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Saginaw, Michigan, United States
A sinner who may come before God because of Christ

Monday, November 06, 2006

When one of us fails.

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 propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Romans 3:22b-25

‘Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, has been in seclusion today as the evangelical Christian community reels from news of his admission that he lied to conceal his "sexual immorality."’
-Agape Press, Nov. 6, 2006.

This startling, sad, shocking, stunning news came out a few days ago. One of the rising stars of American Christianity had not only failed, but fell, no, plummeted into a sin that many see as one of the worst sins, one that is described as an abomination (Lev 18:22). That sin is engaging in sexual relations with someone of the same sex.

So, what should our response be to this?

On a personal level, we need to be in prayer not only for brother Haggard, but also his family, his friends, his church, anyone who is associated with him. We need to flood this whole issue in prayer, because it is so public and can so easily be used by the enemy, the evil one, to further besmirch the name of Christ.

On a congregational level, we need to assure our pastors and church leaders to be more open about their struggles. There seems to be tremendous pressure on church staff to perform, that failure is measured in dollars or numbers or performance. We need to take some of this pressure off so they can feel free to humble themselves and be strengthened in their weaknesses.

On a worldly level, we need to show the love of Christ to Mr. Haggard, but even more so, to the homosexual ‘community’. We need to show them that because they are imprisoned by their sin, their sexual desires, that this does not mean they are beyond the grace of God. Ray Comfort is right, we should not get in debates about specifics of sins but let the mirror of Scripture convict and convert.

This is actually a wonderful door that has opened. The world will be looking to how the Evangelical community responds to this. My hope is that they see an unbelievable response like the world saw from the Amish community when their daughters were senselessly killed and they put out their arms in love to the killer’s family.

Let us stand firm in His truth, but remember that we are not placed here to enforce God’s Law upon mankind. We are here to show God’s grace and mercy which came from Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection.

We all fall short. We all fail. Let us approach others with moral superiority but as co-conspirators, freed from our own transgressions, because of Christ.
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