#103 – Fleeing Sin

In Return of the Jedi, Luke chose to face his father, Darth Vader, again. Vader wanted to tempt Luke to the Dark Side of the Force but Luke wanted to try and save his father. Luke needed to face his temptation head-on in order to achieve a greater goal.

Most of the time our temptations aren’t like that. Most of the time it’s better for us to flee temptation than to face it head-on. 

In the church, though, we like to use fighting metaphors and language when talking about temptation.

We say that we’re wrestling with sin.

We say that we’re struggling with temptation.

We say that we’re fighting the devil’s influence.

Luke had to come face-to-face with his tempter and his temptation. The temptation to turn to the Dark Side was there and Luke took up his lightsaber and fought it off. And when I think about my temptations I want to be like Luke, striking my temptations down and standing victorious.

That hardly ever happens, though. When I choose to fight my temptations, the result is more like The Empire Strikes Back. My temptations win and I’m left wounded and barely hanging on.

1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

We’re told that the devil is a lion looking to devour us. That’s what we’re facing in our temptations: a hungry, violent, bloodthirsty carnivore. It’s no wonder that when we go toe-to-toe with temptation that temptation often wins.

So when facing temptation I suggest a different approach than young Skywalker’s. Instead of readying ourselves for a fight, I suggest we run. When we see that roaring lion rearing his head, we should turn tail and run.

Joseph from the Bible is a great example of this. When Potiphar’s wife kept tempting Joseph, the Bible says that eventually Joseph just ran away. He didn’t sit down and engage with his temptation nor did he stick a foot in to gauge the temperature; he just ran away.

So even if you have a really awesome lightsaber, it’s best to flee temptation whenever we see it. Because we’re not the last Jedi and our facing or temptation won’t redeem Anakin Skywalker.

How do you address temptation in your life?