The Anatomy of Temptation
The Anatomy of Temptation by Rev. L. John Gable
March 1, 2020
During this season of Lent we are going to be looking at the “little sins” in our lives that have “big consequences” and as a prelude to that I would like to talk with you this morning about what I am calling, “the anatomy of temptation.” So, think with me for a moment about that which tempts you most. Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to say it aloud, only to think about it. What is it that tempts you most often or most powerfully? Is it the smell of the bakery shop, the buzz of the alcohol, the high of the drug, the rush of the roulette wheel, the gaze of the eye, the wanderings of the imagination, as different as our various temptations may be, there is a familiar look to all of them, isn’t there? C.S. Lewis once said, “Heaven will show much more variety than hell for all of our sins have a certain ‘sameness’ about them. There is nothing quite so unoriginal as sin.” And the same can be said about temptation.
Let me begin by saying that being tempted is not the same thing as sinning. Temptation is part of what it means to be human, to be living with a fallen body and mind in a fallen world. While temptation is nothing to be flirted with (pardon the pun), it is also nothing to be feared. For temptation, in and of itself, has absolutely no power over us, other than that which we give it. That being said, we must take the reality of temptation, and its potential to lead us to sin, very seriously so we must learn to recognize it when we see it. So our topic today is the anatomy of temptation.
All temptation, almost by definition, begins with something or someone, some entity or enticement, which ATTRACTS OUR ATTENTION. Like an advertisement for a new product, temptation is designed to attract and intrigue us. It is designed to catch our eye and capture our imagination. Now, depending on what it is which tempts us most, this first step may appeal to one of our senses, be it a smell, a sight, a sound, a taste, a touch. Or it may be something altogether the product of our imaginations; a thought, an image, a fantasy.
Early on, the temptation is so benign it has absolutely no effect or influence over us. It poses no threat because we are distanced from it, as it is totally outside of us, physically, mentally and spiritually. As long as temptation remains only a passing attraction it causes us no harm. However, the potential danger increases in the second stage of temptation as we move toward the attraction and REACT to its appeal. Our initial response may well be made in innocence. It is the first drink, the longer gaze, the surreptitious purchase, the extended conversation with the one we find attractive. Despite some initial twinges of uncertainty we say, “There is nothing to it and no harm done. On the contrary, it was enjoyable… stimulating… kind of exciting”. It is at this point in the progression of temptation that that which was outside of us has now found a point of entry inside, and we have welcomed it because it seems so harmless and enjoyable.
The story is told of two monks, an older and a younger, on their way to the monastery when they came upon a beautiful young woman at the river bank. Like them she wanted to cross the river, but the water was too high, so the elder monk lifted her up on his shoulders and carried her across to the other side. The younger monk was scandalized. All the way back to the monastery he fumed inside. Did his older brother not know that it was forbidden for a monk to have contact with a woman, particularly such a beautiful woman? Finally he could stand it no longer, and began to lecture his elder brother in the errors of his ways. The older monk listened quietly until the tirade was finished, and then softly said, “Brother, I put that woman down back at the river. It is you who carry her still.”
We may have little control over what temptations attract our attention, but we have absolute control over those which we continue to hold on to. Reginald Thomas once wrote, “We owe it to ourselves to keep the traffic of evil thoughts on the move. We are not responsible for the thoughts that randomly come; it is not sin to be tempted. But we are responsible for the reception that awaits them and we can never be too inhospitable.”
In both of our Scripture lessons this morning there is a certain appeal to the temptations presented. In our Genesis story the man and the woman are instructed by God to eat and enjoy the fruit of any of the trees in the garden, save one, and they obeyed. But then the serpent pointed out the one forbidden tree to the woman and convinced her, through lies and deception, that the fruit she knew was harmful was really quite good. By listening to the voice of the Deceiver they were led in the way of disobedience despite their knowing better and we do the same whenever we embrace, even for an instant, that which we know is harmful to us.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus, after fasting for 40 days, was offered what appeared to be good: bread for Himself and enough to feed the world. What could possibly be wrong with that? He then was offered power and authority without any of the cost of the cross and grave. He was offered the easy way out, and all He had to do was bow down before Satan to have it all. That is the nature of temptation: it appears to be so good, so easy, so harmless, so exciting, so enriching, and all we have to do is sell a bit of our souls to have it all.
The difficulty with temptation, and the reason why we must constantly be on guard against it, is that it always looks like it is good for us. It is beautiful and enticing. And that only makes sense because if it appeared ugly and distasteful it wouldn’t be tempting to us, would it? I think of temptation as being like a fishing lure which sparkles and dances in the water in order to attract the attention of the fish and draw them near. But the lure is nothing more than a facade covering a hook which ensnares and will not let go.
This then brings us to the third step in the progression of temptation, ATTRACTION leads to REACTION which leads to ENGAGEMENT and its companion, RATIONALIZATION. While the first two stages have relatively little control over us, by the time we get to ENGAGEMENT we are well on our way to being hooked. By this point in the succession we wander there, mentally or physically, without any of the guilt or shame, uncertainty or embarrassment we may have felt early on. We tell ourselves we know what we are doing and we are confident that we can get ourselves out of it anytime we want; but the truth is, as Mark Twain put it so well, “It is easier to stay out than it is to get out.”
Whereas at first we had control over the temptation because it resided wholly outside of us, at this point of ENGAGEMENT the temptation has great control over us because we have allowed it inside. It has captured our thoughts and imaginations and desires. The difficulty at this stage is that we are torn between the pleasure we feel and the realization of the danger we are in. This is a critical stage because the longer we stay and the deeper we go, the harder it is to find our way out. At this stage, when confronted with the problem, we either RATIONALIZE that we didn’t know what we were getting in to when we started or that we are still in control and can stop anytime we want. Neither of those is a whole truth.
In the Native American culture it was tradition for adolescent aged boys to go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. Legend tells of one young man who hiked into a beautiful valley and there he fasted. On the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall, ragged peak capped with dazzling snow. “I will test myself against that mountain,” he thought. So he set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever and his heart swelled with pride at all he had accomplished. Then he heard a rustling at his feet, and looking down saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke: “I am about to die,” said the snake. “It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.” “No,” said the youth. “I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite me and I will die.” “Not so!” said the snake, “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.”
The young man resisted for a while, but this was a very persuasive snake, and at last the boy tucked the snake under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There as he laid it gently on the grass, the snake coiled and bit him on the leg. “But you promised…” cried the youth, and as the snake slithered away it responded, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”
The final stage in this anatomy of temptation is one I call ENTRAPMENT. We have been bitten; the hooks have been set; the temptation which began so innocently now has a death grip on us and will not let go. It is full blown sin and deception, and it impacts all of our other relationships. The pleasure we once felt now is off-set by the pain and damage it has done. That which appeared for so long to be good and beneficial and enjoyable, now we realize is destructive and evil. But we feel helpless because we don’t know how to get out of the mess we’ve gotten ourselves in to.
Look again at our Genesis passage, after the man and the woman ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, their paradise was shattered. Death, indeed, came with the eating of the forbidden fruit, the death of their innocence, and ours. For the first time, their eyes were opened; they saw their nakedness and they were ashamed. But worse still, when they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden, they hid. They hid from the One who made them and loves them, and we have the tendency to do exactly the same. When we find ourselves lost in sin and disobedience, we cover ourselves and hide. But the Lord called out to them, saying, “Where are you?” Someone has said that is the question that continues to echo through all of Scripture. No matter who we are, where we are or what we’ve done, God continues to call to His children, saying, “Where are you?” inviting us to come out from our hiding. .
Friends, if you are hiding now, hiding from yourself, hiding from your family and friends, hiding from your God, it is time to come out. It is time to confess your sin and admit your need. It is time to accept the love and help that is offered to you, for as long as you hide the brokenness continues.
The story of the fall is the narrative of humanity’s disobedience and rebellion against God, but Jesus gives us another path to follow. Rather than leading to sin and death, His encounter with temptation shows us a way of obedience which leads to life and a deeper, closer relationship with God. Jesus offers us a sure defense when we are faced with temptation.
As with Jesus, temptation often strikes us when our defenses are down, when we are hungry, sick, lonely or discouraged. So at these times, in particular, we must be on our guard. A first safeguard then when faced with temptation is to surround ourselves with others who know us and love us and can give us the strength to withstand. And did you notice that every time Jesus was challenged by the devil every answer He gave was from Scripture? If God’s Word was a necessary help to Jesus, the Son of God, in His time of temptation, how much more then can it be so for us? How often are we rendered defenseless against the temptations of false teaching and deception simply because we do not know the truth and promises of our own faith? Needless to say, we must know the Scriptures in order to use the Scriptures!
Yet another safeguard against temptation is simply a practical word of caution: Don’t go there. Have you ever noticed how often bad things happen in bad places or at bad times? I know a wise mother who gives this sage advice to her children, “Nothing good happens after midnight. You be home.” Perhaps the best advice one can possibly give to avoid the evils of temptation is simply, “don’t go there”, and when you find yourself there, “go back home”.
I share this message with you today because I am concerned at how readily and naively we wander into areas where “angels fear to tread”. I have seen too many marriages broken and lives damaged by circumstances which at first seemed innocent and harmless, but in the end proved to be addictive and destructive and evil. I heard a recent interview on NPR with a doctor who got caught up in an opioid addiction which resulted in his losing his practice and destroying his marriage who spoke this truth when he said something to the effect, “No one starts out thinking I want this to destroy my life.” Don’t go there!
I close with this. Years ago Tom Stoppard wrote a wonderful play titled, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as the sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Near the end of the play these two misfit companions are sailing off to meet the king, carrying in their own hands a letter that sentences them to death for their mishaps. As they look out over the ocean, lamenting the situation they find themselves in, Rosencrantz turns to Guildenstern and says, “There must have been a time, somewhere near the beginning, when we could have said, No.” There must have been a time when a different decision would have led them in a different direction. The same is true for us today and it is a decision of faith. It is the decision to say “no” to the way of temptation and death marked by our ancestor Adam, and “yes” to the new life of obedience and faith offered to us by Jesus Christ. And today is the day of decision! May God grant us the grace and the faith to make it.