Notable Quotable: "You Christians Eat Your Own"

I came across this piece on Christopher Benson's excellent blog, Bensonian, , in which a Christian pastor has occasion, thanks to a non-believing friend, to rethink grace and forgiveness. The subject of their conversation is disgraced televangelist Ted Haggard, and the friend's comment, "You Christians Eat Your Own", forces the pastor to reconsider his own hardness of heart. Here's an excerpt:

"He was running late for a meeting and had to take off. I, however, could barely move. I studied the TV and read the caption as a well-known religious leader kept shoveling dirt on a man who had admitted he was unclean. And at that moment, my heart started to change. I began to distance myself from my previously harsh statements and tried to understand what Ted and his family must have been through. When I brought up the topic to other men and women I love and respect, the very mention of Haggard’s name made our conversations toxic. Their reactions were visceral.

Please understand, this isn’t just my experience. Just Google his name and read what is said about him in Christian circles. Most Christians would say God can forgive him, but almost universally people agree that God will never use him again. When I pressed the question, “Why can’t God still use Ted?” I was dismissed as foolish or silly. Most of these people got mad and demanded I drop the subject. Perhaps they saw something I was missing, but this response seemed strange. After all, I reasoned, Jesus restored Peter after he denied Christ. That’s a pretty big deal. And what about the Scripture that teaches us that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable? So I felt I needed to meet Ted for myself."

Read the whole piece here. I found it personally quite challenging. Highly recommended.