In regard to this issue, I wonder if any of us actually think we're less sinners than Haggard is. If we do, then we've just fallen into the trap of the Pelagian heresy, and that makes us just as much sinners as we make him out to be. Sin is innate in the constitution of the human person. Whilst some people's condition of sinfulness manifests itself through sexual vulnerabilities, some other people's condition of sinfulness manifests itself through a strange form of pharisaism.

I believe in what God is doing in Haggard's life. Whilst many may be pained by the unfortunate series of events that have recently taken place in his life, let's not forget the prospects of his contribution to the Kingdom. For many years, Haggard may have been a key figure in North American Evangelicalism. But this experience will eventually bring him to a place from which he can speak past the legalisms of the Christian religion.

After today, as he progresses towards restoration, he will be a minister who sees and speaks into the heart of real Kingdom matters. He will possess the power to see things that leave others guessing and speak with such depth in regard to the realities of the human soul. He'll speak of something beyond the significance of the 14 thousand and the 30 million, beyond the television interviews and the stage lightings.

Read Sunflower's reflection and Alwyn's reflection and Winsome One's reflection on this issue. Scot McKnight observes,

1. Christians, and not just pastors, do not feel free to disclose sins to anyone.

2. Christians, including pastors, sin and sin all the time.

3. Christians, including pastors, in evangelicalism do not have a mechanism of confession.

4. Christians and pastors, because of the environment of condemnation of sin and the absence of a mechanism of confession, bottle up their sins, hide their sins, and create around themselves an apparent purity and a reality of unconfessed/unadmitted sin.

5. When Christians do confess, and it is often only after getting caught, they are eaten alive by fellow evangelicals - thus leading some to deeper levels of secrecy and deceit.

It takes such pain for God to form ministers who truly understand his heart. And Haggard is a true minister in formation. He's a real reminder that we're sick people; all of us. Surgeries of the soul are delicate; they're seldom painless. But the Master Surgeon will complete his work with great care and skill. And precision.