With Deepest Sympathy

I extend my heartfelt sympathy to the congregation of the New Life Church and to supporters of the Rev. Ted Haggard. I, too, have experienced the almost indescribable hurt that results from being betrayed by one’s pastor. The born-again variety of American Christianity has repeatedly failed to prove immune to this kind of disgrace even as the most progressive of churches have managed to also defile the sacred trust of parishioners. The contemporary American evangelical movement, however, continues to bleed more because of the additional injuries inflicted by hypocrisy, bigotry, deceit, and false piety. The “better-than-thou” attitude embraced by these megachurch giants does lead to a harder fall that validates the skeptical view of these profiteering zealots that claim to head the moral majority, and I can only pray that our country is finally recognizing and rejecting the movement’s political counterpart. As has been the case far too many times over the past two millennia, the true victim of this evil is the Christ whose name has once again been profaned and besmirched. Beware that Haggard and his ilk will try to spin themselves as the victims in all this. Do not let yourself be further deceived by this evil posing in the guise of righteousness. It is the Body of Christ that suffers each and every time such treachery is perpetrated. We are called to forgive, but we are also called to a repentance that will never allow us to forget.