Well, I see Ted Haggard has resigned from his pastorship at New Life Christian Church after in essence being forced to leave. I think it is the right move, both for him and the church as there is no way he could continue leading that congregation and the elders had to remove him considering the details and the fact that he confessed to a lot of the allegations. Here is my hope, that though it was the right move, that there is support for him as he deals with these problems. I hope they don't just throw him to the wolves. If he is truly repentant I hope he is able to find people who will help him and his family and get him back on the right track.

This is what makes me so frustrated at modern evangelicals though. Here is a man who is the leader of two large organizations who are very anti-homesexual and while I don't know, I can assume he preached fire and brimstone from the pulpit on this topic. And now this? These people seem to lack any humility and then often times get caught up in the same sin they rant against. Doesn't that ruin the message? Some would say no, I am not sure. Couldn't we instead state that homosexuality (or whatever) is wrong, we all sin, God offers forgiveness when we choose to turn to Him, repent, and seek His help in this life. We will fall, we will sin, but He is there with unending grace if we place our trust in Him.

I guess here is what I am getting at, a year or two ago, I sat down with a good friend of mine for coffee and we asked each other the question, do we sin any less today than we did the day before we chose to follow Christ? Both of us answered no. We sin differently, we sin less outwardly, less drunkenness, less lewd language, etc. But the sin is now inward, what concerned us is that was the sin Jesus seemed to be most concerned about (Matthew 5). Our (my) conclusion was that while we tend to link the Christian life with less sin, in reality we are as dirty as ever and thankful for the grace of Christ. Though we tend to put on the facade that all is well, that we have our act together, lust, gossip, anger and many other inward sins still dominate us at times. We repent, we seek God, yet they remain. The stain is on us, we are a fallen creature, there is no escape.

Therefore, my premise of late has been that spiritual maturity may not necessarily focus entirely on obedience to Christ, as that is really impossible for us. Instead, spiritual maturity is, while still seeking to obey the Lord, also understanding right from wrong. We may not always do the right thing, but we still understand that what we do is wrong (lie, steal, cheat, covet, etc.) and we seek God for forgiveness and guidance. In the past, before we chose to follow Christ, we would have justified the behavior, now we freely admit our situation and actions or thoughts and take them to God. A few Scriptures that have brought me to this conclusion to consider as I close this post:

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. - Hebrews 5:13-14

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. - 1 John 1:8-10