Tempting

Sometimes there are conversations and posts on social media where I really, really want to leave a comment and give someone another perspective that they can’t see for whatever reason. There are times I want to help people understand why they shouldn’t post this or that. I recently had someone inquire of me about how to respond to people who were posting a lot of negative stuff about Scripture. I have to admit, it is so tempting to publicly challenge these people, but quickly I am drawn back to Matthew 18 where Jesus clarifies that it is best to start one-on-one if we have an issue with a brother. Thankfully God’s Word brings me back in line. As I think about the times I get so frustrated at humanity and just want to write a bunch of responses to posts, I can truly understand why people get off Facebook altogether.

This is temptation 101, and Jesus laid the foundation for us on how to handle it. There is something specific about the temptations Jesus faced…they were specific to Him. They were designed to knock Him off track, and they were right in His weak spot. Now, with Jesus there is no weak spot, so the easiest way to show this is to show the human issue of hunger. After fasting for 40 days, Jesus would have been hungry, and we can all understand that. The other temptations are big boy stuff – the devil and Jesus are debating about protection and ownership of the world. Those are specific issues Jesus was facing.

It is hard to translate some of this into our context since most of us probably don’t fast, and I have no temptation to throw myself off a building and challenge God, nor am I tempted to start devil worshiping anytime soon. Yet, I am tempted to respond to those who write things on Facebook. Pastors are not immune to temptations. Some of my pastor Facebook friends are writing things about one another. At times I even feel the devil whispering in my ear to write a specific comment or line, but then Matthew 18 draws me back. (I use the term Facebook friends lightly, as there are lot of people who I am connected with via Facebook who may not truly be my friends.)

My memorization is image based. I have images of paragraphs and stories in my head as I am preparing for a sermon I am going to give. I memorize Scripture in the same way. I memorize the book and chapter, sometimes the verse numbers, but the actual wording is conceptual for me. I know Matthew 18 talks about going to your brother one-on-one, then bringing together two or three, and then including the larger body like the church. If I publicly react out of frustration to a Facebook post, I have just skipped the first two parts of Matthew 18 and jumped right into the last part about the larger body.

In this Lenten season my prayer is that we each take our habits, as they are linked to our personal discipleship, to a new level. The temptation of Jesus is a reminder that the devil is going to attack our weakest areas all the time, and those attacks are specific for each person. Our awareness of this allows the Holy Spirit to do the work He is trying to do in us also – to refine us. In our discipleship model, Read 1 – reading God’s Word daily – helps us grow and see Jesus in the midst of our lives. The Holy Spirit then can prompt us back to a Scripture passage in the midst of that temptation. Jesus laid the perfect example for us on how this happens as we read about His temptation. This is an ideal way to begin this season of reflecting on Jesus’ journey to the cross as we reflect on His example for us to follow in our lives.