Religion, Spirituality and the Gospel : interpreting the echoes - Jeff Rau

For those of you who may not know, Ted Haggard is an evangelical preacher who has been leading a mega-church in Colorado Springs, and he has been a major leading figure in the evangelical community as president of the National Association of Evangelicals. He has risen to such notoriety that he reportedly has been a regular part of personal weekly meetings between President Bush and evangelical Christian leaders.

Recently however, he was accused of using meth and soliciting sex acts from a male prostitute. He has publicly admitted to some acts of "indiscretion" (though not admitted to the main claims against him), and as a result, he has stepped down from the NEA and has been removed from his position of pastoring New Life Church. This situation set off a media firestorm that labeled Ted a hypocrite and a liar, and it seems that in the public eye, this implicates all evangelical Christians as guilty by association.

Since this has been in the news, I have had several discussions about it with other Christians, and it seems we are all struggling with the same set of questions. Why has the struggle of one man become of such interest to the media? Do his acts of "indiscretion" automatically make him a hypocrite? And lastly, though arguably most importantly... how do we as Christians respond when others challenge Christ on the basis of a fallen Christian leader?

Why has the struggle of one man become of such interest to the media? Part of it is obvious... sex sells. But this can't be the whole story because his offense in the media's eyes is not the sex and maybe not even the drugs. In fact, the media often pushes for us to indulge our desires! In some ways we might have expected the secular world to argue that we should celebrate his breaking free of conservative oppression! (this is said entirely tongue in cheek, hopefully you get the point). But if his crime is not the sex... what is it?

His biggest offense in the media's eye is hypocrisy.

Believe it or not, this is where it ties in very nicely to what we've been discussing in The Gathering for the past few weeks! We have been exploring the differences between "Religion," "Spirituality," and the true "Gospel" which actually covers elements of both, in a more cohesive holistic approach. The public perception of Christianity is that it consists only of truth statements and moral law that appeal to the logos or rational; devoid of an understanding of self-community and of mission to the world. This is what we have characterized as "Religion." As we have discussed in class, it is easy for this kind of "Religion" to fall into three main traps: self-righteousness, exclusivity (us vs. them), and preoccupation with power (using moral law to control others). Since the secular world views Christianity as simply a "Religion" and does not see the fullness of the "Gospel", it is not surprising that these three traps are also secular stereotypes of the Christian church.

So how does this connect to Ted? I believe that the Ted Haggard tragedy has struck such a major chord in America because it appears to reinforce not one or two, but ALL THREE of those misconceptions about Christianity!!! Ted Haggard is accused of acting self-righteously as he preached against a particular way of life, but was unwilling to submit himself to the same law. Ted is accused of facilitating “exclusivity” and acting hypocritically as he claimed publicly to be one of "us" (Christians), while living a life in secret as one of "them" (indulging sinful desires). Lastly, and probably less obviously, he is accused of keeping up the lie in order to achieve power and influence... as evidenced by his part in the evangelical political machine that has climbed to such heights as to meet on a weekly basis with the most powerful man in the world!!! These may not be the explicit accusations found in the news media, but I believe they are clearly in the subtext. This critical trifecta causes the world outside of the Church to look in and say, "See, I knew it! All that Christianity stuff is just about self-righteous people, acting all exclusive and high-and-mighty, while just using their religion to gain power and control people."

So how do we respond??

This is a VERY difficult question that I can only begin to explore... The knee-jerk reaction is to say that we must distance ourselves from someone who has certainly not been practicing what he preached. But it doesn't take long to realize that this only reinforces the stereotype of exclusivity; "follow the rules and you're in; break the rules and you're out." This is the textbook legalist "Religious" response- hardly a response worthy of the Gospel, which promises Grace. After all, does his sin automatically make him a hypocrite? Doesn't he continually preach that we are all sinners? Why should we expect him NOT to struggle with sin?... As an alternative response, we could embrace Ted Haggard now more than ever... affirm that none is blameless... acknowledge that we are fallen people living in a fallen world... affirm that we are all in need of a saviour... extend grace... let him who is without sin throw the first stone... or maybe just forgive and forget. This response may sound better on the surface, but it just didn't sit right with me.

At this point, I got stuck. It wasn't until we held some conversations among the staff here at Grace that a third option seemed to emerge, clarifying the fault with option #2 (thanks to the insight of others).

Forgive and forget doesn't cut the mustard, because it ignores a Just God's requirement for atonement (another key component of the holistic Gospel). While it is certainly true that we all are sinful, as Christians we are to be marked by a way of life that is transformed in Christ. Being sinful may not make Ted Haggard a hypocrite, but his prior refusal to confess and repent of his sin probably did. So what do we do with Ted? The answer is sort of in between #1 and #2. I feel it is wise that he be presently removed from his position of leadership in the Church (after all, there is Just punishment for sin), but we must not kick him to the curb. Ted is a sinful man in desperate need of Christ's love and grace; we must do our best to seek reconciliation. I pray that Christ works in his heart to bring about confession and contrition, and I pray that we may one day see him restored into the body and active in ministry! We must love Ted with the whole "Gospel," not judging him on "Religious" terms, nor neglecting God's perfect Justice, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law... the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, to be received by faith... It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26)

Sorry... that turned out longer than I had expected... I hope it was worth the read...

posted by Christina @ 7:54 AM