WEEKLY COMMENTARY: How Do YOU Handle Temptation?

I have a friend who one day saw an unfamiliar dog sniffing around in his back yard.  The dog was a beauty ---- seemingly thoroughbred, with clean lines and friendly disposition.  My friend called the dog over to him and saw there was a dog collar which had the name, address and phone number of a person, apparently the owner, who lived on the other side of town.

My friend said he then had two conflicting thoughts.  Should he call the person identified on the dog collar to come and collect this dog?  Or, should he take the collar off and adopt this beautiful animal for himself?  Clearly, my friend was being tempted.

What is "temptation"?  Webster says that to "tempt" is "to entice to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain."  It seems to start when we become aware of a desire inside of us.  It may be a sinful desire, like the desire to get revenge or to control others.  Or, it may be a legitimate, normal desire, like the desire to be loved and valued, or to feel pleasure.  But "desire" starts to become "temptation" when we think about giving in to evil desire, or to fulfill a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time.  Temptation always starts in one's mind, not in the circumstances outside of us.

Next, in the progress of temptation, some doubt arises about whether what we are tempted to do is really wrong.  Clearly, this dog was the property of another person, but every dog needs shelter, food and love, and my friend was ready, willing and able to provide those things.  Did God really say not to keep the dog?  Didn't God mean this prohibition for someone else or some other time?  Didn't God want my friend to be happy?!

The next step would be deception, a step that some people attribute to the work of Satan.  In this view, Satan is incapable of telling the truth.  Satan offers his lie to replace what God has already said in His Word.  One can expect Satan's little voice inside us to say things like: "You can get away with it.  No one will ever know.  It will solve your problem.  Besides, everyone else is doing it.  It is only a little sin."  But a little sin is like being a little pregnant ----it will eventually show itself.

Finally, my friend would need to act, or not act, on the thought he had been toying with in his mind.  Would what began as an idea, get born into behavior?  Would he now give in to the desire to keep the dog?

Understanding how temptation works is in itself helpful, but there are specific steps one can take to prevent wrong choices.

In his book, "The Purpose Driven Life,"  Pastor Rick Warren says that some Christians feel ashamed just for being tempted.  This is a misunderstanding, says Pastor Warren.  One never outgrows temptation.  It is not a sin to be tempted.  Jesus was tempted.  Temptation only becomes a sin when one gives in to it, says Warren.

Pastor Warren goes on to urge us to recognize our patterns of temptation and to be prepared for them.  He says there are certain situations that make us more vulnerable to temptation than others.  Some circumstances will cause us to stumble almost immediately, he says, while others don't bother us much.  Ask yourself, "When am I most tempted?  What day of the week?  What time of day?  Where am I most tempted?  At work?  At home?  At a sports bar?"  It may be when we are tired or lonely or bored or depressed or under stress.  It may be when we have been hurt emotionally, or are angry, or after a big success or spiritual high.  Wise planning reduces bad outcomes from temptation, urges Pastor Warren.

Importantly, Rick Warren says that heaven has a "twenty-four hour emergency hot-line."  Pastor Warren believes God wants us to ask for assistance in preventing bad temptation choices.  When temptation choices develop, he says, you may not have time for a long conversation with God ---- you simply cry out!

Rick Warren concludes by saying, "If God is waiting to help us defeat the unwise temptation choice, why don't we turn to Him more often?  Perhaps sometimes we don't want to be helped.  We may want to give in to temptation even though we know our choice is wrong.  At that moment we think we know what's best for us more than God does.  At other times we are embarrassed to ask God for help because we keep giving in to the same temptation choice over and over.

Oh, and what did my friend finally do about the temptation to keep that handsome, wandering dog?  Just then, his wife came home and found him struggling with the temptation.  "Don't be silly," she said, "give me the dog collar so I can call the dog's owner.!" 

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage some personal growth this year at CPC.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Was Jesus Wrong?

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof gave us a story last week that really troubles me.  Recently, in West Texas, a young mom encountered three desperate Central American migrants one night, by the side of the road where she was driving.

At least one other car had hurtled by, afraid to stop.  But, this young mom, remembering her own two teenage sons, took pity on the migrants and invited them into her car to warm up.  Only then did she discover the condition of the third youth ---- the sister of one of the migrant boys.  The girl was suffering from starvation, dehydration and a potentially fatal kidney condition.  The young mom began using her cell phone to text friends for advice about getting the sick girl some medical attention.

A short time later, a sheriff's deputy pulled up behind the young mom's car, lights flashing.  A Border Patrol officer arrived shortly afterward.  The officers detained the young mom for three hours, confiscating her possessions and then keeping her in a holding cell.

By stopping to help some strangers, the young mom may have saved a life ---- but stopping for these migrants also got her arrested.

Does this story remind you of a parable told by Jesus, but with a different outcome?  That would be the parable "The Good Samaritan".  However, the young mom's story has an entirely different ending from what Jesus taught us.  Perhaps that is why I am confused.

In Jesus' parable it was a man traveling on a lonely road, who was attacked and badly beaten by robbers.  Others saw the injured man on the ground, but passed by on the other side of the road, until a man of a different "tribe" ---- a Samaritan, came along.

The Samaritan saw the condition of the wounded man, took pity on him, bandaged his wounds and took him to a nearby inn for further care, paying the innkeeper for attending to this wounded stranger.

At this point in the parable, Jesus asks: "Who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  His listeners replied: "The one who had mercy on him."  Then, Jesus told them:  "Go and do likewise."  One might say further:  "Whomever claims to love God, but hates his brother or sister is a liar."

Do you see why this story troubles me?  The young mom did exactly what Jesus tells us to do for others in need.  Did the three migrants, while perhaps not legally present in the United States, represent a threat to anyone?  On the surface, at least, they did not.  

Now, what if one of the three migrants was not needing medical attention?  If the young mom had stopped nevertheless, does that justify her arrest?  Perhaps, but we are left with a difficult question.  We do try to obey our laws, Federal, State and local, in our daily lives.  But sometimes a law imposed upon us by our government may present a moral conflict too great for that law to be  observed.  What should we do when, for example, Jesus' parable presents us with a clear moral conflict?  One answer might be to change the law, but this takes time and often inertia defeats the effort.  What should we then do?

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These thoughts are brought to you by the CPC Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage some personal spiritual growth this Spring.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Some Things Presbyterians DO NOT Believe

While living as committed Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, Presbyterians hold some beliefs which are different from what other Christians believe.  A while back, the Presbyterians Today magazine cited eight such belief differences in an article by Presbyterian pastor James Ayers.

Where do you stand on each of these eight topics?

1.)  Fate or Predestination.  Some people believe that every event is caused by previous events.  If so, they say, it is an illusion to suppose that your decisions actually change things in your life.  So, if you do a good deed, that is what you are fated to do.  If you do something evil, that is just the outworking of your predetermined fate.  This is very different from the Presbyterian Doctrine of Predestination, which says God chose us before the world was formed, and that we are predestined to freely make choices in our lives.  We may be making choices every day of our lives.  Presbyterian Predestination teaches us that God has given us a big and important freedom ---- the freedom to make the choices (good or bad) which will fulfill our own destinies as we understand them. 

2.)  Purgatory, Heaven, Hell.   Where do people go when they die?  Many people  say to "Heaven or Hell".  Beginning in the Middle Ages, people thought that Heaven was where the Saints stand in the Holy presence of God, and that Hell is where the wicked are sent.  What about those people who have not had a chance to have all their sins forgiven by their priest before their death?  Their lives would still be impure when they died, so how could they exist in Heaven, alongside the Holiness of God?  Thus, the doctrine of purgatory was created ---- a place where any sins not forgiven by the priest on behalf of God since the last confession, would be purged.  However, Presbyterians believe God will indeed redeem us and cleanse us from all our sins, and that we will be readied for Heaven, without needing to postulate a  third possible place to go when we die.

3.)  Reincarnation or Eternal Life?  Some Eastern religions say that after we die, we are re-born as another person or as an animal.  They believe that the world is in an endless cycle of death and re-birth.  Therefore, that one continually gets "another chance" until we finally get it right.  Presbyterians believe that Scripture does not teach reincarnation.  Instead, it points us directly toward eternal life in the presence of God.  Think about it ---- isn't belief in reincarnation just a severe form of believing in showing righteousness through one's works, as one lives over and over until we have attained a certain level of goodness in our works?.

4.)  Alter or Table?   An alter is a place where a sacrifice is offered, and it is often viewed with special reverence.  In the traditional Roman Catholic understanding, during Mass the priest re-offers Christ on the alter as a sacrifice to God.  But, Presbyterians believe the sacrifice of Christ has already been offered once and for all.  The sacrifice needs no repetition, and the action of the priest cannot make it occur again.  Therefore, Presbyterians see the Lord's Supper as taking place at a table rather than at an alter.  Although many Presbyterian communion tables are rather ornate, the table itself holds no significance or holiness for Presbyterians.

5.)  Ranking of Sins.  In Roman Catholic thinking, when one dies the person is carrying the guilt of all the sins they have committed since their last confession.  If one's sins are venial (relatively slight), one now works them off in Purgatory.  An un-confessed mortal sin means one is damned to Hell.  But, Presbyterians do not believe that sins can be graded this way because sin is sin.

Forgiveness of sins is God's freeing gift in Christ's crucifixion.  Confession and assurance of pardon by a priest are not what enable God to forgive us, say the Presbyterians.  Rather, it requires direct confession to God when we confess our sins.  This enables us to recognize or feel or experience that we are forgiven.  

6.)  Good Works or Grace?  Conventional wisdom says that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell.  Are you good enough for Heaven?  Are you sufficiently righteous to go to Heaven when you die?  Presbyterians have always insisted that, as we are all sinners from the time of our birth, no one is ever good enough on their own to deserve salvation.  We are saved only through God's grace.  Despite our failures in life, God has already decided to save us as evidenced through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the gift to us of the Holy Spirit.

7.)   To Whom Do We Direct Our Prayers?    When we have problems we may ask our friends to pray for us.  But, why restrict oneself to present-day friends?  Why not also ask  distinguished Christians from previous centuries to offer up their intercessions on our behalf?  This is perhaps the most positive way to think about praying to the Saints.  Yet, there is a problem here.  Asking Mary (the mother of Jesus) or Saint Joan of Arc to pray about you becomes a prayer to Mary or Saint Joan.  But prayer is an act of devotion and worship, and Presbyterians believe our prayers should only be offered to God.

8.)  Authority Figures.  Where is the authority of the Church based?  Our differing understandings of appropriate church governance are perhaps the greatest source of disagreements among Christians.  We have different ways of ordering our lives together as communities of faith.  Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Episcopal churches believe that temporal authority is carried in the Office of the Bishop.  The doctrine of the "historic succession of Bishops" means that Bishops receive their authority from previous Bishops, all of whom received their authority from still earlier Bishops.  Catholics and some Anglicans trace this authority back to the Apostles themselves.  Presbyterians believe church authority is not carried in individuals in this way.  Instead, church leaders are elected, but can declare the will of God only on the authority of Scripture.  However, Presbyterians are on record that their way is not the way, but simply the way that works best for them.

Now that you have taken this test, how "Presbyterian" do you think you are?

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal spiritual growth this Spring at CPC.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Amazingly, Personal Involvement With Other CPC Members Can Help Deepen Our Personal Faith

Last  Christmas I attended the main Worship Service at Central Church.  The Sanctuary was packed, but I saw quite a few faces that I did not recognize.  Sure, some of them were out-town-relatives who had come to Summit to celebrate Christmas with their family.  But, some faces I did recognize, even though they seldom attend our Worship and have little apparent connection with CPC other than attending Christmas and Easter services.  Some of us call them "C.E.O's", meaning Christmas and Easter only.

While some of these folks volunteer for charitable causes outside the church, and that is much appreciated, that usually happens in a secular context.  It may be hard for them to connect that charitable activity with their faith.  But, is that really so bad?  We all make choices in how we spend our time, and sometimes of course, the choice is made quite selfishly.

But I wonder if there is some way to make these "volunteer" choices, and at the same time use our choices to strengthen and clarify our faith, perhaps by working closely with "the body of Christ," as some people call the church?  It seems to me that extending ourselves to others in our church family, or working with other CPC members to extend ourselves to outsiders, has the advantage that we already share some important values with each other, and can more efficiently "make a difference."  Isn't this the essence of what Jesus sought in us?  What can each of us do today to be more consciously participatory with other members of our church?  How can we strengthen our community in Christ, stimulate our own spiritual journeys and fulfill our mission to bring others to Christ in a loving, supportive and safe manner?

What Can Each Person Do?

1.)  Sit somewhere different in our Sanctuary each Sunday for the next eight weeks.  Each week identify at least two individuals that you don't know, introduce yourself and invite them to Take Ten for coffee after our Worship Service.

2.)  When you see someone or a couple obviously new and unfamiliar with our Worship Service, introduce them to an Usher (Deacon) who will record their name and some contact information.

3.)  Volunteer to be part of a CPC activity that makes you comfortably uncomfortable and creates an impact on others.  Perhaps it could be working with the homeless, or at a food pantry, o being still and listening to a friend or colleague in an assisted-living home.

4.)  Demonstrate active listening that shows empathy towards others who may be unfamiliar to you.

5.)  Become more familiar with your inner self ----- with your biases and assumptions about strangers, and do not let these pre-conceived ideas interfere with  your personal relationships or with church-member interactions.

6.)  When you see someone standing alone while you are in a group, invite them to join you.  The intentional act of invitation sends a powerful signal of inclusion.

7.)  If you have a particular skill, interest or experience relevant to the CPC "body of Christ", be proactive as you engage that gift.  Do not wait to be discovered and asked.  Make your interest and willingness to serve known to the leadership of the church.

Even a stable, long-standing congregation like CPC's can have more work to do to ensure that it's congregational culture continues to encourage strong participation by members.  It doesn't "just happen."  Our CPC participation must be more than just attending Worship Services on Sunday mornings for an hour.

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These thoughts are brought to you by the Adult Spiritual Education Team at CPC, hoping to encourage your personal spiritual growth this Spring.

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