The Temptation
Process (Luke. 17:1-10)
Temptation is the process that leads to sin. The gospels reflects what is most real is human life. That is why they report stories and sayings about sin, evil and temptation, the negative aspect of life. We so deeply associate love, hope and heaven with Jesus that we can forget he confronted numerous instances of human sin. Because Christ's life and surroundings were rich in human experience, we should not be surprised that sinfulness is part of the mix. Jesus came to redeem us from sin; hence we can expect to encounter the sin from which he came to liberate us.
At the beginning of this seventeenth chapter, (Luke 17:1) Jesus says that sin will inevitably occur, but those who tempt others to sin should have a stone tied around their necks and thrown into the sea. Such blunt words remind us that Jesus was not a sentimentalist about sin. He was well aware of evil and the temptation that leads to it.
The temptations process includes seven stages:
1. Invitation. We are solicited to do what is wrong. The act promises pleasure and is presented in an appealing manner. We are persuaded that the deed is somehow good, whether that be real or imagined. We do not think of ourselves as choosing evil directly. We open ourselves to what seems to be good and use our minds to lay aside what is evil in our choice.
2. Feelings. As the temptation takes hold of us, we let our feelings determine the morality of the act. The impact of the suggestion to evil is now felt in our emotions. Once our mind welcomes the invitation to sin; our emotions and even our bodies’ respond. As the emotional response grows, we experience inner conflict. Our minds may tell us that the deed is evil, but our feelings speak otherwise. It cannot be bad because it feels so good. Those feelings strive to be the source of judgment instead of intelligence. Our power to decide is now torn between the mixed signals of our mind's moral principles and our desire for the anticipated pleasure.
3. Decision. We reach the moment of truth. If our relationship with God is strong, we will reject the temptation. If it wavers and capitulates to the pull of our passions and feelings, then our minds will rationalize the act. Then we decide to sin. That choice begins in our hearts before it becomes concrete behavior. Sin is first an evil inner choice and only then becomes a visible reality. That is why, in the Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus taught that lust in the heart is already a sin even before any external act occurs, or that malice in the heart is already a sin before an evil deed takes place. Evil decisions first poison the heart and then the external performance. This is why we should develop an awareness of our inner life and its dramas so we can focus on the origin of the evil before it ever gets to visible behavior.
4. The Deed. Eventually the internal sin assumes a visible form and becomes an evil action. Inner gluttony will ravage one's own body and deaden sensitivity. Inner sloth leads to isolation and moral indifference (you can’t care less or even if you do, you’re too tired to do anything about it). Inner jealousy will break up marriages and poison friendships. Inner lust can lead to everything from meaningless, self-destructive relationships to rape. Inner anger can lead to emotional or physical violence of all types. Inner pride gives you permission to do all kinds of sin (lie, cheat, steal, gluttony, violence etc.) because you are more important than all others. You justify the behavior. The sin inside becomes the sin outside. Temptation has found fulfillment.
5. A Habit. Temptation is never satisfied with one victory. Having weakened our minds with rationalizations and raised our feelings to preeminence in our judging procedures,
Temptation returns again to urge us to greater experiments with sinning. Temptation allures us into a moral desert where repeated acts of sin become a routine. We acquire the habit of attitudinal and behavioral evil. Gradually the dream of innocence fades and we assume that a life of evil is normal for us. We are than corrupted at the core, though the possibility of repentance and conversion is always available to us while we live.
6. Captivity. So deeply has temptation led us into a moral wilderness that we seem driven to sin rather than to act virtuously. Here our behavior is akin to an immoral addiction. In Biblical terms, this is the Babylonian captivity on the soul. Our hearts feel harden in evil. Here more than ever we need a savior to liberate us. We are not inevitably determined to sin, but we feel so trapped in it that we wonder is salvation is possible.
7. Hell. If temptation's victories endure until our last breath then we have chosen to seal our compact with evil forever. After our death we will join the community of the damned. Having made evil a way of life on earth, we will take that inheritance with us into the next life. Having rejected saving love on earth, we will enter a realm of eternal non-love, the most acute form of pain possible for a human being whose fulfillment can only be satisfied by love. The triumphant smile of temptation will gaze on the bitterness of our faces.
Temptation is the process that leads to sin. The gospels reflects what is most real is human life. That is why they report stories and sayings about sin, evil and temptation, the negative aspect of life. We so deeply associate love, hope and heaven with Jesus that we can forget he confronted numerous instances of human sin. Because Christ's life and surroundings were rich in human experience, we should not be surprised that sinfulness is part of the mix. Jesus came to redeem us from sin; hence we can expect to encounter the sin from which he came to liberate us.
At the beginning of this seventeenth chapter, (Luke 17:1) Jesus says that sin will inevitably occur, but those who tempt others to sin should have a stone tied around their necks and thrown into the sea. Such blunt words remind us that Jesus was not a sentimentalist about sin. He was well aware of evil and the temptation that leads to it.
The temptations process includes seven stages:
1. Invitation. We are solicited to do what is wrong. The act promises pleasure and is presented in an appealing manner. We are persuaded that the deed is somehow good, whether that be real or imagined. We do not think of ourselves as choosing evil directly. We open ourselves to what seems to be good and use our minds to lay aside what is evil in our choice.
2. Feelings. As the temptation takes hold of us, we let our feelings determine the morality of the act. The impact of the suggestion to evil is now felt in our emotions. Once our mind welcomes the invitation to sin; our emotions and even our bodies’ respond. As the emotional response grows, we experience inner conflict. Our minds may tell us that the deed is evil, but our feelings speak otherwise. It cannot be bad because it feels so good. Those feelings strive to be the source of judgment instead of intelligence. Our power to decide is now torn between the mixed signals of our mind's moral principles and our desire for the anticipated pleasure.
3. Decision. We reach the moment of truth. If our relationship with God is strong, we will reject the temptation. If it wavers and capitulates to the pull of our passions and feelings, then our minds will rationalize the act. Then we decide to sin. That choice begins in our hearts before it becomes concrete behavior. Sin is first an evil inner choice and only then becomes a visible reality. That is why, in the Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus taught that lust in the heart is already a sin even before any external act occurs, or that malice in the heart is already a sin before an evil deed takes place. Evil decisions first poison the heart and then the external performance. This is why we should develop an awareness of our inner life and its dramas so we can focus on the origin of the evil before it ever gets to visible behavior.
4. The Deed. Eventually the internal sin assumes a visible form and becomes an evil action. Inner gluttony will ravage one's own body and deaden sensitivity. Inner sloth leads to isolation and moral indifference (you can’t care less or even if you do, you’re too tired to do anything about it). Inner jealousy will break up marriages and poison friendships. Inner lust can lead to everything from meaningless, self-destructive relationships to rape. Inner anger can lead to emotional or physical violence of all types. Inner pride gives you permission to do all kinds of sin (lie, cheat, steal, gluttony, violence etc.) because you are more important than all others. You justify the behavior. The sin inside becomes the sin outside. Temptation has found fulfillment.
5. A Habit. Temptation is never satisfied with one victory. Having weakened our minds with rationalizations and raised our feelings to preeminence in our judging procedures,
Temptation returns again to urge us to greater experiments with sinning. Temptation allures us into a moral desert where repeated acts of sin become a routine. We acquire the habit of attitudinal and behavioral evil. Gradually the dream of innocence fades and we assume that a life of evil is normal for us. We are than corrupted at the core, though the possibility of repentance and conversion is always available to us while we live.
6. Captivity. So deeply has temptation led us into a moral wilderness that we seem driven to sin rather than to act virtuously. Here our behavior is akin to an immoral addiction. In Biblical terms, this is the Babylonian captivity on the soul. Our hearts feel harden in evil. Here more than ever we need a savior to liberate us. We are not inevitably determined to sin, but we feel so trapped in it that we wonder is salvation is possible.
7. Hell. If temptation's victories endure until our last breath then we have chosen to seal our compact with evil forever. After our death we will join the community of the damned. Having made evil a way of life on earth, we will take that inheritance with us into the next life. Having rejected saving love on earth, we will enter a realm of eternal non-love, the most acute form of pain possible for a human being whose fulfillment can only be satisfied by love. The triumphant smile of temptation will gaze on the bitterness of our faces.