Ted Haggard is using an upcoming HBO documentary to chastise the church for how it handled his sex-and-drugs scandal in 2006. Read one pastor’s take on why he may have a point.

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Ted Haggard is at it again. The former pastor of a Colorado mega church who admitted to a sexual relationship with a male escort in 2006, is now sharing his story in a documentary called The Trials of Ted Haggard. On January 29, the film premieres on HBO and will re-examine the scandal that rocked the evangelical world. For many, this film will reopen old wounds and stir up feelings thought to be dead and buried.I question why Haggard chose this particular outlet to voice the pain and frustration of his private journey. While I can only imagine the suffering Haggard has endured over the past two years, I cannot excuse some of his choices. And now, once again, it seems the church will have to deal with another reminder of those choices. But maybe there are some things worth being reminded of.

In recent news reports, Ted Haggard chastised church leaders for missing an opportunity to use his scandal to “communicate the gospel worldwide.” Despite how we may feel about the circumstances surrounding Haggard, I believe we have the responsibility to ask: Is he right? Did we, the global Christian church, somehow miss an opportunity to respond to those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction with the gospel of truth? While these are valid questions that demand our attention, I believe there is another question that addresses an issue just as important, if not far greater:

What if Ted had told the truth? (click here for the entire article)

Ted Haggard is having his say. The former pastor of a Colorado megachurch who admitted to a sexual relationship with a male escort in 2006, is now sharing his story in a documentary called “The Trials of Ted Haggard.” On Jan. 29, the film premieres on HBO and will follow the life of the former pastor and re-examine the scandal that rocked the evangelical world. While the film is bound to bring up old wounds and raise more questions, there are some important lessons that the church can learn from Ted Haggard.

When the story broke in 2006, I, along with thousands of others, was shocked. I had brief contact with Ted Haggard in his role as leader of the National Association of Evangelicals at various meetings. His deception grieved me as did the media’s portrayal of him as the worst kind of hypocrite – a two-faced man who preached the Gospel of Christ by day and engaged in homosexual activity and drug abuse by night. People asked how it was possible for someone to oppose homosexual sin while indulging in it.

As he himself wrote in his confession, “There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I’ve been warring against it all of my adult life.” If you had asked the thousands that attended his Colorado Springs church, I imagine most would have said they had no idea their pastor struggled with homosexuality. The same could be the said for our own churches. It might be easy for us to judge the outside world, but how often do we recognize the broken and hurting in our own pews? For every gay activist that shouts in the parades, I’m willing to bet that there’s someone in our congregations who painfully struggles with homosexuality, but is afraid to reach out for help. I know because I was that person.  Click here to read the full article

In this article, Jones states “all the time I could feel myself drifting toward acceptance that gay persons are fully human persons and should be afforded all of the cultural and ecclesial benefits that I am.”  Here is the key; of course homosexuals are fully human people that should be treated with the basic respect that is afforded to everyone.  The Church, unfortunately, has missed this mark dramatically in the past and we are now reaping the consequences of our actions.  However, this is not an excuse to throw away 2 millennia of sound church doctrine and the unmistakably clear statements of scripture on this issue because of the Church’s irresponsibility to display the love of Christ in all situations.  The point is that the perception of homosexuals being anything less than fully human is tragically false and this is where Jones made his first mistake.  Had he initially seen them as creations of the Heavenly Father who are intended for a divine purpose and loved unconditionally, he would have been able to navigate and interpret Scripture without the compromise of “his experiences and feelings leading him toward a different conclusion.”

Many have made the mistake of seeing those impacted by homosexuality as something less.  This perception instantly removes us from a Biblical foundation and misrepresents the heart of God.  We are, therefore, left with no alternative than to be led by experience and emotion in order to find our way.  If we initially see each person as a divinely created being intended for relationship with the Father, then we have our compass to guide us in the correct interpretation of Scripture that leads to a Biblical response of mercy and truth to all who will hear.

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