of El Salvador because he had a record of turning a blind eye to injustice. I like that Luther made enemies and offended people. I like that one of the people I think most perfectly embodies the Christian ideal - Gandhi - was unashamedly not Christian.
However I wonder whether the church still has the ability to allow people to be flawed and in leadership. Our whole religion is based on the idea of redemption and forgiveness, but we allow so little of it with our leaders. I know that some of the people who comment here will jump to the situation of leaders who engage in spiritual abuse, but that is not my primary concern in this post.
My question is this. Does the global church and the public have the will and ability to embrace and support moral leaders with moral flaws? Or will we be unable to resist using those moral flaws to sink our opponents, and contribute to the elevation of the bland and inoffensive?
PS. I think that much of the conservative evangelical comment on this situation has been incredibly grace-filled, which is nice. The quotes from church members in the article I linked were lovely, but seemed to suggest that Haggard was no longer a part of the community - I hope that is not true, or at least that he and his family would continue to be pastorally cared for elsewhere.
December 15th, 2006 at 9:31 am
at the local Ashberger corner shop
December 15th, 2006 at 10:05 am
doesn;t it leave a funny taste in your mouth?
December 15th, 2006 at 10:06 am
The funny taste is your foot…
December 15th, 2006 at 10:16 am
but that is where my mouth is
December 15th, 2006 at 10:40 am
…enough said…
December 15th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
On something completely different I notice the Victorian court of Appeal has negated the Two Dannies judgment just like I was advised they probably would.
the VCAt have been put on notice so to speak.
A good decision.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
ok I’ll bite - what is the two danny’s judgement and why is it s good decision? And why do you wear cordoroy underpants?
December 15th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
I was only half joking Greg… thought it wouldn’t hurt to advance an alternative hypothesis to the famous: “Homer is a moron” one used to explain his obsession with I Corinthians. I find him quite an intriguing character, actually… eccentric, but not a moron.
Still asking Homer… might the 1% of homosexuals in the population have a homosexual orientation?
December 16th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
I know he’s not a moron - I just don’t want him to know I know that!….Doh!
December 18th, 2006 at 6:59 am
I won’t tell anyone, Greg.
I can’t prove Asbergers and don’t want to either… but I thought I’d throw the idea into cyberspace because some awful things have been written about Homer… what if he did (ironically) have an inherited orientation that made him unable to learn social cues or nuances in the same way that 99.9 % of people learn such things? I think Signposters can be awfully judgmental sometimes… discerning good, prophetic good, analytical, good, appropriately critical, good… judgmental and condescending… well… not so good.
December 18th, 2006 at 8:12 am
Nobody likes you Janet
December 19th, 2006 at 4:56 am
I mean Aspergers.
Yeah, I know, I’m a total spoil-sport.
December 19th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Janet, gimme a break.
You might need to take a closer look at Aspergers , language perhaps.
There are some people like that but I am not one.
Moreover someone suffering from that would surely be consistent ans I am a pretty frequent commenter on many blogs!!!
What happens here is simply a classic case of ‘tolerant’ people being intolerant of other points of view and getting very upset when their research is shown to be pretty limited.
December 19th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
What if homer is really Phil and Dan and te whole point of this blog is to get as many people to be a totally exasparated as possible at the one time?
You win Dan and Phil…or as we now konw who you are…stop the pretence…come out and be who you really are…Homerites…
Janet I didn;t really mean noboady lies you - Homer obviously does!
December 19th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
:ROTF:
December 19th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
somebody teach janet how to spell asparagus.
December 19th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
that would make me green with envy
December 19th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
“Bring Back EP at LP Says”
Shit. I was hoping you were up at the North Pole packing the sleigh.
December 19th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
Not quite sure what you mean Homer… people with Aspergers are often highly intelligent and speak / write well… anyway… sorry I mentioned it, stupid really… I was thinking out loud really about rushing to judgment about people… I guess it was just another example of categorising people without knowing the full story.
December 20th, 2006 at 4:49 am
“An executive staff member at New Life Church in Colorado Springs has resigned after admitting to sexual misconduct and other mistakes - the result of an examination of the staff’s moral makeup after the ouster of senior pastor Ted Haggard, a church official said Sunday.
Christopher Beard, who headed a ministry that trained young adults in leadership skills, stepped down Friday after admitting to “a series of decisions displaying poor judgment, including one incident of sexual misconduct several years ago,” said Rob Brendle, an associate pastor at the 14,000- member church.
Citing confidentiality over personnel issues, Brendle would not discuss the nature of the sexual misconduct except to say it did not involve Haggard or a minor.
Beard, a New Life employee for nine years, was not married at the time of the incident but is now, Brendle said. Beard could not be reached for comment Sunday.
After Haggard’s fall in a drugs-and-gay- sex scandal last month, the senior leadership of New Life asked its outside board of overseers to take a closer look at the “spiritual character” of its 200-member staff as a precaution. Brendle said Beard’s disclosures came during a meeting with the board, which is made up of four pastors from other congregations.
Brendle said Beard’s resignation was voluntary and is another step toward making sure the “disordered moral life” demonstrated in Haggard’s fall is “excised from the church.”
“We recognize there will be increased scrutiny of our church in the wake of the scandal,” Brendle said. “We welcome that process in order to reinforce the high standard of personal integrity and morality that has characterized New Life’s employees for 22 years.”
Before his resignation, Beard oversaw a church ministry called twentyfourseven, a nine-month training program for young adults in missionary work and leadership. He has led mission trips to 53 countries and had a role in this year’s church Easter drama.
In 2002, Beard was reprimanded by church officials after he staged a missionary training drill using fake assault weapons. A SWAT team was put on alert after a passing motorist thought the guns were real. Brendle said that incident played a role in Beard’s departure.
Beard’s church biography states he has a business degree from Oral Roberts University - Haggard’s alma mater - and a master’s degree in Christian counseling. He previously worked as a psychotherapist at a leading mental institution, the biography states.
Haggard, 50, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired from his pulpit after a Denver male prostitute alleged a three-year relationship with the minister and claimed Haggard used methamphetamine.
Haggard confessed to undisclosed “sexual immorality” and admitted buying meth but said he never used the drug.
Haggard and his wife, Gayle, are undergoing three weeks of counseling at an undisclosed outpatient treatment center in Arizona.”
From http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4858943
December 20th, 2006 at 7:37 am
“Brendle said Beard’s resignation was voluntary and is another step toward making sure the “disordered moral life” demonstrated in Haggard’s fall is “excised from the church.””
That comment concerns me. How exactly do you excise disordered moral life from any church. We are not all perfect little drones who do not make mistakes, we are all sinners last I checked.
I can understand leaders needing to be held to a higher standard but to say we need to remove people from the church who have a “disordered moral life” really misses the point of Christianity I believe.
December 20th, 2006 at 8:32 am
They should always be removed from leadership but they should NEVER be removed from the church unless they deny the sin. In this case this has not happened.
It matters not how and why the person repents and asks for forgiveness as we see in the case of David.
After all we are all fallen people. people who fall from a great height need all the christian fellowship they can get
December 20th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
“After all we are all fallen people.”
We are not all ‘fallen’ people Homer, we are ’sinful’ people.
Stop using euphemisms to hide your ongoing sin.
December 20th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
tell God to then Lance. Hebrews 6:6 or Revelations 2:5
December 20th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Are you going soft on sin Homer?
Oh..that’s right..you’re going soft on your own sin.
December 20th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
true to form you ignore the bible Lance and whilst doing that you must of course mislead.
I do feel sorry for you Lance.
December 20th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
“I do feel sorry for you Lance. ”
I know.
Because you’re haughty.
December 21st, 2006 at 5:14 pm
By the way Homer… did you think the steady 1% of homosexuals in the population might have a homosexual orientation?
December 21st, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Hi Homer, You mentioned David’s sin. What do you think about David’s polygamy. He had multiple wives and concubines ignoring Moses’ Law of Deut17 that the king should not have multiple wives. Do you have a different reading?
It wasn’t until he effectively murdered Uriah after adultery with his wife that David was confronted by God through Nathan the Prophet and then he acknowledged that sin. I think God had a lot of patience and mercy with David, a lot of grace toward him.
Did David ever acknowledge, admit it was wrong, and repent of his sins in accumulating wives? Maybe you have a valid explanation.
My question from #640 still stands.
December 21st, 2006 at 11:36 pm
Adventures In Pastors Missing The Point - Episode 5,742,784,349,531,368,563,146,865
“Christian leaders seek to help pastors battle desires
Gay-sex controversies have led not to new theology but to a call for the church to help pastors fight their urges.
By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer
December 21, 2006
DENVER — Recent gay-sex scandals involving evangelical pastors have prompted much soul-searching among conservative Christian leaders.
No one has proposed rethinking the theology that homosexuality is a sin. Instead, there’s a growing consensus that the church must do a better job of helping pastors resist all immoral desires, such as a lust for pornography, an addiction to drugs or a lifelong same-sex attraction.
Seminary professors, Christian counselors and veteran clergy say the best way to help pastors fight temptation is to get them talking — even about their most shameful secrets. They don’t want a sordid tell-all from the pulpit each Sunday. But they would like pastors to bare their weaknesses and admit their lapses before a small group of “accountability partners” — friends committed to listen with empathy, then rebuke or advise as needed.
“Our current environment demands perfection of pastors,” said Craig Williford, president of the Denver Seminary. “It doesn’t allow leaders to struggle, to be human, to deal with their issues without fear of losing their ministry. We need to help them find safe harbors.”
Williford recently attended a conference with 50 seminary presidents; most, he said, had pushed this issue to the top of their agenda after the scandals.
The most recent involved the Rev. Paul Barnes, 54, who resigned Dec. 10 as pastor of a large church in suburban Denver after confessing to repeated trysts with men. In a tearful goodbye video, Barnes told his congregation he had struggled with homosexuality since he was a boy. “I can’t tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away,” Barnes said, according to the Denver Post. One of its reporters viewed the video before the church sealed it last week.
The confession in many ways echoed a farewell letter the Rev. Ted Haggard, 50, wrote his Colorado Springs mega-church last month after admitting to contact with a male prostitute.
Both men described their lives as a decades-long battle against their desires. They said they had tried numerous strategies to overcome their feelings but did not succeed.
Some gay-rights activists had hoped these accounts would prompt a reevaluation of the widespread view among evangelicals that homosexuality is a choice — and that it can be overcome with prayer and discipline. “If one of these guys in power would say ‘I’ve been wrong,’ that would change the world,” said the Rev. Mel White, who runs a faith-based gay-rights group called Soulforce.
But many evangelicals have drawn a very different lesson from the scandals.
They note that Barnes and Haggard said they felt alone in their struggles, unable to confide in anyone. And they blame that isolation — at least in part — for the pastors’ falls.
“We don’t know how to deal with what’s going on inside us, so we stuff it, or deny it, or adamantly preach against it,” said the Rev. Kurt Fredrickson, who directs the doctorate program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.
The Rev. H.B. London, who runs a clergy counseling program for the Focus on the Family ministry in Colorado Springs, said: “There’s a loneliness, even though you’re surrounded by lots of people, and that often drives you to try to fill your life in another way.”
Church culture often reinforces that sense of loneliness.
In his 14 years at the helm of a conservative Baptist congregation in Colorado Springs, the Rev. Benjamin Reynolds found it almost impossible to have an honest conversation with his deacons. He set up a monthly “check-in,” but everyone responded to his questions with a reflexive “I’m blessed.”
“I wanted to say, ‘Please! I feel like crap!’ ” Reynolds said. “I felt like I was not dealing with human beings.”
Talking with members of the congregation was even harder, he said; they held him to such a high standard that he could set off a round of gossip just by running out for a carton of milk on a Saturday night — a time they expected him to be home in prayer, preparing for Sunday worship.
Reynolds, 45, struggled for years on his own with the realization he is gay. Several months ago, he asked a former seminary professor to gather some good listeners.
It was to that team of three men that Reynolds first came out. This fall, with their encouragement, he told his congregation he was proud God had created him as a “same-genderloving person.” He resigned from the church rather than divide the congregation over the propriety of a gay man at the pulpit.
Ministers everywhere echo Reynolds’ frustration with the solitude of the job. Office politics can be as ruthless in churches as in boardrooms; pastors are often reluctant to confide their struggles to colleagues, for fear they’ll be pushed out of a job. And they tend to move so often, it can be tough to make good friends outside the congregation.
Eric Reed, managing editor of the church journal Leadership, urges churches to combat that isolation by assigning pastors spiritual advisors, or by requiring that they spend several days a year in counseling at a Christian retreat. “Don’t wait until the pastor falls apart,” Reed said. “Build it into the job.”
The trustees of Haggard’s former church, New Life, are considering writing such a requirement into the contract when they hire a new senior pastor.
To gay-rights activists, that seems a ludicrous response to Haggard’s disgrace. No amount of counseling can wipe away same-sex attractions, they say, and it’s cruel to make gifted spiritual leaders deny their sexuality as a condition of ministry.
Conservative Christians respond that everyone has immoral desires of one sort or another. Straight Christians are called upon to resist the temptation to steal or cheat or look at porn, they say, and gay Christians are called upon to resist any longings for same-sex intimacy. “We learn to manage [the urges] and not allow them to control us,” Williford said.
Alan Chambers, president of the “ex-gay” ministry Exodus International, holds himself up as an example. He says he confides any wayward thoughts to his wife and closest friends, so they can help him avoid situations that might tempt him to homosexual behavior. “Leaders don’t need to be ashamed of the fact that they’re human,” he said.
In the last few weeks, he has shared that advice with church leaders from across the country. Chambers says he hears a common desperation in their voices. They haven’t yet fallen, they tell him. But they need help.”
From http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pastors21dec21,1,3894533.story?coll=la-headlines-nation