"Going to Hell with Ted Haggard" took 2nd place in the General Article (Medium) category at the 2013 Evangelical Press Association convention, as well as receiving widespread readership. It became LJ's most viral article of the year. We spoke to Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal, about why this piece by Michael Cheshire about loving a Christian pariah affected readers the way it did.

Why do you think this article touched so many people?

I think the author placed his finger on something a lot of Christians are tired of—pouncing on people who are already down. We all know what Haggard did, but the author struck a chord by asking, how far does grace go? It's a good question, whether or not you agreed with his conclusions. It was also important that it was more than an opinion piece. He told his story of befriending a Christian pariah, how it stretched him, and what he learned. I think those are the best kind of Leadership articles, ones in which the author has a personal connection to the subject.

Tell us how this article gained its popularity.

The article really benefitted from social media, especially Facebook. It has 45,170 shares on Facebook, and it's still going strong. We can only push an article so far. It has to reach critical mass or a tipping point (or whatever cliché you prefer) if it's really going to reach a wider audience. Fortunately this one took on a life of its own.

What do you think this article tells our audience about grace?

That grace isn't grace unless it stretches you. And that sometimes extending it will make others uncomfortable.

Were you surprised by how well it was received?

I was. I knew that it would get some attention just because of the title, but had no idea it would take off like it did. Nor could I have guessed that the reactions would be largely positive.

Do you feel like the Christian community is becoming more grace-filled towards public failure? Or even towards each other?

Hard to say. I think there's a growing realization that we have to do a better job of addressing failure. Another Leadership contributo,r J.R. Briggs, has started a conference called Epic Fail. It's basically a low-key gathering where leaders get together and are totally honest about their failings. So I see that as one indication that people are starting to pay more attention to understanding and dealing with failure in ministry.

What did this article teach you?

That if you can get the words "Hell" and "Ted Haggard" in a title, you've got a winner! Seriously though, it taught me that, as nasty as people can be online, there are a lot of people looking for something positive. Sometimes it seems like cyberspace is ruled by trolls and fault-finders, but there's still an appetite for grace.

See the story behind the story of other award-winning content from the 2013 Evangelical Press Association convention.