A Departure from the Coffee House

I'm departing from the coffee house for a brief moment because I can! (If you need to grab a cup of coffee or tea then please feel free to do so!) What is on my heart has nothing to do with a conversation I have had in a coffee house but I am sure this conversation could be happening in a coffee house somewhere at this very moment. In fact, it's a good guess of mine that it is.

Years ago I sat in a church sanctuary with Lanny and we heard a message that really impacted us. In fact it impacted us so much so that even to this very day we quote it to one another and use it with others. The text was out of the Old Testament and it was the story of a man who sinned against God and therefore he sinned against others as well. The nation of Israel was told to go and conquer the city of Ai and they were told by the Lord to not plunder the city for it was unclean. But this man, Achan, couldn't help himself. He took a few things and hid them. He told nobody, not even his wife. Oh, but God knew. And God called him out in front of the entire nation. And as a result he and his family were punished for this sin that he alone committed. (See Joshua 7 for the full story) Achan thought nobody would be touched by it but it ended up costing him his life and the lives of his family. It ended up costing the nation of Israel when they went to go take a city that should have been easy to defeat but wasn't. His sin had consequences that went outside of himself. His sin was not self-contained but contaminated his family and his nation. It was a powerful message Lanny and I heard that day. It was a powerful realization that when I sin it has consequences I haven't considered that could be far-reaching. Oh, the pastor that preached the message? Ted Haggard from New Life Church. Yes, THAT Ted Haggard.

Thursday night, November 2, God returned me back to that powerful message from Ted. You know messages shouldn't be from people but from God to all of his people, even those he calls to be pastors. Many times my pastor can be heard saying that before he delivers the message to us on Sunday mornings he has been wrestling it through in his own heart and life, that's the way it should be. So did I have a moment of "I knew this would happen satisfaction" when I heard the news? Yes, (am I proud of that? NO) it lasted about 5 seconds until I realized the severity of the situation. Until I realized that whatever Ted did do will have far reaching consequences for his family, his congregation, and the literal millions of people who trusted him as the head of the NEA. And then my heart became, as Dr. James Dobson has said as well, "heartsick." Oh I am heartsick for Ted Haggard. He is a human man, flawed like all humans, on the Philippians 1:6 road like all humans. No matter my feelings or thoughts about him in the past, I echo a friend who said this is not what I would have wanted for him, for Gayle and the kids, for New Life congregation. (If you are up for a bold, honest essay on Ted's public fall from grace check out http://thereadyroom.blogspot.com/ )

Probably like a lot of people in Colorado Springs I had trouble sleeping Thursday night. It was o'dark-thirty on Friday morning when I stirred and when I had exited my restless sleep I heard God tell me to start praying for Ted and so I did. I prayed. I prayed things for him that were directed by God as I was still on the edge of sleep. I didn't and I haven't stopped. I woke up with a heavy heart and prayed, I walked the treadmill at my clubhouse and prayed - especially when the Today Show did a short segment on him and there he was splashed all over national news, I prayed as I had lunch with a friend, I prayed as a friend and I discussed what each of us felt God asking us to pray for, I prayed as I realized that perhaps it is "easy" right now to point the finger at Ted because his sin has been publicly exposed and expect repentance to come but as I realized that I have sins that haven't been exposed and how much more do I need to repent of them?

We are ALL sinners and at any moment in a number of ways our sins could be publicized. Even if we aren't national news figures we could still manage to pull off a great shock within our circles of influence. What secret sins am I carrying deep in my heart? What sins are you carrying deep within? None of us can point that finger at Ted and gleefully declare his shortcomings without realizing that truly there are 3 fingers pointing back at us. Oh may Ted repent but may we repent with him.

By the way, I have to say so far I am proud of the Body of Christ. There has been no condemnation from any that I have spoken to, only a deep realization that it could have been them. There is compassion for Ted and a heart to see him restored.

My prayer is we continue on that path of offering grace and prayer for a man who puts his pants on like all the rest of us - one leg at a time.