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When the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church was accused of a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute, it seemed, at first, unbelievable. Ted Haggard represented 30 million evangelicals, the nightly news told us. His church was the largest and most influential in a major hub of evangelicalism, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

But eventually disbelief turned to shock. Slowly, the truth came out as—days after the initial accusations—Haggard admitted to his congregation, "I am guilty of sexual immorality … a deceiver and a liar."

Unfortunately, as devastating as Haggard's confession was—especially to those who called him "Pastor Ted"—he was not the first respected Christian leader to suffer a public failure. Christianity Today has covered more than its share of scandals. In fact, just a few years ago in 2001, several Christian leaders toppled like dominoes.

One of the leaders who fell that year was Bruce Hawthorn, founder of the Christian Brotherhood Newsletter, a medical ministry in which subscribers help pay for the health care bills of other subscribers. It is a way for Christians to take care of one another's needs while avoiding health insurance.

Hawthorn began stealing money intended for the medical bills of subscribers. He was accused of taking $728,200 to pay for cars, real estate, an airplane, and a motor home. Accusers also contended that Hawthorn used ministry money to pay for rent, credit card bills, and a car for an exotic dancer. During that time, delays in subscribers' payments could take up to 18 months, and as much as $34 million in unpaid medical bills accrued.

Hawthorn was sued, and his board took action to stop the abuse. The ministry has since received a clean bill of health. It is working to repay its debts and is now able to meet subscribers' needs.

Unfortunately, leaders of another scandal-plagued ministry are paying their debts to society in prison. In 2001, four of five former leaders of one of the largest financial frauds in American history were sentenced to more than 20 years behind bars. The fifth leader received 12 years. The Greater Ministries International Church promised to do God's work with money Christians donated. They also promised donors that they would receive extraordinary returns on their investments.

It is a classic promise that fraud perpetrators make. In this model, called a Ponzi (or pyramid) scheme, con artists promise investors big returns and use money from other investors to make those payments. Eventually, there are not enough new investors to cover the debts owed to earlier investors. (CT's cover story on Barry Minkow, a fraud perpetrator turned pastor and investigator, shows how many Christians are duped by con artists claiming to be fellow churchgoers.)

In fact, thousands of Christians were duped in another one of the largest financial frauds in American history perpetrated by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona. At the time of this case's indictment in 2001, CT reported that the Foundation "was organized in 1948 to raise funds for Southern Baptist-related charities. However, it has contributed only about $1.3 million to such groups over its half-century of operation. By contrast, in 1996, BFA spent $16 million on staff salaries and $329,000 on staff automobiles. It also invested in a long series of shaky loans and dubious real estate deals, primarily with companies controlled by members of its board. These insider deals left the foundation facing huge losses and are being scrutinized for possible violations of criminal and civil laws." Authorities estimated that 13,000 people had invested more than $500 million in BFA.

Christians were also the target of the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy. In this scam, investors, including many evangelical colleges and other institutions, were defrauded of $135 million. Though much smaller than the BFA or Greater Ministries scams, at the time, it was considered one of the largest financial scandals to hit American charities. Again, what started as a well-intentioned ministry ballooned into a Ponzi scheme.

But scandals, financial or sexual, are never the final chapter in the life of an individual or institution. The Christian Brotherhood Newsletter is again meeting the medical needs of its subscribers. And in the New Era case, several institutions that did receive their promised returns helped those that had lost money. Although most victims can only hope to see pennies of every dollar they invested in a scam, New Era victims received roughly 60 percent of their money back.

While Christians must be quick to call sin sin, we can also be ready to embrace those who truly repent. The church will always have its scandals, for it is comprised of fallen human beings. Scandalous, public deviations from God's calling for us to be perfect as he is perfect should shame us. Yet God's offering of forgiveness and renewal can make us deeply thankful.