November 4, 2006
The Haggard Scandal
I have been following from afar the emerging scandal involving Ted Haggard. I had originally not intended to blog it at all, but Steve over at Triablogue had comments that I figured all Christians need to read.
Triablogue: We have no pope!Honestly, folks, how many Evangelicals pay the slightest attention to the NAE? Do you go to the NAE website for moral and theological guidance?
Did you ever vote for Haggard? I know I didn't.
He's completely irrelevant to my life, and I daresay he's completely irrelevant to yours as well.
Haggard is not my pastor. Or elected representative.
As a graduate of ORU, Haggard is hardly the first guy I'd turn to for theological advice.
As a Christian, I only have one representative, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
The downfall of Haggard is only significant if we allow the enemies of the gospel and the chattering classes to assign it a wholly artificial significance and foist that upon the rest of us. If we permit them to redefine us.
The media is addicted to the cult of celebrity and the cult of personality. And they are welcome to their infatuations and soap opera scandals.
But don't try to impose your silly values on me.
Haggard is simply someone who's well-known for being well-known. Haggard's inner demons are no more important than J-Lo's love-life.
Save it for the National Inquirer, alongside the three-headed baby, alien abductee, weeping Madonna, and Elvis-sighting du jour.
Amen and amen. The whole article is worth a read.
Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs also had some good obeservations:
Pyromaniacs: Thoughts on today's scandalIt's time for evangelicals to rethink their priorities, reexamine the evil fruits of pragmatic and market-driven "spirituality," and retool their own movement. Better yet, Christians with a concern for the glory of God and the authority of Scripture should renounce the latitudinarian-style movement contemporary "evangelicalism" has morphed into. It is a hopelessly mixed and muddled multitude. The fashionable brand of NAE/Christianity Today-style "evangelicalism" actually abandoned historic evangelical principles long ago, and hasn't taken a firm stand for biblical and evangelical doctrine for some time. The current scandal is only a symptom of that much deeper problem.
In conclusion, brethren, let us be holy, and preach the Word.
Posted by Andrew at November 4, 2006 3:45 PM
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Comments
Posted by: Chris at November 4, 2006 10:59 PM
I respectfully disagree.
Of course the world lumps all people who claim to be Christians together--from Baptists to Catholics to Mormons. Just because they put the same label on all of us does not mean we have to accept that label.
Has Christ really been shamed? Is He sitting now at the right hand of the Father--blushing? I don't think so. Of course He is grieved, as He is with all sin.
As for His followers being discredited--I think it is a fundamental error to think that "it is the opinion of those who see [Haggard] as a representative of our Savior that means most". As the article I linked points out, he is being artificially crowned as some sort of evangelical pope, so that he can be shot down--a virtual straw-man, if you will. If we acquiesce to this point of view, we are playing into the hands of those who would discredit Christ by discrediting Haggard.
Posted by: Andrew at November 5, 2006 10:13 AM
I speak out against liberal theology and compromise on a daily basis, and certainly Mr. Haggard was on the liberal end of the evangelical spectrum. Still, I do not believe the world has any understanding of our fundamentalist vs. neo-evangelical distinctions. They see only that a believer in Biblical Christianity has fallen into gross sin. The fact the you didn't elect him or count him as your representative makes no difference to them. Like it or not, the Christ we preach has been shamed. His followers (conservative or liberal) have been discredited by this scandal. Before we distance ourselves too far from a man like Haggard, we should realize that it is not our opinion that counts. It is the opinion of those who see Him as a representative of our Savior that means most.