A Public Statement on Ted Haggard
 
No one is defined by their worst moments.  To understand a person you have to walk with them for many years.  Gayle Haggard knew the real Ted before she knew about the fomenting torment of his soul.  She just did not know his darkest parts. We are all adept at hiding those bits of ourselves which are least appealing. The truth about Ted Haggard was seen in his day to day pastoring and leading of a congregation that grew to some 14,000 people. When I think of Ted I remember the guy who had time for a fellow pastor when he had thousands, literally thousands of people who could have said they needed him. So to me he is my friend, even though he may not even remember meeting with my wife and I in May of 2000 to counsel us about our future in ministry. 

I believe the real Ted Haggard is the guy who rose to lead a the nation’s evangelicals, the guy who wrote books about everything from church life, to family to dieting, the guy whose magnetism drew a multitude to his local church and the guy who had and still has a great marriage to his wife Gayle.  You see it is the cumulated daily life of a man that measures him.  It is the daily grind that tells the truth about a man.  His season of secret sin does not invalidate his lifetime of devotion to Christ, to family, to friends and to the church.  But he did lose his grip on all the self-control that kept his darkest thoughts from public view.
 
What Do You Do With a Fallen Brother?
 
We all recoiled at the public fall of the man we ‘thought we knew.’ But should we?  Have we not lived long enough to know that these kinds of darkness often hide the most unlikely candidates? Admittedly, Ted was one of my heroes. He was one of those great souls that seemed to have it all together. He shinned like a flawless diamond. His public joy built a facade that was completely believable. When he fell I wept publicly.  But what should we do when a brother falls?  First, we should quiet ourselves and gather the wisdom of other sage leaders. Then we should approach it with fear remembering our own frailties. Did New Life Church do this? O that is not my point. I think they mostly did well and have done the best they could. Flawlessly? No, no more than the one they had to chasten. This article is not written in any way to question the dealings of others with Ted.  It is intended to speak of our dealings with him as a fellowship of Jesus.
 
We have to try to help one another and love one another even when the beauty has been betrayed by the beast within.  Ted’s story is important. It is about all of us. People everywhere struggle with wanting to do one thing and nevertheless doing quite the opposite. For some it is a raging anger, for others an unquenchable desire, for still others nagging greed. And all of it is swept along by the terror of exposure.  Fear of being truly known is the slave master that whips us into the shadows. We believe if we are truly known we will not be loved.  Bringing Ted Haggard to our church is intended to strike a blow at that demonic lie.  We are saying that having the curtain torn down and displaying the wizard as a mere man, a la Oz, does not make him worthless. It makes him dearer. So we welcome Ted to our church with open hearts and open arms.
 
We Are Loving and Forgiving a Brother
 
Ted may not be our own church member but he is a member of our body.  He belongs to the same Lord and loves the same Jesus as we.  In the scriptures there was a terrible sin exposed in the first letter to the Corinthians.  Paul did not hesitate to pass a judgment upon the man when his sin was exposed. Apparently the man was engaged in a sexual relationship with ‘his father’s wife.’  Hopefully a euphemism indicating no filial relation, perhaps a step mother.  Either way Paul said such an evil was not even found among Gentiles.  Paul told the congregation to turn him over to Satan.  Well apparently they did. And perhaps that same man is referred to in Paul’s second letter in chapter 2, we cannot be sure. However, the principle would still apply. Someone in the church was disciplined and apparently has deeply repented. Paul told them to re-affirm their love for him, 2 Cor. 2:8 and to forgive him vs 10 and spare them all from Satan’s deceptions vs. 11. 
 
Therefore, we are having Ted in our church to share with him our forgiveness and to affirm our love to him.  We cannot do this as perfectly as his own church could but we can express the love of the larger body of Christ that was also wounded in Ted’s fall.  Above all we wish to express our love to Gayle and to regret with her that she ever had to taste the bitter gall of this pain.  So often those who love the sinner most are hurt worst by the sins.  Gayle and the children had no culpability in this and yet they too suffered the loss of so many dear relationships and comforts.  Her help in restoring her husband to honor should itself be honored.
 
What If…?
 
Indeed what if more is exposed or if he falls again?  The answer is simple. Love always risks.  Love is always ready to be tested, to be challenged, to be soiled by association.  Love never fails. All kinds of things can happen and will happen. When they do the blood of Christ will be sufficient and his association with sinners will continue. However, what if no one was willing to love Ted again? What if his family turned him out? What if every person that loved him now hated him? You already know the answer to that. We would be very poor indeed if that were the case.
 
A final thought.  Having Ted visit our church and testify to us, teach us and minister to us does not rise to the level of restoring him to what he lost.  That can only be done over a great deal of time and by higher power than our simple church.  He does not come as an ordained pastor, his credentials are not intact.  He does not come as a pastor.  He comes as a friend with a story to tell.  And we will hear his story and share ours with him. Perhaps we will weep together and perhaps we will even laugh, yes we should laugh too. One thing I believe is true we will all be left enriched by grace and kissed by peace.  No matter what let Christ have the last word for he is the one in whom we have trusted. He is the one who entered the darkness at noon for us.  He is the one who has taught us to love.  These are the thoughts of a pastor who has made a decision and does not regret it nor does he expect to do so.

Bless you all.

Alan Hawkins