The question I've been pondering is this one... What did that temptation look like? The specifics of the temptations were, of course, quite different. Jesus didn't have the internet, the stock market, the luxury restaurants, and such, nor did He have the political or economic freedom to indulge in the same way that we do today in 21st century North America. And yet, He was tempted as we are. How is that possible?
So I started to think through my greatest temptations. The list is long and difficult to order, but I did my best. There are certainly times that I'm tempted towards blatant sin: greed, lust, dishonesty, envy, and the like. These are surely daily occurences, and I'm called to reject them again and again, being watchful of my life, lest sin take a foothold. However, these blatant sins, at least in their most overt forms, have been largely "patterned out" of my life. The temptation to my heart is still most certainly there, but the opportunities, due to the pattern of life that I've chosen to live, are less present.
The standard confessional prayer within most English liturgies contains in it a phrase that is, to me, a haunting one: "We confess we have sinned against you... by what we have done and by what we have left undone." That second category seems unfairly open-ended. The things I've left undone?? That's so much! Every time I choose something, I'm "unchoosing" everything else! What am I confessing here?
This leads my thoughts back to Jesus, who was tempted in every way as we are, yet was without sin. He didn't do everything. There were clearly those He didn't heal, poor He didn't feed, injustices He didn't right, and so on. And yet, that last phrase from Hebrews 4:15, which is affirmed multiple times throughout the Old and New Testaments, states that He didn't sin. If Jesus was faced with the standard liturgical confession, He would not need to confess a sin that He committed--but He would also never need to confess a sin through omission. While He didn't do everything, His life was filled with many things He did: teaching, modeling love and grace for the broken, healing, feeding, sacrificing His comfort for the joy of others, speaking up against injustice... and that little act of becoming the all-sufficient sacrifice for all mankind. He didn't just avoid sin. He also spent His life engaging righteousness. He modeled and lived within the Kingdom that He proclaimed. (Mark 1:15)
Could it be that the greatest temptation in 21st century North America is to keep oneself from blatantly sinful actions, and then passively doing nothing?
We live in an isolated country, both geographically and socioeconomically. We are further isolated through moderately spread out single family homes in the suburbs, which remove us from daily contact with "the rest of the world." We are given personal access to all we need: food, healthcare, entertainment, etc. through the beauty of the free market economy. Because we have, we have more. Because we have, we have access to even more. (Why? Because that's how the economy works, dummy. Why market products and services, even if they are necessities, to those who can't afford to purchase them? It might be a good social decision, but it's a terrible business decision.) Has our isolation and self-sufficiency led us, like a sneaky-smart tempter might, into the temptation of passivity?
I read a study recently that said Americans live in a state of roughly 40% awareness. That means 60% of the world passes us by without our so much as being aware of it. It's as though our spirits recoil against global injustice, local oppression and poverty, war, genocide, corporate greed, and governmental corruption. We feel like we can't take it any more--so we just shut it off, becoming blissfully unaware as we live our lives. Instead of engaging those painful realities, we fill large chunks of our lives with those things that we would put under the category of "leisure": games, movies, consumption of food and drink, social media outlets, shopping for what we don't need, and of course, the ubiquitous internet surfing. Our phones, laptops, and tablets fill hours of our time, giving us the illusion that we are "busy" and that our lives are "full." It's not true, but it sure makes us feel better.
Jesus was most certainly tempted by the blatant, conventional sins that you and I are faced with every day. But I have to think the greater temptation was, in His human weariness, to not engage. That's certainly mine. Everyday I'm tempted to not engage with the needs of my family, the broken people I come in contact with, the broken systems that I can so easily avoid... to be "busy," but to not really live in the way I've been created to live. And when I'm just filling time but not doing that for which I've been created, I'm not sure that the term "living" is correct. More accurately, I'm in the process of "dying." I just haven't made it there yet.
And so, as yesterday's post, I fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of my faith. He resisted the temptation to be passive in His weariness, and I must as well. I won't always get it right, but I'd sure rather be living than dying.
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