Brian McLaren: Compassion and Hope in the Haggard Scandal

As a representative of the Red Letter Christians, I was asked the other day to participate in an NPR dialogue about the recent resignation of Ted Haggard. Two things struck me about the dialogue.

First, compassion. The tone of the conversation was not glee at the fall of a hypocrite, but rather sadness and empathy at the suffering of a fellow human being - before and after his resignation. I'm sure there has been some glee, both among secular people who saw Ted as their political enemy, and among religious people of a certain type who find it easy and legitimate to disregard the words of I Corinthians 13, the "Golden Rule," and the Sermon on the Mount. I have been especially moved, both on the NPR program and elsewhere, by the compassion expressed by many in the gay community and by many evangelicals, both of whom may have found reasons to respond otherwise.

Second, hope. A number of people on the program expressed hope that this trauma in the evangelical community will increase understanding about the issue of homosexuality, that it will bring to light the complexity and depth of pain experienced by people for whom heterosexual drives are not inborn and exclusive. Perhaps this painful story will help more preachers (like myself) to back away from the easy answers and binary thinking that are so easy to dispense, and to reject the simplistic moralism Jesus diagnosed in the Pharisees, who, he said, loaded up burdens on the backs of others that they themselves couldn't bear. I've met Ted on a few occasions and he impressed me as a compassionate and hopeful person himself. I join millions of people - Christian and non-, straight and gay - who pray for God's presence, strength, and guidance for him and his family - and his church and NAE colleagues too, as they grapple with the complex realities of the human condition which we all share.

It's Sunday as I write these words, and in an hour or so, I'll be in church, and we'll pray, "Lord, have mercy." The older I get, and the more I experience, the more weight and meaning those simple words carry.

Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) is an author, speaker, and board chair of Sojourners/Call to Renewal.