As I read my Bible today, I came across a blunt Scripture. Hebrews 13:4 says, Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
I’m confident this is what God is doing with Ted Haggard. Judging him. I’m sure glad I don’t have to.
And another thing bouncing around my brain is what Mike Jones said a few days ago. He wondered how the church would respond to him if he walked through the church doors. Would we be as forgiving to him?
Good question.
What would the church do? What would you do?
And my last thought, I’m sick of the gossip. It’s getting real old hearing about the graphic details Jones talks about in his interviews. For some sick reason, I watch them. Yet I want to scream–enough sensationalism.
And here I am–talking about this. Go figure.
I guess I’ve been fortunate — I haven’t seen or heard a single interview with Jones and I hope I don’t. I am afraid it will put pictures in my mind that I’d rather not have there!
Speaking of judgment, I believe that God has been judging the participants in this scandal for a long time. I think the final hand of judgment has come down now, and assuming true repentance is underway, I believe the hand of judgment will be lifted and God’s comforting hand of forgiveness and restoration will rest upon the shoulders that need it.
And believe me, they will need it for a long time, because the repent/restore process is going to be long and excruciating.
In addition, while God forgives those who repent — people usually don’t. God’s hand of judgment will be lifted but people’s judgment will continue to rest on Haggard and Jones. All the more reason for God to be there will his tender hand of comfort.
About Jones… if he walked into a church and sat in the pew, I would assume he is there to publicly express his repentance and his desire to return to the fold, his desire to come back to God. I would walk up to him and offer him a hug and tell him I am praying for him.
Hey Tiffany,
This is the first time, I’ve posted here. I noticed you thru Bluebird blogs. 🙂 Nice site by the way.
I just wanted to say that I believe that the only difference between people like Haggard and everyone else in the Church is Haggard got caught.
Seriously, we all fall short of the glory of God. We don’t know the full story, we don’t know haggards heart. We don’t know how many times he repented and tried to walk a straight path. As Paul tells us, we do what we don’t want to do and don’t do what we want to do, oh wicked man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death. Answer – Jesus Christ. Our spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Honestly, if Haggard repented and turned around a pastored a church, I would attend it. That is of course if it was a church I wanted to attend, in other words, what I’m trying to say is that I wouldn’t let his past sin be a factor on whether or not to have him as my pastor.
The one thing that I find to be a consistent reality in our culture is the severity of certain types of sin over others.
Yes, what Haggard had been doing was a serious sinful matter. But we need to look beyond just his sin and we need to look at all those around him who affected his sin with theirs. I don’t believe that his wife is sin free, or his boss, or his parents, or his siblings or his best friends or ministry partners. So just because he gets caught doesn’t mean that it’s completely his fault.
Ah well, I could go on, but I won’t 🙂 I guess what I’m trying to say is that I get tired of seeing people in the church throwing stones.
grace and peace,
Dave.
Tiffany, once again, your writing is so important in this age.
I feel strongly to say that the Bible is clear about judging others. When one of our own has fallen, we are to invite them to the table of repentance. If they refuse then we are to step out of their way and let them fall out of the church. That is their choice. It is a form of judgment on our part because we must protect our children and brothers and sisters from falling into the same types of sins. Yes, we have all fallen short and are sinners, but we need to take responsibiliy for ourselves and quit blaming others. We need to obey the Lord even if that means that we are accused of judging. We are to judge one another in the body and not the world. 1Corinthians 5:1-13 In the end, Romans 8:33 Only God can judge. In other words, Final Answer! The answer is a resounding yes! Thank goodness we don’t have to judge whether or not someone is going to go to heaven. In the meantime, we must all continually work on purity in ourselves and the body of Christ. Otherwise, we would be just like the world instead of set apart and called to work in the Kingdom to help others find salvation. My prayer is that each of us would be different, refreshingly pure and be the perfume of Jesus. We better get used to the fact to people not interested we will stink of death and if they don’t come along for the ride of a lifetime, then we have to let them go. Let us not be caught up in this culture where Satan twists everything, even the word judgment. The Bible is very clear about this word. I pray for Haggard all the time. He is a brother but he needs help like all of us.
Love, Paulette
Amen Paulette! 🙂
Y.B.I.C,
Dave.
Hear, hear! I understand what you’re dealing with and I hope that you’ll find peace with the Ted Haggard situation. It is always sad when a man of God gives in to temptation (look at David and Bathsheba). But our trust and our faith belongs to God. =)
Excellent exchanges. Thought provoking.
Bottom line for me is that one of His names is REDEEMER. I pray for redemption. And while sin is not without its conseqences, it is also forgiven.
Thank you for all the comments and added thoughts about judgment and how we all fall short.
Oh how true that is. My life story contains graphic sins that would cause others to cring. I know about fallenness. And I know about redemption. I’m still working to forgive and accept myself.
Dave, thank you for visiting my blog and commenting about Ted. I couldn’t find your blog, only a summary page. Appreciate your time and thoughts.