This afternoon, I walked through the New Life Church building and prayer center and saw swollen eyes, stunned faces, and broken hearts. The media was in several places in the parking lot with anxious people talking to the cameras. On one hand – incredible pain. On the other – a hungry media looking for one more detail.

My sadness, and even depression, of the last hours is complicated. Ted Haggard is well-loved, has worked hard, is a wonderful administrator, a charismatic leader, and a spokesperson for truth, righteousness, and God’s Kingdom. He has four sons, a daughter, and a lovely wife. I worry about the children, his wife, and Ted’s mental anguish. Who will be there for them? The church is handling this and other challenges appropriately. They are upfront and not trying to hide information. Although Rev. Haggard will not come back as their pastor, they sincerely want to see him restored as a person and the family to receive whatever help they need.

Why couldn’t Rev. Haggard talk to someone, seek help, or tell his congregation that he needed to step aside and get professional assistance? Over the years, I’ve talked to hundreds of clergy who are afraid to admit they have battles just like any other human being. They know if they admit their weaknesses, they could lose their career, disappoint those who look up to them, and somehow communicate that the Christian message isn’t all they have said it is.

Questions about the New Life mega-church and who will lead it and what they will say are running over and over in my head. Lots of innocent people who attend that church and thousands of other churches are impacted. They are looking for a way to just get life right … make it through another day.

The evangelical community will hear sneers, slanderous comments, and mockery about the 2,000-year-old message of Christianity.

The fact is, Christianity and the Bible have never claimed that people, or even Christian leaders, are perfect. The raw truth about man’s struggle with wrongness … evil … sin is revealed throughout God’s Word:

• David committed adultery, lied about it, and committed murder.
• Abraham lied, and so did his son.
• Peter, the apostle who Jesus said he would build his church on, lied and ran because of fear.
• Lot committed incest.
• Noah got drunk.
• One of Adam’s sons murdered his brother.

The Bible doesn’t tell us these stories so we can say, “He or she sinned and so can I.” But the Bible offers these accounts to remind us that everyone has feet of clay, all are vulnerable, and we all have our battles with something.

God is not afraid to permit a person’s failure to be “wide open” to the media and the world. He is not insecure about his message, or shocked by people’s shortcomings. The God of the Bible knows that people will fall – even some who are known to many. Wayde Goodall

God is not afraid to permit a person’s failure to be “wide open” to the media and the world. He is not insecure about his message or shocked by people’s shortcomings. The God of the Bible knows that people will fall – even some who are known to many.

The Bible also tells us that there is a Creator who loves us and will help us. Our common pain, temptations, and faults are part of his concern. People – even great people – fall. But people don’t have to stay down. The one who made us is there to patch us up, to restore us.

President Clinton commented about his liaison with an intern in the oval office by saying, “I did it for the worst possible reason of all – because I could.” His honesty with that comment is an admission that he had a battle going on in his mind. And every day people fight their own personal battles – whether they are the leader of a nation or the head of a household.
 
Let’s withhold judgment, quit with the jokes, and the mocking of Christianity. Our faith, our beliefs, Christianity does work – billions will testify to that. God doesn’t ever say that human beings will get it together and never fall. However, he does say that we can depend on him to help us every day, with every thought, and every battle that we all fight.

After three decades of working with leaders – often in times of crisis – I wrote the following words in the preface of Why Great Men Fall, and these words and the biblical hope they represent is as true today as it was then: “Throughout history, great men have made wrong decisions that have radically changed their lives. However, there are some who have made bad choices, and decided to learn from it, grow through it, and become even a greater leader.”

“Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Ps. 37:24 NKJV)

Within Gayle Haggard’s letter to the congregation of New Life, she said, “As you try to make sense of these past few days, know that Ted believes with all his heart and soul everything he has ever taught you, those things you are putting into practice. He is now visible and public evidence that every man (woman and child) needs a Savior.”

Every human being desperately needs the Savior. We simply cannot let the complications of life take us away from that absolute truth. 

My prayers are with Ted and Gayle and the children, and I look forward to a day when Ted can say, “I got help for this battle, and I understand each of you more because of the struggle and its pain.”

Be comforted and empowered with this final thought - with God’s enduring love and strength, there is nothing we cannot overcome and as part of the Body of Christ, you will never have to battle alone. At this moment, Christ is interceding for you and “he has rescued us from the domain of darkness.” (Col. 1:13)