The scandal encompassing Ted Haggard of New Life Church in Colorado Springs has been all over the news the past couple of days. Ted resigned as head of the National Association of Evangelicals and has taken a leave from his 14,000 member church because of allegations concerning sex with a gay prostitute and buying methamphetamine.
Stories like this aren’t new, but every time I read one it forces me to do some reflection. The truth is that all of us deal with temptations and with personal issues that bite at us constantly. Clergy are not exempt from those temptations and hypocrisies–in fact, we may be even more susceptible to them given the fact that we are expected to always be above reproach. Couple that temptation with a sense of power and you have a recipe for disaster.
My guess is that many clergy and church people will look at this latest of scandals and fall into a couple of camps: one saying that Ted Haggard is getting his just desserts for hitching his spiritual wagon to politics and another saying that it’s just another sad tale. For me, however, it is a stark reminder of the vulnerability that all of us experience. We are always just one wrong move from disaster. And the higher one has ascended in power and prestige, the farther one has to fall.
There’s a sense that many clergy have that makes them feel invulnerable–that they can be the moral authority and example and tell others how to live their lives. In one sense, that’s true: we are called to live an exemplary lifestyle. But for me part of that example involves being vulnerable–admitting our weakness, asking for help, not spending our time condemning others but working on our own stuff–not just when we get caught, but all the time. None of us are fully above reproach. None of us has a corner on the morality market. All we can do is point people to Jesus as our example and do our best to follow him ourselves.
Ted Haggard is a good man who failed to practice what he preached. All that means is that he’s human, and when we hold up our own humanity as the example and authority we will always fail to measure up. Better that we admit our humanity and give ourselves over to the grace and mercy of God who can move us toward a humanity crafted in his image rather than our own.
I won’t be throwing any stones at Ted Haggard. I feel for him and will pray for him and for all of us who struggle to lead God’s people despite the temptations of pride, ego, and invulnerability that are the bane of our profession. I think this is all a good wake-up call to Christ’s servants.
