Too much power, isolation bad for leaders
Posted November 4, 2006
King David and Ted Haggard
By Pastor Jack Brooks
Georgetown Evangelical Free Church
Many of us have heard, and been saddened by, the scandalous news regarding
Ted Haggard, the former president of the National association of
Evangelicals. After having loudly denied certain recent allegations by an
on-line male prostitute, Haggard later admitted that some of the lurid
sex-and-drug claims were in fact true. He has since taken a leave of absence from the pastorate of the large New Life Church of Colorado Springs and has resigned as president of the NAE.
But we know this is not the first time in religious history that such a
shameful scandal has occurred. One of the most famous happened to one of the
best men of history, David of Bethlehem. Left alone with too much isolation
and too much power, David succumbed to loneliness and lust. He impregnated
the beautiful woman who lived across the street from his palace, then tried
to trick her unsuspecting husband, then had him exposed to "enemy fire" in
battle and killed. He married the woman and she had his baby, and it was
months later that David finally owned up to the crime.
Too much power and isolation is bad for a leader. We know that the
treatment of God's servants can go from one extreme to the other. On one
hand, Christian leaders can be treated like hired hands. Pastors rarely last
more than 3-5 years in the average pastorate. They quit, because the
frustration and abuse gets too much for them. A recent poll showed that 50%
of men who enter the pastorate leave it within ten years. If our seminaries
didn't keep cranking out new grads every year, we'd face a severe pastor
shortage.
But that's just one end of the scale. On the other end of the scale is the
charismatic, attractive leader who builds an enormous following. "Touch not
God's anointed", folks say. The leader gets lifted up by his (or her) fans
to a high pinnacle, far beyond the normal checks-and-balances. Some
denominations follow a one-man-rule form of government which promotes this.
The "anointed" person is eventually given enormous authority -- far too
much, in fact. Such a leader starts believing his own press clippings.
That's a dangerous spot to be in.
A weak view of sin also contributes to falling. You become overconfident if
you think yourself beyond temptation. A man may imagine himself so
"Spirit-baptized" that he's been lifted up to a place beyond ordinary
mortals. Or his view of remaining sin in the Christian is just so
wishy-washy that he is not sufficiently on his guard for himself.
When you know you have a disease, you take extra pains to watch out.
Hemophiliacs are very careful to not get cuts. People with strong
susceptibility to infection are very careful about germs. Diabetics are
careful to not eat too many carbs. And men who know how much of a sinner
they still are, and just how powerful and tricky the sin-nature inside them
is, take extra precautions against temptations. Not just for appearance's
sake, but because they're intelligently afraid of their own ability to get
sucked down and drowned.
There's a river that runs behind the campus of Columbia Bible College &
Seminary. Students are forbidden to swim in it, because hidden beneath the
placid surface water run many swift, dangerous currents. A student was
drowned in that river while we lived there, because he got sucked under by
one of those hidden currents. It was healthy to be wary of that river. But
some of us aren't wary enough of our own hearts.
Is it possible that our modern U.S. evangelical church places so much value
on "authentic" self-expression, feelings, and experiencing God (rather than
knowing Him), that we have lost touch with the importance of self-restraint?
Are we so optimistic about "saved" human nature that we have become
reckless? Do we need to get a firm grip back on what the Protestant
Reformers called total depravity, and get back to a realistic view of human
nature?
Best regards,
Jack Brooks,
Pastor, GEFChurch.org
101 Grayson Way, Georgetown, KY 40324, (502) 863-1261
Archived Comments
Do we need to get a firm grip back on what the Protestant Reformers called total depravity, and get back to a realistic view of human nature?
Absolutely. Christians today have far too low a view of sin, primarily because we tend to assume the only actions that qualify as "sin" are those that hurt other people. There is no appreciation for the fact that what makes something a sin is that it offends our holy and righteous God.
Good post and observations.
Jack, despite my disagreement with most of your opinions in general, I liked this piece. You're right. There are things each of us can't handle, and like Clint Eastwood said, a man's got to know his limitations. Alcoholics shouldn't go to bars, and people who are subject to that kind of thing shouldn't get massages from gay escorts. None of us should be buying crystal meth.
We are all sinners, and forgiveness is available for all. I disagree with Lisa's comment to the extent that I don't believe that God punishes us for our sins in this life; that's for the hereafter. Perhaps that wasn't true in David's day; who knows, or who knows what the real story of David was. The Hebrews took a lot of liberties in their historical tales. Sometimes actions have consequences, and sometimes they don't.
You'll like this, Jack: I read a tract the other day on this point by the great 19th century baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon, who pointed out in the type of infinite and repetitive detail that only he could muster how the doctrine that God punishes sins on this earth is both non-biblical and mean spirited, suggesting that every bad thing that happens to someone happens because of a sin.
All that having been said, I do hope that th evangelicals will take this as an opportunity to re-examine their views on homosexuality. If a good, generous, funny, and obviously God-loving man like Haggard could have gay or bisexual tendencies, isn't that a sign that these tendencies must arise naturally? I mean, if there was a man on earth who would have tried to suppress them, wouldn't it have been Haggard? As Peter Gomes, Harvard's gay black baptist chaplain is wont to say, "I know God can make gay christians, because he made me."
Maybe if Haggard's religious community had been a bit more open minded, he wouldn't be learning PR lessons no one wants to learn.
As one can tell by my typing and word-sentence structure, I did not go to any type of college. I went to a trade school after high school. Having said that, I do not believe Caleb and I read from the same Bible. The statement that everyone of us "sinners" pay a price from our sins here on earth is from my reading of the Bible. From Adam and Eve who had to deal with the death of one child to the murderous heart of another child down to Judas committing suicide for his own painful betrayal. An abomination yesterday is still an abomination of today is God's eyes. Also, I cannot help but think that Rev. Haggard will pay for anything that was not above reproach here on earth--the same as I will pay for my sins. His payment will probably be watching what his family will have to go through. Sometimes we don't stop to consider what the price may be, and sometimes the price is extremely high. I would however rather pay the price here on earth for any transgression that I have committed than pay in the hereafter.
Editor's note: The only thing I can tell, based on your typing and word-sentence structure, is that you write, spell and craft sentences better than the vast majority of Americans. Thanks for posting here.
The Bible does hold those in church authority with a higher accountability. It's because their failings not only damage themselves but cause a ripple effect that spreads throughout the Church. Those who do not attend Haggard's church will still feel the effect of his poor choices. The reputation of Christians are questioned when those in leadership positions fail in their duties. The most important being their obedience to God.
Our reaction should also be of obedience. We are to pray for each other and forgive as Christ has forgiven us. That kind of Christ-like support will help a stumbling believer rise once again to serve his Savior.
Lisa, first, there's nothing wrong with either your spelling, typing, or sentence structure. I once taught legal writing (and if that's not an oxymoron I don't know what is), and your writing is a lot better than some of the law students I taught.
Second, to comment on what you wrote, I don't doubt that there are many stories from the bible, and from modern times, too, where sinners have suffered on earth for their sins. My point, though, is that this is not God's punishment, but merely the natural result of their actions.
If you're a drunk, you might get cirrhosis of the liver. You might drive drunk and wreck and kill yourself. But that's not God's justice, that's just the natural consequences of your actions. The buddhists call that karma, and the old railbirds with gravy stains on their madras plaid sportcoats who used to hang out at the Saratoga loved to say "What goes around comes around."
But as the bible says, the rain falls on the just and the unust alike, and many sinners never suffer, and many good people suffer a lot. I've never thought it was a doctrine of christianity that suffering in this world alleviates judgment in the next, and certainly a sinner who never suffers, but who honestly repents, can avoid both.
Most of our leaders in the Bible were sinners; Yes King David committed adultery and I am quite sure that God forgive him, but he also paid for his sins through his son Absolom. In fact, Jonah paid for his negligence by staying inside a great fishes belly, Samson paid for his transgression through the humilty of mockery and laughter from is enemies, and even Moses paid for his sin of anger by not being allowed to enter the promised land. Most pastors today are quick to say that we must forgive each other of our transgressions, quick to say that most people in the Bible are big time sinners; but are negligent in the reality that your sins are often punishable here on earth. Not seeing th4e promised land could be a big price to pay for a few minutes of pleasure-anger.
Editor's note: MOST were sinners?