Posted by
Theophilus on Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:28:15 AM
May I begin this article with the stated fact that I have never met personally Ted Haggard, the man who recently was caught in an immoral "relationship" with a homosexual man, an ongoing relationship that was over several years, and left the "mega-church" he founded. I have not met him, talked with him, or even ever heard him deliver a message.
With that said, what I do know is what I see and read. I see pictures of Ted Haggard and he is always grinning a toothy grin. Even when the TV cameras caught up with him the weekend the story broke in Colorado, in the car with his wife and family, he was grinning as he spoke. My question is, where is the brokenness? Where is the contrition over the sin that he is guilty of against a holy and righteous God? Where are the tears for the lives he has mis-led, and the hearts he has broken? What about the hypocrisy that he has lived with for years?
The other day, blaring across the headlines of AOL, were the big bold words in quotation marks, "Completely Heterosexual" and a picture of the grinning Haggard. (To his defense, perhaps that picture was taken before fall.) I thought as I looked at the story, I have to quickly get out of this before my 6 yeard old son who was sitting beside me asked me what "heterosexual" meant and why was that man saying that. It is then that my heart began to break. Where are the men of God today? Where are the holy men of God? Where are the Godly leaders and pastors? Oh, what an affront to our holy God that this is even a headline in the world's news.
As I read the solemn words of our Savior in Matthew 7:21-23 -- there will be many tragic surprises on the Day of Judgement.
May God help us and break us over the wickedness that we toy with and joke about and tolerate. May His people be holy people, walking as Christ walked. When we toy with sin, may we think of our groaning Lord on the cross, suffering and bleeding because of that sin.
May we not ever grin at sin.