1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7)
So Ted Haggard is back in the news again, he was on Oprah on Wednesday and has a documentary about him airing on HBO tonight. The short version is that Ted was a very influential pastor who was discovered to have had a homosexual affair with a prostitute. He lost his job, but his wife stayed with him and he entered into intense therapy. Now he is telling his story.
I know that the teachings of Jesus above apply to this situation, but these harsh words seem too much to level against a man who was sexually abused as a child. Yet, I imagine that Jesus did not say these words to be easy. Ted very publicly spoke out against secret sin and homosexuality. Plank-eye.
Hypocrisy is probably one of the biggest problems that unchurched people have with Christianity. Yet, the ability to forgive and heal from even such hypocrisy is one of the best things about being a follower of Christ. Is the journey of Ted all that different from the journey of Saul/Paul?
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