The Temptations -

Temptation seems to easily come my way. Pride, lust, control, even superiority -appear at my door, at my step, and in my life.  Sometimes I will commit myself to a new plan of overcoming them, other times I will confess to a friend and seek his help.  But more often than not, they continue to try and trap me.

Maybe you can identify, may be not.  It seems like each of us is tempted -but in different ways. One friend can't have a glass of wine, while another brews his own beer.

Is there a pattern that we can follow to help us overcome the temptations that we face?

We read in Matthew 4 that Jesus was tempted. But when we read the story it seems bizarre and with little relevance to us today...

We find the Spirit leading Jesus out to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, to jump from the Temple and finally to bow to Satan in exchange for authority over the world.

Two extremes should be avoided when studying this passage...

• We must be careful to blame God for causing temptation.  James 1.13 makes it clear that God is never directly responsible for temptation.

• We want to avoid ascribing to Satan the power to act independently of God.  Satan can only act within God's sovereign will.

The First Temptation is for Jesus to turn the stones into bread.  This temptation is all about Jesus using his power for his personal gain versus using his power to advance God's mission.

The Second Temptation is for Jesus to throw himself off the temple and have God catch him.  Satan is wanting Jesus to test God, pushing Jesus to see if God will serve his personal needs.

The Third Temptation is for Jesus to bow to Satan in exchange for the kingdoms of this world.  This final temptation involves immediate success- instant gratification.  Satan tempts Jesus to skip his suffering and to become popular right now.

The temptation story reminds us that Jesus was unlike previous Kings, that he was unlike Israel. They succumbed to temptation, while he placed his obedience to God before his personal desires.

Now we can see the link to us today...
The triple-threat of Relevance, Popularity and Power are some of the greatest temptations we face. Jesus shows us the antidote, which is obedience to God.

Another View on the Duck Dynasty Controversy

We don't have cable, so my first foray into Duck Dynasty occurred during my Summer 2013 Sabbatical. Friends loaned us their condo, and one night Lynn and I binge-watched about 10 episodes.  Duck Dynasty is tremendously funny, obviously scripted, fairly mechanistic and possessing one of the most unique personalities in reality television: Uncle Si.

We know the story of what happened next.  Phil Robertson, the patriarch and founder of the Duck Commander company, gave an interview with GQ, in which he expressed his opinions on homosexuality and race-relations.  A&E, the network which holds the rights to Duck Dynasty, suspended Phil Robertson.  Critics were quick to condemn Robertson's beliefs; causing many Christians to come to his defense.  The Christian reaction was immediate, intense and effective.  After nine days, Robertson was reinstated by A&E.

Maybe now that the dust has settled it is time to offer some counter-points to the status-quo reactions offered by many Christians.

1. It is wise to avoid the Celebrity-Christian-Who-Speaks-For-Me mentality.  

Christians love to attach ourselves to culturally-hip representatives because it not only validates our beliefs but allows us to feel hip and cool.  It could be a band (U2/Switchfoot), politicians (Huckabee/Obama), celebrity pastors (Olsteen, Stanley), or reality-television show families (Robertsons/Duggars). When we do this though we are captive to the ebb and flow of their fame.  I'll attach my identity to Jesus and to His Word, but to no one else.

2. What does our response to A&E actually say about us?

Immediately after the Robertson suspension, many Christians leaders were calling for boycotts, pickets, and petitions.  The blogosphere and Facebook were inundated with Christians urging the faithful to use their economic and monetary power to 'bring back Phil.'  But do we ever stop and ask what is the cost of using this power?  A consistent pattern in scripture is to avoid using earthly means to accomplish spiritual goals. Earthly power is seductive and tempting; but it is contrary to Jesus' actions.  At his arrest Jesus told Peter to return his sword to its scabbard; and Paul reminds us that our battle is not against, 'flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers...'

3. Why are Christians shocked and surprised to be mocked by our culture?
Christianity is a counter-cultural.  The cause of Christ stands in direct opposition to the patterns of our world. Following Christ means that surrender brings victory, service brings exaltation, and suffering brings redemption.  Jesus continually told his followers to expect to be mocked and persecuted.  Why are we surprised then when this happens to us?

4. Jesus tells us how to act when offended and hurt.
Read the Beatitudes from Matthew Chapter 5: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers.'  Christians are instructed to respond to persecution with prayer, to respond to mockery with love, to hardship with service.


Now that the dust has settled, it would be wise for Christians to evaluate our initial responses so that we can not only be better prepared to respond -the next time; but so that we can more effectively model Christ to a world that desperately needs Him.