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Do we make comebacks too hard?

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By Brian Orme, Contributing Writer 11:58 PM Friday, October 8, 2010

Whether it’s Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, David Letterman, Robert Downey Jr. or even Martha Stewart, one thing is certain — we love a good comeback story.

Second chances often provide a powerful opportunity to model grace, recapture humility and experience redemption. However, the process is often complex, especially in the church.

In the United States, we lose a pastor a day due to immorality, according to Focus on the Family, a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive. And I have to wonder if it’s tougher for a church leader to get a second chance.

If you’re a church leader or are familiar with the church world, all I have to say is two words to let you know what I’m talking about: Those two words are “Ted” and “Haggard.”

It’s been nearly four years since the evangelical preacher resigned after admitting sexual infidelity and drug use, but with the recent launch of Haggard’s new church in Colorado Springs, there are still issues.

I decided to catch up with Ted Haggard and through a series of e-mails and phone calls, we discussed the church today and how a fallen minister can get a second chance.

When I asked Haggard about the process of restoration, I knew I’d hit a hot button. He said he felt like the evangelical community left him with little hope for encouragement and healing.

“The Scriptures, the Lord Jesus Himself and a few courageous people restored me. Some of them were Christians; most of them were not. I now know, with confidence, God can love and heal us through anyone He chooses,” Haggard said.

I challenged him on this point. Yes, God can use anyone as an instrument for healing in our lives, but the Body of Christ is the primary tool that God uses for spiritual formation, restoration and recovery for sinners.

Haggard said he felt like there was little hope for seeing a strong process of recovery in the local church. He was adamant that most churches are too pharisaical.

Things are still tense between Ted Haggard and the American Evangelical movement.

Haggard said he feels like he was deserted by the Christian community after his fall. “If it were not for HBO, Larry King, Oprah Winfrey, etc., the church would have left me and my family starving in the desert and would have proclaimed in self-righteousness that I deserved it,” Haggard said.

Which brings me back to Tiger Woods. I know there was — and still is — a lot of gossip about the Tiger Woods scandal, but the golf community for the most part has accepted Tiger back into the PGA. Even the commentators seem to be over the scandal when they interact with Tiger. It makes me wonder if Tiger received more grace from the golf community than Ted Haggard did from the church.

These are questions worth wrestling with — especially considering the overwhelming stats of fallen church leaders.

I know that the PGA is very different from the church, but I wonder if we’ve made restoration — bringing a church leader back into a proper relationship with God and the church — too difficult and too complex.

I’m not saying that every fallen leader should be placed back in full-time ministry — there are times when full-time ministry is not an option — but I do wonder if we’re throwing away many good leaders who, with the proper encouragement and accountability, could slowly return to leadership.

I don’t know how the Haggard story will end, but I do believe in second chances.

I also believe that we need to cheer on repentant leaders by helping them, identifying with them and doing the hard work of restoration in full view of the church.

We all love a comeback story, but it’s easier to love a comeback from a distance and much harder to stand by someone the world — or even the church — would like to throw away.

Brian Orme is the general editor of ChurchLeaders.com, which aims to provide the best resources, trends and practices to equip the church to lead better every day. He lives in Troy with his wife, Jenna, and four boys.

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