Ted Haggard and accountability

I was looking for some Ted Dekker books for my wife at amazon.com, but by accident I typed in Ted Haggard instead of Ted Dekker and stumbled across a list of books written by the former pastor Ted Haggard.

As many of you know already Ted Haggard was a very well-respected pastor of a 14,000 people church in Colorado Springs. He was also (one of) the top leader of the evangelical Christian movement in America, and named by TIME Magazine to be one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals in the United States.

He was, but he isn’t anymore. A few months ago a local male prostitute went public and shared in details how he had had a relationship with Ted Haggard for years. Haggard was confronted with the story by the media, and tried to lie his way out of it, before he came to the point where he had to publicly admit that the story was true and that he had been lying to the media in the first place.

Thus another bombshell in the evangelical church. Ted Haggard and his wife published a book about the beauty and holiness of marriage vows and the importance of keeping them alive (it came out in April 2006), while Ted Haggard simultaneously was involved in a homosexual relationship with a prostitute away from the sacredness of his family relationship with his wife and their five kids.

The reaction from churches, Christians in general and the secular media was just as expected. Accusations of hypocrisy, despair and frustration in Haggard’s congregation, general hatred and then a few voices trying to talk about that we as Christians are all in danger of living double lives with fatal consequences. Those same voices also tries to get Haggard back on track through offering counseling and help in the midst of this mess.


Only in America?
Some will think: “Oh, that only happens in America”, but think again! We in Western Europe are guilty of many arrogant attitudes towards our brothers and sisters in the United States. Too often horrible stories like the Haggard-story surface in American churches, and Western European Christians shrug their shoulders instead of seeing it as a wake-up call to all of us.

But what happens in American churches can happen anywhere where we do not have enough accountability, and where there is no real understanding of what it is to live in the light with God (1.John talks in length about this). In my little homecountry of Denmark it just came out that a former leader of a Christian orphanage (the orphanage was closed 25 years ago) had raped several girls back in the 1960’s. He was a very well-respected member of his Christian community and spoke many times in different churches, and took his secret past with him in his grave a few years ago.

It happens everywhere. We give leaders too much power and too high a position, and we don’t establish structures that help them to not get too big heads and they end up playing God themselves. Pride is the name of the game. And pride can come out in many ways. It doesn’t have to be in hidden sexual sins. Many leaders are kind and friendly at work and house tyrans at home. Many leaders are gracious and generous while stealing money from their ministry in the secret. Many leaders are seemingly filled with the Spirit in the pulpit and living far away from God in everyday life.


Accountability
All leaders need accountability. All of us need people to ask us the hard questions. Accountability that stays on the surface is worthless. We need people to ask about the things we don’t want to talk about. How’s your thought life? How’s your marriage? How are you doing with lust, finances, tv/internet usage, hatred, fear, etc.? And we need to establish structures where more people than just one carry the load and the responsibility. We need each other. Too many churches and ministries are lead and controled by one charismatic figure. And if he falls, everything breaks into pieces. I’m happy that our mission, Youth With A Mission, is focusing more and more on accountability structures these years. And I’m glad that all the main leaders have good mentors and accountability partners around them. Does that mean that we in YWAM couldn’t end up in a Ted Haggard-situation with one of our leaders? Not at all. We can’t control people and make absolutely sure that they don’t live a double life and give into evil desires raging within them, but we can make the risk smaller through accountability and more focused prayer for our leaders. All leaders need more prayer. All of us, whether we lead 16,000 people or just five are in positions where Satan loves to attack us. Satan is into numbers. He likes to make as many people fall at the same time as possible. So he attacks leaders. And he hopes for the domino-effect which is the result if the followers build their confidence in their leader instead of in God himself! I often tell my students to not quote me or put any faith in me. I’m insignificant. God is what matters. Only if we live in close relationships with God can we survive and be effective Kingdom of God-workers in this world.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven