By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed.D.
(excerpt from “Preacher Spurs”, Christian Faith Publishing, Meadville, Pa., 2022)
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 4:15, James 1:12
The title is far from being original. Flip Wilson, a well-known comedian, made the phrase a tag title for jokes and commentaries and probably about a zillion sermons and devotions back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I thought it still might be an eye-catcher for interest’s sake because young people may not have ever heard it, and older folks who know it might smile about it and remember the comedy of Flip Wilson. Unfortunately, flip passed away at the age of 64, November 26, 1998. (CBS News, 1999)
Do you know anyone who has not struggled in some way with temptations? Simple to complex, from the temptation of grabbing the last donut left in the box at work to the next-door neighbor who seems way too friendly. Our lives transverse through times when we all have temptations that fit the time and the age and the social pressures at each age. Each age segment of our lives has its temptations through childhood and senior citizenship. Due to circumstances beyond our control, everyday temptations seem insurmountable, and we rationalize how others get away with sinning. We scheme how we might be able to as well. Our motives are so strong that we begin to believe we are unique, and that this particular temptation is more than we can bear. Then we fall into the big trap. I’ll do it because I know God will forgive me. He will, but the consequences of your actions are bound to make you pay in some way. Those consequences may become your hell on earth. A big lie is the one that says, I want this so much, I’ll pay the price of ultimate consequence. Not very smart.
We are unique. Every one of us is different. We live lives with different needs, bodies, minds, ages, looks, resources, jobs – do I need to go on? We are unique. But when it comes to temptation and sin – not so much.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.”
Ladies, that doesn’t get you off the hook here. You are part of the “man” spoken of here.
Let’s begin at the beginning of this verse. Please, repeat after me. NO temptation. Not one, not any, nothing unique to just you. All temptations are common to every man and woman. As Solomon says, there is nothing new under the sun.
In my ministry, I have encountered men and women who had an addiction they couldn’t shake off or were addicts of some habitual drug of one kind or another. Some addictions come from the sin you feed.
Short story. A man called a rodent expert into his warehouse and said he had a rat problem. The inspector looked around and said, “Where’s the food”? The warehouse owner said, “This is a warehouse of auto parts. There’s no food here.” The rodent expert smiled at him and said, “If there ain’t no food, there ain’t no rats.”
Temptation and sin are like that – no food, no temptation. If you feed your mind with the very sin you struggle with, the temptation for more sin will follow very quickly. Take the spouse cheater, adulterer, pedophile, or sex monger. What sensual reading or viewing have they filled their eyes and minds? Porn? Sensuous movies or salacious books and magazines? Feed the rats, and it is hard to get rid of them.
Some people succumb to peer pressure and take newer drugs that hook you on the first high. Others get you just when you think you can handle it. One addict told me (and you could tell he was well-versed in biblical theology) that “Jesus can’t help addicts because He never had the temptation of addiction.” He rationalized that because Jesus never sinned, to begin with, He had never been down the road of addiction and the sensations and physical urge that drug addiction can bring. So, he was sure that he was lost and unrecoverable because God did not understand what he was going through.
