A gay male alleges that Ted Haggard (the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs) paid him for homosexual intercourse and illegal drugs. Haggard, along with many evangelicals and political pundits on the right and the left, wonder whether the allegations were politically timed to hurt republicans and the conservative movement in these last days before the November 7 elections take place. One member of Haggard’s congregation in Colorado wonders whether these allegations might not be persecution against the pastor. As hopelessly naïve as that thought might seem in light of Haggard’s admission that he did buy methamphetamines from the guy—and did pay the male “escort” to come to his hotel room and give him a massage—still, this man has responded rightly. Christians ought to approach these situations in biblical categories (even if for a time we look naive).

Persecution is a biblical category and offers a useful framework for shaping Christian responses to situations like this one. Consider the teaching of Christ recorded in Matthew 5:11: Blessed are you when men cast insults at you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The man whose response to the crisis was “People are always saying things against Pastor Ted” is on a biblical course for proper first responses to allegations against his pastor. He ought to think this way about his pastor. Jesus clearly taught that Christians should expect persecution and slander against them when they live by and proclaim rightly God’s Word. Jesus said over and over things like, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.” Or, “If they hate me, they will hate you also.” Peter told the church not to be surprised as though some strange thing were happening to them whenever the fires of persecution fell upon them. And Paul said that everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).

Persecution, as is made clear by the Matthew 5:11 passage quoted above, is not merely about being thrown into a fire by Muslims in Sudan or having swordsmen cut your throat in Iraq. Persecution is very much related to those things, but, as the Bible pictures it, persecution is also about slander and false accusations being made against Christians, especially against those who take a stand for the sake of righteousness. Ted Haggard has been viewed as an outspoken proponent of the biblical view of marriage against an increasing barrage of insistence that marriage be re-defined for homosexuals, bi-sexuals, transgendered, polyamorous, polymorphous, and polygamist (have we left anyone out?) groups of people. If one takes a stand against such wordly, flesh-driven ideas, he can expect to face persecution. The reason persecution is to be expected is that righteousness rightly displayed always offends unrighteousness (the darkness hates the light). That offense is, at its deepest levels, the seed from which persecution sprouts. The man in Haggard’s church who responded to these allegations by realizing that his pastor is often slandered recognizes (either consciously or not) that persecution is to be expected against those practicing and preaching Christian righteousness. Thus, we find Jesus counting as blessed those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:10). Expecting pastors to be persecuted and slandered on account of Christ is a thoroughly biblical notion. Good for the man (the only man?) who responded biblically! This man was not naïve about his pastor when he responded the way he did. He was thinking about his pastor biblically.

Of course, the Bible has still more to say. In considering a situation like this one, Matthew 5:10-11 proves helpful in another way. In the Matthew passage, Jesus promises kingdom blessings to those persecuted for the sake of righteousness (v. 10) or on account of Jesus (v. 11). The promise is not for those practicing unrighteousness, being obnoxious, or acting in arrogance. The investigation by Haggard’s church can proceed on the grounds of whether these slanderous remarks are, in fact, slanderous, or whether they are factual. If they are slanderous, then one can look for Christ and for His righteousness to be on display in Haggard’s speech and actions. And Haggard can delight in kingdom blessings as promised by Christ. But, if the remarks are true, then Haggard is not being persecuted. In fact, there would be no persecution here at all. There can be no persecution—in the true Christian sense of the word—if there is no righteousness and no Christ in the picture. So far in this “Evangeli-gate” saga, unrighteousness is ascending victoriously. Illegal drugs and massages by gay escorts reflect more unrighteousness than righteousness. The suffering appears to be—at this early point—caused not by persecution, but by pernicious sin. Time will, of course, tell.  Haggard's church has the duty to find out.

In the meantime, a very sad reality for all evangelicals is how the one man responding in biblical categories is summarily dismissed as a buffoon for so naively supporting his pastor, while, supposedly, those with real savvy can plainly see that it was political aspirations which provoked the November release of such accusations. Sadly, I wonder whether we evangelicals aren’t all more comfortable in political categories than biblical ones. Peter speaks directly to our situation when he says, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God” (1 Peter 4:14-17). May the Lord grant us to suffer for His name’s sake, not for political or pernicious ends.