Dear Friends,

We write this letter with great sadness of heart – a friend and well known leader has fallen. His sin has been constantly in the news the last few days in the United States. Ted Haggard has resigned in disgrace as the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and the pastor of 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The oversight board of New Life Church has announced that they have asked Ted to step down permanently as pastor because of sexual immoral conduct.

We urge you to remember Ted, his wife and five children, and the church in your prayers. Let us pray that God's tender mercies may lead to a deep work of repentance in Ted's heart, and that everything will come into the light so there can be complete healing and restoration. Pray for New Life Church as they respond to what has happened.

We have discovered through the years that such sad news is a reminder to us to draw closer to Jesus, and to dig out any root of impurity or ungodliness in our own lives. We believe it is not a time to judge, but a time to be sobered by the invitation the Lord gives us to walk in the light and to conduct ourselves by the highest possible standards of conduct. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, it is a reminder to run from sin, from temptation to sin, and from the appearance of sin. Sally and I have learned that when we come close to Jesus in humility and brokenness, we always receive forgiveness, grace, and healing. He never turns us away.

We would like to share some important lessons we have learned about how to respond when a spiritual leader falls and we hear about it. We have found these lessons helpful in our own lives personally - and others have told us that they have been helped by these principles, especially at a time like this.

1. Don't harden your heart. Don't treat it as if it is "none of my business." No one can remain neutral when we hear about the sin of any fellow follower of Jesus. Ask God to help you to respond with compassion, love, and Godly brokenness over the person's sin.

2. Don't dissect the person's sin or speculate about why they fell. Don't allow yourself to be drawn into ungodly conversations or judgmental speech about the person.

3. Don't allow cynicism to enter your heart as you listen to news reports and the press.

4. Let it be a reminder to renew your commitment to personal holiness - ask God for the fear of the Lord in your own thoughts and conduct. Study what it means to fear the Lord.

5. Choose a high standard of personal conduct. Review your standards and expectations of yourself and your family or staff with others and ask them to hold you accountable. For example spiritual leaders should follow these guidelines:
   
   • Don't travel alone.

   • Try not to stay in stay in hotels alone.

   • Don't travel with a person of the opposite sex alone.

   • Don't counsel or mentor someone of the opposite sex alone or in a private setting, and don't counsel or mentor someone you are attracted to.

   • Don't engage in ministry activity alone.

   • Welcome Godly mature people to speak into your decisions and practices.

6. Be accountable. Find people to share your life in total honesty. Ask for suggestions from older or more mature believers for how you can live a high level of accountability.
   
7. Recognize that major sexual immorality does not happen overnight. Small compromises lead to big sins. Major falls don't "just happen overnight." Situations such as this one are a good opportunity to ask if there are seemingly "small" compromises you have made that you would like to undo.

8. If you are in a place of temptation to sin, or living in a pattern of sexual sin, I implore you to not only search your heart, but to get with some mature believers and confess your sin to them. God wants to give you forgiveness, healing, restoration, and victory.

We want to say again how important it is to pray for Ted and his family and New Life Church, and the interim pastor, Ross Parsley.

Yours,

Floyd and Sally McClung

P.S. I encourage you to read Ted Haggard's letter of confession to the New Life Church. You can find it on the new Life Church web site at newlifechurch.org.

Click here to visit Floyd and Sally's personal web site.