Finishing the race

For the past several days I have been watching the news reports about Ted Haggard, and it has compelled me to first, pray for him and his wife, second pray for Christ's church, and third, pray for myself. I want to share some thoughts with you that I have been processing about being a pastor and finishing the race with faithfulness, grace and humility.

First, let me start the conversation by sharing an excerpt from Ted's statement that was read to his church this morning...

"I asked that this note be read to you this morning so I could clarify my heart's condition to you. The last four days have been so difficult for me, my family and all of you, and I have further confused the situation with some of the things I've said during interviews with reporters who would catch me coming or going from my home. But I alone am responsible for the confusion caused by my inconsistent statements. The fact is, I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem.

I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life.

For extended periods of time, I would enjoy victory and rejoice in freedom. Then, from time to time, the dirt that I thought was gone would resurface, and I would find myself thinking thoughts and experiencing desires that were contrary to everything I believe and teach.
Through the years, I've sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn't want to hurt or disappoint them."

I remember a few years ago, the Prof, Howard Hendricks from Dallas Seminary, was sharing at our Campus Crusade for Christ staff conference lessons that he learned from interviewing pastors who had left the ministry because of a moral failure. Even though each pastor's own experience and failing was unique, from his many interviews he discovered three common themes with each pastor he talked with. First, they each had abandoned time with Jesus, they let the busyness of ministry chase them away from the feet of Christ. Second, they had no significant accountability in their life. There was no one with whom they knew and knew them and that meddled in their private world, heart and life. Third, they all thought that "it" would never happen to them.

I don't want to let this blog post to be long, so in the next three postings, I want to share my own thoughts, challenges and convictions on each of those three issues that pastors need to confront and address.