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Lead Us Not Into Temptation…

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Consider the opening words of John Piper in his book, Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” Piper goes on to assert that, “worship is…the fuel of missions…[because] you can’t commend what you don’t cherish.”

The goal of our “Deeper Still” series is not to do more, be more loving, or joyful, or obedient – or even to try and be good. The goal of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself – to grow an intimate, passionate, dynamic relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Contemplative prayer is first and foremost learning how to listen — to quiet our anxious, ADD hearts and listen for God’s word, which is alive (Hebrews 4:12) and capable of ushering us into the very presence of Trinitarian love in order to comfort, encourage, and confront us.

The Lord’s Prayer is a collection of short phrases perfectly suited to contemplation. If we pray the Lord’s Prayer in its entirety and at a moderate pace, it takes about 30 seconds to recite — yet it takes a lifetime to plumb its contemplative depths.

“Lead us not into temptation…” — one of the most problematic passages in the gospels. The first 3 petitions deal with the wonder of God:

  1. God’s Name,
  2. God’s Kingdom
  3. God’s Will.

The second 3 petitions speak to our humanity needs:

  1. Provision: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
  2. Pardon: “Forgive us our debts as forgive our debtors.”
  3. Protection: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

We can also breakdown the Lord’s Prayer by considering the verbs: be hallowed, come, give, forgive, and lead.

  1. “Be hallowed” has a different quality from the other verbs. It has the gesture of creating a still space.
  2. “Give” and “forgive” are closely related as words in our English language. Although the (original) Greek words are not related, there is still a complementary gesture: offering and releasing.
  3. “Come” and “lead” both imply gestures of movement. They are also complementary—the former draws near; the latter moves on, bringing us with it.

As the 6th and final petition is examined, it is important to remember that:

  1. Temptation is not sin. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was: “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15)
  2. God does not tempt anyone. The book of James tells us: “Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, ‘God is trying to trip me up.’ God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer” (James 1:13, MSG).

So, what then, is temptation? The Greek word for temptation is πειρασμός (peirasmos). The root word peira means, “experience” and the ending asmos describes a “process.” Temptation literally means: a process of experience — one we may or may not learn from.

What does, “deliver us” mean? The Greek verb, ῥύομαι (rhoumai) can be translated “rescue or deliver.” The meaning of the word is “to draw to oneself.” In essence when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking, Our Father who is in heaven… to draw us close (or, lead us) so that we are protected from the Evil One—Satan, our adversary, the Devil, the one who is our accuser and slanderer.

William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas offer an important perspective on this petition, “When you pray to be…delivered…you are acknowledging that you are not in control of your fate…and that you answer to some greater power than that which the world bows before.” (From: Lord Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer and Christian Life by William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.)

When we pray, “deliver us from evil,” we confess that evil is real and temptations trouble our souls. We admit that we are vulnerable and weak. And so the only appropriate cry is for us to pray, Rescue me. Deliver me! Or, O God, “lead me!”

Take a look at 4 other verses that speak to this issue of temptation:

  1. “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” (Mat 6:6, MSG)
  2. “Temptations are inevitable” (Matt 18:7, NLT; also Lk 17:1)
  3. “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” (Lk 8:13, NASB)
  4. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Cor 10:13, NIV)

What Are Tools To Defeat Temptation? (The first 2 are individual, the next 3 are corporate.)

  1. Holy Conviction (as opposed to condemnation), we are to aim at wanting to be free. “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” (1 Tim 1:5, NLT)
  2. We know have a choice: “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16, NASB)
  3. The Body of Christ – loving, honest, accountable relationships
  4. The Bible – God’s Word
  5. Gifts of the Holy Spirit

12 Foundational Tenets of Emotionlly Healthy Spirituality

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Adapted from Pete Scazzero…

These are further reflections on some theological underpinnings for what it means to integrate emotionally healthy spirituality into our lives.

  1. Theology– We must root our lives and churches in the living Jesus who is God Almighty as revealed in Scripture by the Holy Spirit. We take seriously the model of the early church fathers (e.g. Ignatius of Antioch, Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, Basil, Gregory the Great, Augustine, Iraneus and others) who were leaders of local churches or bishops, theologians who studied Scripture seriously as they engaged culture, and monastics who prayed their theology. They sought to live in communion with the Trinity. We are not CEO’s, psychologists, social workers or orators. Rather we seek to be men and women who lead our lives from deep, experiential knowledge of God’s Word.
  2. A Humble Spirit to Learn from the Whole Church – We affirm our evangelical roots and, at the same time, learn from the larger, global Church. We are part of a church family that goes back to Pentecost and the early church, anchoring ourselves in the Nicene Creed of 325 AD that reminds us, that we are part of “one, holy, catholic (i.e. universal) and apostolic church.” God calls us to advance His kingdom and be generous towards those streams in the church that are different from ours –- Mainline Protestant, Pentecostal et al.
  3. A Sense of Global Church History– EHS requires a basic understanding of church history. This includes the early heresies out of which our faith was forged (e.g. gnosticism), splits through church history (East and West in 1054 AD, the Reformation, Anglican, Protestantism), and the many hard lessons learned through history.
  4. Contemplative, Monastic Spirituality – The worldliness that dominates the church today parallels that of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th century. Following the example of Moses, Elijah, John the Baptism and Jesus, the desert fathers fled to the desert to seek God, we too must find our deserts in the midst of our business. We can learn a great deal from the contemplative, monastic tradition as we seek to remain firmly rooted as we engage the world with the gospel. In our day, we need to develop rhythms and a deep spirituality from which we can hear God clearly and identify the idols both around and in us.
  5. Integrity in Our Leadership – Church transformation and growth begins with our own integrity. As go the leaders, so goes the church. We must help one another, and our ministries to be truth tellers – to ourselves and others. It means a refusal to lie, exaggerate or use the ministry to bolster a false sense of self. We must also call one another to summon the courage to actually lead our people to maturity and fruitfulness regardless of the personal cost to us.
  6. Emotionally Healthy Practices – Leading a healthy community requires mastering new practices out of which people can now relate, in Christ, in a way different than their family of origin. Clean fighting, clarifying expectations, learning to speak clearly, directly, honestly and respectfully, listening fully like Christ, exploring beneath our icebergs, for example, are new skills we bring to our board, staff teams, small groups, and communities.
  7. The Marriage Covenant– Focusing on marriage as central to our spiritual formation is rarely talked about at seminaries or pastoral leadership conferences. This tragedy is unbiblical (1 Tim. 3:6-7) and an “elephant in the room” of our churches. If we as leaders cannot work out the power of the gospel in our own homes first, we will not be able to bring that power to our churches. For leaders who are married, this is our first priority after Christ. We receive this limit as God’s gift to us who are married. For this reason, a strong marriage and family ministry is a natural outgrowth for emotionally healthy churches.
  8. Sexuality – Discipleship in our sexuality is central to our following of Christ. Sexuality is no longer a side issue. Learning to commune and connect with our spouses, distinguishing sensuality and sexuality, and understanding sexuality as a pointer to our marriage with Christ that will culminate in union and oneness, are all examples of the kind of gifts we now bring into our homes and churches.
  9. Calling, Life and Work –A biblical theology eliminates the sacred/secular divide in our lives. Every Christian is called (not simply pastors and missionaries). That calling extends to every part of our lives, be it home, work, church, neighborhood, or our prayer life. Part of emotionally healthy spirituality leads to equipping our people in a theology of work. We equip and commission our people to create and shape for Christ in their workplace, push back the chaotic forces of the evil one, and build community in those places.
  10. Preaching and Teaching – The most important element for pastors/leaders to become better preachers is to continue working on our own spiritual formation. Our preaching now flows out of a contemplative life. We pray deeply over the Word we teach, now taking the time to allow truth to gestate and be birthed through us. This is a new way of leading the church, requiring study, time, reflection and, most importantly, a life of communion with God.
  11. Bringing Christ to Culture (Contextualization) — We are deeply committed to lead people to a deep, personal relationship with Jesus. Our challenge today is to adapt our structures and ways of doing church to best communicate Him in our rapidly changing culture. In a world of twitter, blogs, and YouTube, along with increased globalization, what will it mean for us to preach Jesus effectively in our generation? How can we be rooted in our rich, ancient past, while at the same time, break new ground in contextualizing the gospel in our cultures?
  12. Bridging Racial, Cultural, Economic and Gender Barriers – A critical issue for the church in the 21st century is the development of leadership and churches that can bridge racial, cultural and economic barriers. We seek to apply the power of the gospel, as seen in the book of Acts and Ephesians, to break down the dividing walls that continue to keep the 21st century church segregated by race, culture and class.

Christian Meditation

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As a community of faith we have a vision of learning how to love. An essential part of the journey includes quieting our anxious hearts before God and learning how to listen for the voice of God. As I have shared several times, we are learning how to listen for the voice of God calling us his beloved (from Henri Nouwen). Once we grow accustomed to hearing God’s affirming words and infused grace, we begin to call forth the belovedness in other people. So, contemplative spirituality is an important key. Christian meditation is closely associated to contemplative spirituality. This makes many conservative Christians nervous because it’s thought to engage the mindless repetition of words (or one word) that Jesus spoke against in Matthew 6:7. I see Christian meditation launching point into the presence of God. The Lord’s prayer happens to be divided up into separate phases that are perfect to meditate on. Also, consider these passages from the book of Psalms that speak to the need/benefits of Christian meditation: Psalm 1:2; 4:4; 27:4; 39:3; 48:9; 63:6; 77:6, 12; 119:15, 23, 27, 48, 52, 78, 97, 99, 117, 148; 143:5; 145:5. (Click here to go to a Bible Gateway list.)

Recently I went back and re-read one of the first books that came my way as a newbie Christ-follower in 1974. The book has become a Christian classic — Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Packer’s theology is reformed (i.e., conservative) and yet he talks easily about the need for Christian meditation. Take a look at the following excerpts:

How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God?

The rule for doing this is demanding, but simple. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into a matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.

Meditation is a lost art today, a Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice. Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is the activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. Its purpose is to clear one’s mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on ones mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God, and oneself; it is indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s power and grace. Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God’s greatness and glory, and our own littleness and sinfulness, and to encourage and reassure us — ‘comfort’ us, in the old, strong, Bible sense of the word — as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ. These were the points stressed by Spurgeon in the passage which we quoted in the beginning, and they are true. And it is as we enter more and more deeply into this experience of being humbled and exalted that our knowledge of God increases, and with it our peace, our strength, and our joy. God help us, them to put our knowledge about God to this use, that we all may in truth ‘know the Lord.’ (pgs 18-19).

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Combining Emotional Health & Contemplative Spirituality

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Peter Scazzero in his book Emotional Healthy Spirituality suggests that emotional health and spirituality must be integrated. He says that it is impossible to be spiritually mature while being emotionally imature. I agree more than ever. I’m wondering why the two ever got a divorce…

It is possible to have been an active, intentional follower of Christ for many years and still be emotionally unhealthy. The Church has done an excellent job at discipling our minds – but not so good at discipling people’s emotions.

Scazzero suggests a type of discipleship that includes growth in emotional health and contemplative spirituality. I find his description of emotional health and contemplative spirituality to be an inspiring vision for my faith journey and my understanding of discipleship.

Emotional Health
Is concerned with such things as: naming, recognizing, and managing our own feelings; identifying with and having active compassion for others;
 initiating and maintaining close and meaningful relationships;
 breaking free from self-destructive patterns;
 being aware of how our past impacts our present;
 developing the capacity to express our thoughts and feelings clearly, both verbally and non-verbally;
 respecting and loving others without having to change them;
 asking for what we need, want, or prefer clearly, directly, and respectfully;
 accurately self-assessing our strengths, limits, and weaknesses and freely sharing them with others;
 learning the capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the perspectives of others;
 distinguishing and appropriately expressing our sexuality and sensuality; and
 grieving our losses well.

Contemplative spirituality
Focuses on classic practices and concerns such as;
 awakening and surrendering to God’s love in any and every situation;
 positioning ourselves to hear God and remember his presence in all do;
 communing with God, allowing him to fully indwell the depth of our being;
 practicing silence, solitude, and a life of moving toward unceasing interactive prayer;
 resting attentively in the presences of God;
 understanding our earthly life as a journey of transformation toward ever-increasing union with God;
 finding the true essence of who we are in God;
 loving others out of a life of love for God;
 developing a balanced, harmonious rhythm of life that enables us to be aware of the sacred in all of life;
 adapting historic practices of spirituality that are applicable today;
 allowing our Christian lives to be shaped by the rhythms of the Christian calendar more than the culture; and 
living in the context of a committed community that passionately loves Jesus above all else (EHS, p.45-46).