I’ll be honest, my first reaction when I see that Ted Haggard is starting a new church is bitter judgement. This isn’t a statement of whether or not he should be doing it, and I honestly don’t know. It is a statement of the fact that I am so quick to excuse my own moral flaws and so quick to try and nail guys like Haggard to the wall for theirs. So as Christians, I would challenge us as we approach this issue to do it with our arms and hearts open and aware of our own weakness. Pointing fingers and throwing mud will just further the stereotype that we have earned of shooting our wounded just before we toss them under the bus.
As I talk about the issues, and discuss the biblical ramifications of him starting this new church, I need to take care to watch my own heart, that I am not stumbling myself.