Red Letter Revolution

Many of you out there in cyberspace are probably familiar with the story of Ted Haggard, but for those of you who aren’t He was the pastor of a large church in Colorado and the head of an Evangelical group. He was in essence defrocked for purchasing drugs and being suspected of sexual immorality with a man. A story that has been beaten to death with Punditry and bemoaned by Christians everywhere (and for good reason). Yet, I find the reaction and treatment by the Evangelical Community of Haggard to be less than desirable. Searching for parallels, my mind fell on the story of King David, provocative to me still as it is forever encased in a memory of boyhood shock. King David enjoys a sort of Hero Worship in our modern day Christianity. After all, he slew Goliath, rustled up a bag of Phillistine foreskins, slew a multitude of men (hence the foreskins), set up the first Israelite Kingdom, paved the way for the building of the temple, and slept with a married woman and murdered her husband to conceal the crime. If we did not read David’s sin within the framework of his renowned deeds, how would we view him? Would we think his faith is genuine? After all, isn’t he just like other Kings drunk with power. And yet, the Lord loved David and David was a great servant to him. So great in fact that God promised to send his son through David’s line. Why is it that we can find it in ourselves to love and revere King David, an adulterer AND a murderer, but we cannot find forgiveness for Ted Haggard. Ted Haggard never murdered anyone. I think what makes Ted Haggard so expendable is not that he committed adultery, but that he did it with a man. Cheating on your wife with a woman is disgraceful, but cheating on your wife with a man is somehow worse. I think this incident reflects the sin bias present in modern day Christianity. Some sins are in a way more acceptible to commit than others. I have a Newsflash: Sin is sin. Brothers and Sisters, Christ told us to even think with a Lustful mind is to commit adultery. Ted Haggard is not a greater sinner than us, he is just more famous. To have a lust for the same sex is no different than having a lust for the same sex. We have incongruently isolated some sins as more abominable in God’s sight, but all sin disgusts God. Do not mistake my meaning, I believe homosexuality to be a sin, but one that is no graver than fornication or adultery with the opposite sex. I think the Ted Haggard situation reveals our politicized religious bias in modern Christianity, and it is a sad one indeed.

This is a song I wrote for my Mom and people like her. I will be recording it shortly for my music myspace http://www.myspace.com/redletterriot

Sparrow, you plummet from the sky
Oh Sparrow, with broken wings you cannot fly
Oh sparrow, Oh sparrow
He’ll shed a tear when you die (x2)

you have not suffered in vain
He is not blind to all of your pain
And though you cannot fly
And you still wonder why
He loves you all the same

Sparrow, would you go against his will
Oh sparrow, would you carry on still
Oh sparrow, Oh sparrow
even Christ suffered on the hill(x2)

Chorus

Sparrow, when life has passed you by
Oh Sparrow, you’ll have new wings for flight
Oh Sparrow, Oh Sparrow
God’s glory what a marvelous sight

you have not suffered in vain,
He has a plan for all of your pain
If you trust in his will
and follow harder still
someday you will fly again

Calling all the broken
Calling all the lame
Calling all the sick
Calling them by name

In him there is freedom
from life in a chair
there is no more reason
for all of your despair

Now is not the time
for you to give all up
When the pain’s too much to bear
remember Christ drank from this cup

post originally written on 9/25/06

Tonight, my soul felt a little dirt. The guilt of my thoughts and assumptions and deeds weighed heavily upon me. I felt sick, and the source was my own heart. I knelt before my bed just minutes ago and I talked to God. I had a good cry, an impromptu song of praise, and at the end I was given a great gift. Peace. The sweet subtle relief of a clean conscience and a free heart. May God continually chip away at that old stone heart as it tries to come back. Anyway, the reason I am writing this is as a reminder. I often forget or just don’t have those quiet moments with God. I think if I took the time more often it just might change my life. Learn from my mistake brothers and sisters and set aside time to be with the Lord. As I have studied the Old Testament in school, a theme keeps recurring. God is personal. It is true that sometimes he stands at the mountaintop booming commands, but it is also true that he stands at our shoulders and whispers in our ears telling us we can do it, we can follow his commands. Without a time to talk to God, without a time to confess our shameful sins before him, without a time to love and be loved by God, we are lost. I will close this blog with a word of prayer and praise: God, I thank you for bringing me to my knees this evening. I thank for showing that I need to continually rely on you. I ask that you touch my heart and the heart of whoever reads this and impress the need for community with you. Send us out to be examples and to do your will. In the name of your blessed son, Jesus, Amen.

Seeing as I have about 1 year left til I graduate, I have been thinking often of the future. I am undergoing the arduous task of deciding on a Seminary. I have largely come to a decision about what I want to do, but now I have to figure out where to go to get equipped for that. (I have really set my heart on teaching. I don’t really care where as long as I can teach and write. There is something very appealing to me about being entrusted with the educational upringing of the Christian youth. Ideally, I would be a Professor with enough classes to support myself, but not so many that I can’t also write and be of service to my church. Anyway, back to the point.) I was asked where I wanted to go by my pastor today and I told him I had considered going to this Seminary called Talbot to get an M.A. before continuing on to Dallas Theological Seminary for a Th.M and then wherever for a Th.D or Ph.D. But, I told him I didn’t think I was going to go to Talbot. He said, “Why Not?” To which I replied “Well, it’s in California” He retorted “And?” It made me think a little about the biases I have in the decision making process. California is far away and I know that I will have to be seperated from my Mom a lot. It is not that I can’t stand to be seperated from my Mom, but rather I think she is happier when I am near, and she needs all the happiness God can bring her. On the other hand, I cannot live near her my whole life and perhaps it is time for me to make my own way in the world. I have been thinking a lot about these sort of things. I…just don’t know what to do. I’m not even sure what I really want. Ultimately, when it comes to my next move I can go anywhere or do anything that I wish. Deep down, I wish life was simpler, but for now, I merely wish for the council of God. Add me to your prayer journals and lists: Jeremiah Bailey seeking the direction of the Lord.