The kind of repentance I described above are all things which are not yet evident in his life, which leads the discerning Christian to question the authenticity of his repentance. You’re right that repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation are the heart of Christianity; however, we are also commanded to no longer be gullible children, but to be mature men in our understanding and discernment. We are commanded to be gentle as doves, and shrewd as serpents. So please, make a shrewd estimate of Mr. Haggard’s repentance, and make a discerning judgment as to whether or not he has escaped his temptation to betray the bride of Christ (once again) in order to indulge his own lusts. It looks to me, and many others on this blog, like Mr. Haggard might just be up to his same old tricks. Shouldn’t we be wary?

It saddens me that many on this blog, including the author himself, seem to come from a strictly Old Testament perspective. To suggest that someone who sins “will take a quiet and unpublicized place in the church of Christ for the rest of his life” fails to embrace any semblance of grace, forgiveness, and restoration. I can only be grateful that God did not view David this way, or Paul, or most definitely Peter. Not only is this a punitive and judgmental response, but simply unbiblical. God always calls for the full restoration of the person who has stumbled, no matter the sin, no matter the reasons, as long as the individual is submissive and repentant. God even restores the person to the prior position–and sometimes even more so–than what they had before…yes, even in the Old Testament (see 2 Chronicles 33).

I can only be grateful that God does not treat me or others who sin like the ones on this site suggest.

Greg Gibson, were you with Ted in the aftermath of his scandal? Have you read his journals to know how he cried out to God? To pass such harsh criticism on a man like Haggard for a situation that happened over 7 years ago without knowing him and without even having a conversation with him (including both David Murray and Terry Rayburn, apparently) is both irresponsible, inexcusable, and frankly, quite immature. I understand that this sort of writing drives traffic to our blogs and websites and articles, but as members of the same family of God, we can do better than this.

But I suppose the image of an evil, unrepentant sociopath is simply more exciting than the truth.

Unfortunately, many people in the church share Haggard’s views on immoral conduct being caused by a psychological problem that needs healing through talk therapy. They ignore the fact that this approach is a proven failure with recidivism rates that are deplorable. They also ignore the fact that their approach to changing behavior cannot be found in Scripture — a very odd omission from a book that is largely about such change if the talk therapy approach is really valid. I am in favor of counseling in such cases as Haggard’s but only if it is biblical.

I removed the blog post a few years ago, because my mind changed regarding the sincerity of his “repentance”.

My first “take” was something like, “Hey, give him a chance, don’t kick a brother when he’s down, blah blah blah.”

But I’ve observed a lot in the intervening years, in Haggard and in the Church in general, concluding the following:

1. Sadly, “the ministry” too often attracts what the world calls Sociopaths. (Sociopaths are characterized by a. a lack of conscience, b. narcissism, and c. a high level of intelligent ability to manipulate people).

2. This is true, sad to say, because Christians are too often…no nice way to say it…gullible. Usually, this is because of a default setting of “love”, which is a great default setting, but unfortunately combined with biblical ignorance regarding doctrine of various kinds.

3. I’ve never seen repentance BORN OF CONSCIENCE in Haggard, only a general admission of “wrongness” after getting caught. But admission of wrongness is not repentance at all if one justifies that wrongness in any way, or deflects personal sin, as David Murray points out.

4. The saddest thing of all is that this Sociopathic tendency is rampant in Church leadership, from the smallest of little local church fiefdoms to the hugest of prominent ministries.

If you doubt that, watch for the three [primary] characteristics mentioned above:

a. a lack of conscience
b. narcissism (often accompanied by fake humility, btw)
c. a high level of intelligent ability to manipulate people

And treasure your leaders if they exhibit the opposite:

a. a tender conscience
b. a self-less love for others
c. a refusal to be manipulative to get what they want