Should Ted Haggard Be Allowed Back?
Apparently he’s in the news again, with rumors of making some kind of comeback via documentaries. While the past few years have been rough on him – some say the homosexual-bashing conservative evangelical deserved it – I don’t see what he’s trying to accomplish with a public statement – perhaps some vindication. You gotta feel bad for the guy – his life, vocation, future, promise, career, possibly family life – all destroyed. As a pastor myself I am sad for him, but at the same time I don’t know why he’s trying to get in the spotlight again – no one ever really recovers from these things. But the real question is – how did this ever even happen in the first place? Did he have any accountability or any confessor at all? Was he alone in his struggles? And how much imbalance did he have in his life to get to the point where he was using crystal meth and seeking out prostitutes? I know first-hand the hardships of pastoral ministry – but someone tell me -
how does somebody get like that?
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and by “get like that” I mean, becoming so imbalanced to the point of seeking sex outside of marriage and drug use. Not necessarily alluding to sexual orientation issues. That’s not what I’m driving at. Just thought I’d point that out before getting any hate mail.
Oh good because I was about to give you hate mail… just kidding. But honestly I think he’d be better off (and the Christian community as well) if he’d just go somewhere and be thoroughly ordinary and uninteresting and live his life. At some point expect a public repudiation of evangelical faith and a divorce. I hope that doesn’t happen, but I expect it.
How did he get there? Years of dishonesty with himself and an unwillingness to confront his issues early on. The sexual issues are likely just tip of the iceberg. There is probably a lot more there.
It is so sad to see anybody take a complete nosedive away from the Lord. I agree with elderj, that years of being dishonest with self and inner desires, and not seeking and staying in the Word and prayer leads a person right back to the life they had before Christ.
I have known several ministers who have tried to mix the world with the ministry and the world always wins. I have also known a few ministers who fully acknowledged where they went wrong, stayed accountable to older, wiser men in ministry, and started over. What some have said is they allowed “I” to take over in their lives, both personally and spiritually. What “I do”, what “I know”, who “I am” became bigger than Christ in their lives.
These people are just that, people – with all the stregnths and faults that we all have. I pray he will get it together, and use his experience to help others so they can benefit from his plight. Whethwer he gets back into ministry; I pray he is totally yielded the guidance of the Lord.
Hi, I’m Jim. I’m no expert for sure, but I know about sitting the bench. It is possible he’ll one day get back into the game. But after what happened, not long ago, it seems too soon to me for pastor haggard to comeback.
I’ve seen people close to me go away from the LORD. Myself included. The LORD always put people in my path to warn me. But I didn’t listen. Perhaps at some point, the LORD let’s us learn the hard way. So we take a hard fall and run back to Him. So He can restore us.