so, it’s inevitable. with the whole ted haggard scandal, the cynics are hammering out some hate for evangelicals. this group of cynics also includes some of my friends and acquaintances, and being the “strategic” person i am, i start planning how conversations with these people might go.
instantly, my mind goes to the “it’s christians like that who give other christians a bad name” and “i’m not that kind of christian” and then i realize…
i AM that kind of christian.
since becoming a believer, i have lied. i have stolen. i have used god’s name in vain. i have dishonored my parents. i have looked at porn. i have abused alcohol and other mind altering substances. i have thought lustful thoughts and have done lustful things. i have neglected my husband and put ministry and career first. i have been bitter. jealous. materialistic. i have been unforgiving.
yet i am scandalously forgiven by a provocative father who loves me.
so, mr. haggard, i don’t know you. and you don’t know me. but at least on this little piece of cyberspace, i am standing right with you.
i am that kind of christian.
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me too.
Well said.
yep
I am totally with you on that.
I’m beginning to wonder if there wasn’t a reason Jesus himself only took on 12 to keep up with. Seems the stress of huge churches causes leaders to be way too stressed for the common good.
The jig is up. I’m in too. Grace and forgiveness, my 2 best friends.
Great post. My church is doing a series on Secrets. One of our vocalists even sang the All American Reject song “Dirty Little Secret”. :) We all have secrets in our lives. Sharing those secrets and getting them out in the light is the first step. Anne, I love what you said about being “scandalously forgiven by a provocative father who loves me”. So well said. I love reading your blog.
wow. i’m amazed with your honesty. you really make me think. christians are the first ones to kill their injured and eat their own dead. i hope i can stop that cycle in my life.
you are so awesome… what a great post…
I started to post but it got too long… ugh… sorry… emailing ya :P
great post – thanks for being so open and saying what I have wanted to say the last few days to the media. I am a sinner and I am just forgiven.
True. Thank you for saying that.
So I guess you figured out what you want your blog to be, since you are posting again. I’m curious, how have you defined it?
powerful, truthful, convicting. thank you.
I am not that kind of christian, but I am that kind of sinner.
yep (the same is true for me).
no doubt.
mm hmm.
crap.
i hate that it’s true … but it’s true … about all of us.
It’s not the sin that bothers me …it’s the way he chose to hid behind it. If I were seceretly, allegedly having gay relations I would hope I wouldn’t also be fighting against same sex laws and policies. If I were a murderer I would not be marching for the death penalty. I hope as a sinner I strive to be more authentic than that.
With me the same things I fight the most for (sexual & emotional purity) are the same things I struggle the most with.
Granted, if I were participating in those things I would hope to be brave enough to come clean and remove myself from ministry.
I agree with almost all that you say but I do have huge concern here. The book of James says that:
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
I will get drilled for not whole heartedly agreeing, i have no doubt but the above verse has plagued me ever since I became a believer 8-9 years ago. I actually held back from being a teacher for some time because of this single verse.
I could just have sat around as a coward (as the devil would have loved) or I could lean on God to provide other men to hold me accountable and rely on the Holy Spirit to break me when i walk down a path I should not. I have built around me a group of guys whom I trust with my worst struggles. I also keep a transparency with people around me sharing anything that I believe will encourage believers (as long as I discern it will encourage and not give them a freedom to harden their hearts against sin b/c “shane struggles with it too”).
I think America currently has one of the most skewed views of Grace (absolutely NOT referring to this post or ANYONES replies here at all). The Devil absolutely loves the fact that we abuse grace so much that we really do not have to alter anything about our currently lifestyles (even though God commanded it) and we just tuck away our fire insurance and avoid our conscious.
What do we know about Zaccheaus? We know that he was a short man that had to climb up into a tree to see Jesus as he walked by. Why couldn’t he see Jesus? Because of Jesus’ crowd of “followers”.
I never intend for this to say that we have any right to judge mr. haggard. I pray that he will be surrounded by friends and family who love and support him and want him to be spiritually restored and back in the race we are all running. But WE have a huge response to see that warning. If we can’t be there to provide support to get him back onto the track (which we can through prayers) we need to see what he did and take note. Anytime an athlete is injured in a race it grabs the attention of others and they need to be checking themselves to make sure that they are not on a pace to pull a muscle or break a leg.
This is one of those that I hate to add. And I know that many of you will be frustrated but it is from my heart.
Anne, i love you and Chris to death. The sins that you mentioned above, you have been transparent with me and all others. But if I knew you were currently involved in any of that stuff, i would confront you about it (lol not sure how it would go but i’m not a lion so it probably wouldn’t be too confrontational) because I want to see you succeed in this race we are running. I want to be there when all my friends get to heaven and hear “well done good and faithful servant” (totally drenching you with gatorade if i get there first). That’s my heart!
Well said friend. I think we all need a piece of that humble pie every now and then.
We are ALL that kind of Christian! It reminds me of the EXTREMELY powerful cross that Sarah Brown, a high school senior painted. http://www.emergingcity.com/2006/02/the_cross_and_the_city_i_am.html
We are also forgiven – by the blood of Christ alone. For that I am forever grateful……..
Beautifully said.
don’t know why I’m saying anything….it’s already been said