Telling the Truth

Here’s an interesting thought on the Ted Haggard affair.

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.

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What if Ted had told the truth?

What if he had been honest from the very beginning? I’m not talking about the beginning of the scandal, I mean from the very beginning of his ministry. What if he had disclosed his struggle with same-sex attractions to his church and to the National Association of Evangelicals at the very start? Would he still have become president of one of the world’s largest evangelical organizations? Would he still have become one of America’s most respected spiritual leaders? I would like to believe so. However, I am not naïve to the fact that there are, unfortunately, many other organizations that desire leaders who are “spiritual lions” but upon the admission of any significant weakness, they are sacrificed liked lambs. Was this what Ted was afraid of and if so, was it justified? Do we have a culture in the church today where vulnerability in leadership is considered a disqualifying weakness? If so, what are we going to do about it?

Not just on the subject of sexuality, this is a deeply provoking idea, that we abandon people’s potentials not on the basis of what they have done, but simply on the basis of particular aspects of the Fall.

Thoughts?