{"id":183,"date":"2006-11-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-06T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html"},"modified":"2006-11-06T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-06T12:00:00","slug":"jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html","title":{"rendered":"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

\"JimI heard the news about Ted Haggard late Thursday afternoon and felt heartsick. I was on the road and about to speak, but I couldn\u2019t stop thinking that night about how much pain this was going to cause. I have gotten to know Ted in the last couple of years; we\u2019ve had some good conversations and times of fellowship. I like him, and have admired his leadership at the National Association of Evangelicals. He was becoming a friend, and so I felt deeply for him, his family, his church, and the evangelical movement in which he has provided strong leadership.<\/p>\n

Some wanted me to comment on the sexual scandal right away, including the media, but there was the usual cloud of allegations, denials, rumors, and inconsistencies; I thought it best to wait until there were more facts. I heard that the NAE was going to meet the next day, then the overseers of New Life Church (Haggard\u2019s congregation in Colorado Springs) were going to make their decision, and then it was announced that Ted and his wife Gayle would offer personal statements to their church on Sunday. It\u2019s always best to wait and listen before we comment too quickly – at least that\u2019s what I think.<\/p>\n

Friday the NAE accepted Ted Haggard\u2019s resignation and Saturday the church overseers recommended his dismissal, both because of evidence of \u201csexually immoral conduct.\u201d Sunday, Ted and Gayle Haggard had two quite extraordinary personal statements read to their church family to \u201cclarify,\u201d said Haggard, his \u201cheart\u2019s condition.\u201d I commend both of their statements<\/a> to you for their honesty and integrity.<\/p>\n

Both letters fill me with sadness. Ted speaks of the internal battle going on within him for most of his adult life, admitted his \u201csexual immorality,\u201d took full responsibility for his behavior, and apologized deeply to all those he has hurt. He confessed \u201cdeceptions\u201d and admitted lying to those that he was the closest to. \u201cThe fact is, I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he said, \u201cI am so sorry,\u201d I could feel his sorrow. Such a clear and unequivocal letter took a lot of courage. Gayle challenged all the people she had taught in their church to never again think that her marriage was so perfect that she could not relate to women in difficulty.<\/p>\n

The whole situation reminds us again of the basics – that we are all sinners and utterly dependent on the grace of God. Ted\u2019s failures, and our own, remind us of why we all need a savior. What it should also remind us of is the need for humility and forgiveness in response to such painful revelations. Ted even expressed his concern for and called for the forgiveness of his accuser, a male prostitute who sought to expose him during an election campaign as a \u201chypocrite.\u201d Some critics of religion, and evangelicals in particular, will say this situation shows that all Christians and their leaders are hypocrites. That\u2019s not true, but it does remind us that all Christians, and their leaders, are sinners with their own \u201cdarkness\u201d in deep need of the light of Christ. \u201cNone are righteous, no not one,\u201d says the Apostle Paul, and we perhaps should be reminded by these tragic circumstances to not expect so much of leaders\u2014who are every bit as human and fallible as those they lead, and every bit as dependent on God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

In a particularly insightful comment, Haggard\u2019s letter said, \u201cThe public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete.\u201d In my experience, that\u2019s true of most, if not all, leaders. And his letter also contained a warning for public leaders: \u201cWhen I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me. As a result, I did things that were contrary to everything I believe.\u201d Ted and his family are paying a high price for his behavior and he himself says he should be \u201cdisciplined and corrected.\u201d In every tragic situation like this, there are always redemptive possibilities. In his letter, Haggard asks his congregation to \u201cdemonstrate the incredible grace that is available to all of us.\u201d In one of the most thoughtful comments on Haggard, Rich Cizik, Vice President for Governmental Affairs at the NAE, told the Associated Press: \u2018\u2018There is something good, believe it or not, that could come out of this. My hope and prayer is that this whole tawdry affair will lessen some of the vitriol that has gone on between gay rights activists and evangelicals.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The NAE has already appointed an interim President, Leith Anderson, who has the moral authority to take them through this crisis and beyond. While some on the Religious Right are already attacking the NAE and using this scandal for more gay-bashing, it is important that cooler heads and warmer hearts prevail. The NAE should continue on the courageous and biblically-directed path on which they have now embarked\u2014to broaden and deepen the evangelical agenda to include the issues of poverty, the environment, HIV\/AIDS, human rights and religious liberty, human trafficking, Darfur, and war and peace. <\/p>\n

Ted Haggard says, \u201cI am a sinner. I have fallen. I desperately need to be forgiven and healed.\u201d And that\u2019s just what we should all pray for now – for Ted, his family, and his church. In the letter to his church, Haggard said, \u201cI have an overwhelming, all-consuming sadness in my heart for the pain that you and I and my family have experienced over the past few days.\u201d Me too, Ted, me too.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I heard the news about Ted Haggard late Thursday afternoon and felt heartsick. I was on the road and about to speak, but I couldn\u2019t stop thinking that night about how much pain this was going to cause. I have gotten to know Ted in the last couple of years; we\u2019ve had some good conversations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJim Wallis: We Are All Sinners - God's Politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners - God's Politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I heard the news about Ted Haggard late Thursday afternoon and felt heartsick. I was on the road and about to speak, but I couldn\u2019t stop thinking that night about how much pain this was going to cause. I have gotten to know Ted in the last couple of years; we\u2019ve had some good conversations…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"God's Politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-11-06T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.sojo.net\/images\/sojomail\/wallis.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jmcgee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners - God's Politics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners - God's Politics","og_description":"I heard the news about Ted Haggard late Thursday afternoon and felt heartsick. I was on the road and about to speak, but I couldn\u2019t stop thinking that night about how much pain this was going to cause. I have gotten to know Ted in the last couple of years; we\u2019ve had some good conversations…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html","og_site_name":"God's Politics","article_published_time":"2006-11-06T12:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.sojo.net\/images\/sojomail\/wallis.jpg"}],"author":"jmcgee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html","name":"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners - God's Politics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.sojo.net\/images\/sojomail\/wallis.jpg","datePublished":"2006-11-06T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-11-06T12:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/#\/schema\/person\/bdb748767d0f27ba523435391c927150"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.sojo.net\/images\/sojomail\/wallis.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.sojo.net\/images\/sojomail\/wallis.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/11\/jim-wallis-we-are-all-sinners.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jim Wallis: We Are All Sinners"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/","name":"God's Politics","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/#\/schema\/person\/bdb748767d0f27ba523435391c927150","name":"jmcgee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b07\/b071769d942178df26e06d8859867b37x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b07\/b071769d942178df26e06d8859867b37x96.jpg","caption":"jmcgee"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/author\/jmcgee"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}