Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The Evangelical mega-church movement in
When a male prostitute discovered that his regular client was the prominent church leader of thousands of trusting church members, even he felt a revulsion of soul and chose to expose him publicly. As often happens, when sexual infidelity is exposed, the adulterer adds to his violation of the seventh commandment the violation of the ninth, and lies about it. Then when cornered by the full exposure, he breaks down and confesses both the sexual sin and the sin of lying about it.
Paul reminds us when we are forced to witness such a horrid fall from grace that we must not suppose that we are made of better stuff: “If a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Strangely, it seems that ordained ministers of the gospel, of whatever persuasion, are peculiarly susceptible to sexual temptation. To stand in a pulpit with many sincere Christian people looking up to you as a messenger of God is a scary place to be in. Lurid temptations lurk in the most unlikely places. And yes, ministers of the gospel and ordained “priests” are no better than anyone else in the flesh; all are sinners by nature.
John Bunyan, in writing Pilgrim’s Progress (a book that breathes the spirit of heaven), reminds us that directly by the gates of the New Jerusalem is a tunnel that goes down to hell. The higher one is in the eyes of people the greater is his peril.
But we must ask the ultimate question: why wasn’t the gospel that Ted Haggard thought he was proclaiming powerful enough to save him from falling into this abysmal pit? “The mouth of an immoral woman [and we can add, male prostitute!] is a deep pit; he who is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein” (Pr. 22:14). But why can’t the true gospel save one from becoming “abhorred of the LORD”?
Maybe there’s the ultimate problem: is the Evangelical “gospel” of justification by faith the true “everlasting gospel” of Revelation 14:6?
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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