Where have all the good role models gone? From accusations of questionable moral behavior for Alabama coach Mike Price who was thought to have a squeaky clean record to the recent accusations of rape against LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant, it seems role models have hit the skids. Kobe will have his day in court to defend the charges of rape brought against him but he has acknowledged a lapse in his moral behavior. Temptation, offered, accepted, and found out, now with a price to be paid.
Kobe Bryant, although in the spotlight because of his athletic ability, a high school basketball standout who by-passed college to play with the elite in basketball on the professional level, was not exempt from the temptations of the world. And neither are we. Although probably not bombarded by the sport groupies who throw themselves at athletes because of their status, thus creating an environment of temptation for those who are on the road competing as much it seems as they are at home, you and I face our own set of temptations.
It might not be the lure of sex bring temptation. There are other tempting things which come our way. The temptation of money which causes people to cut corners, to get involved with insider trading, or to justify other forms of illegal activity for financial gain. The temptation to steal at work, after all, you work hard and you justify the thievery because they don’t pay what you think you are worth. There is also the temptation of illegal substances, drugs, or becoming intoxicated. The temptation to lie, to falsify ones past to improve your current image. And on and on I could go. I think you get the point.
What can we learn from Kobe Bryant that can help us make it through the maze of temptation so our world does not come crashing down around us? Let me share some thoughts on How to handle temptation.
1. Be prepared to be Tempted.
The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared.” This time of year, with the warm weather, we read a lot of boating deaths because someone has fallen overboard unprepared. Never took the time to wear a life jacket, didn’t see the need, until it was too late. How often do we think, that will never happen to me?
Listen to this verse in the Message: Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence. (1 Corinthians 10:12).
In a Frank and Earnest cartoon, the two characters are standing before a priest and Frank asks, “How come opportunity knocks once, but temptation beats at my door everyday?”
Temptation is going to come knocking, you can count on it. Being prepared, acknowledging the fact it will come knocking, will help you keep the door shut when you hear that knock. Sticking you head in the stand and thinking it is not there will eventually kill you.
I don’t know much about Kobe Bryant. The games I have seen him play, the press I have read, the quotes attributed to him. I do know this, he did not anticipate temptation coming his way, for if he had, he would not be a sermon illustration today.
He could have even taken the advice given in one of his commercials for McDonalds. You might have seen it. He was recruited by a bunch of little kids to join their team in a playground basketball game. A kids tells Kobe that if they win, they get to go to McDonalds. At the end of the commercial, the kid says to him, “So don’t blow it.”
What do we do if we do blow it?
2. Acknowledge our Responsibility
Right after the charges were filed, Kobe was quoted in the LA Times as having said, “You know me. You know I’d never do anything like that.” In a press conference with his wife Vanessa sitting with him, he said, “I didn’t force her to do anything against her will. I’m innocent. I sit here in front of you guys furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery. I love my wife with all my heart. She’s my backbone.”
Fortunately in America, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the courts will decide his guilt or innocence pertaining to the rape charge. He did give into temptation, he did commit an offense against his wife in the form of adultery. Though I am unclear what he meant by saying at first, you know me, I would never do anything like that. Did he mean having sex outside of marriage, violating his vows with his wife, or did he mean the rape, or did he mean both. Has he acknowledged his responsibility out of remorse, or because he was caught? Time will tell.
The words of James echo truth when he wrote 14The 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. 15Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer. (James 1:14-15)
There is a school teacher in Tacoma who knows this well, having been arrested after one of his students became pregnant as a result of allow temptation to turn to lust.
Eugene Peterson put it well, temptation turns to evil, lust gets pregnant giving birth to sin and sin grows into adulthood which becomes the killer of our soul.
If found guilty, the penalty Kobe Bryant faces is 4 years to life. The third most productive sports product endorser behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, Kobe will undoubtedly pay for his infidelity with advertisers shying away from his endorsements.
Acknowledge responsibility and then…
3. Seek God’s Help
The prophet Jeremiah wrote in chapter 29:13-15 "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. 13"When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
"Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, 14I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed." GOD’s Decree. "I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"--GOD’s Decree--"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.
Psalm 50:15 says, Call to Me when trouble comes.
God seems to be the last person we want to call on when we are caught giving into temptation. Eventually though, we will call. Get me out of this mess. Or why did you let me get into this?
The amazing thing about God is when we do call, He listens. And when we go looking for Him, He will be found by us, but it only happens when we get serious about looking.
J. Dwight Pentecost said, “Mercy is God’s ministry to the miserable. It is both intensely personal and immensely practical. For when I am treated unfairly, God’s mercy relieves my bitterness. When I grieve over loss, it relieves my pain and anger and denial. When I struggle with disability, it relieves my self-pity. When I endure physical pain, it relieves my hopelessness. When I deal with being sinful, it relieves my guilt.”
Don’t be afraid to tell God what you have done, He already knows. Tell Him with remorse, seek His forgiveness, and allow Him room to work. It does not mean He will take away the consequences, He will walk through them with us.
God takes care of our vertical need, you also have a horizontal need as well, so you need to…
4. Have an accountability partner
James 5:16, 16Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
Laker Rick Fox said, He kept to himself and we let him do that. I can only imagine what it was like for him, being so isolated.”
In the book the Bride, Chuck Swindoll writes, “Personal accountability is invaluable. I was encouraged to hear about a minister who meets once a week with a small group of men. They are committed to one another’s purity. They pray with and for each other. They talk openly and honestly about their struggles, weaknesses, temptations, and trials. In addition to these general things, they look one another in the eye as they ask and answer no less than seven specific questions:
a. Have you been with a woman this week in such a way that was inappropriate or could have looked to others that you were using poor judgment?
b. Have you been completely above reproach in al your financial dealings this week?
c. Have you exposed yourself to any explicit material this week?
d. Have you spent time daily in prayer and in the Scriptures this week?
e. Have you fulfilled the mandate of your calling this week?
f. Have you taken time off to be with your family this week?
g. Have you just lied to me?
Imagine what would have happened if Kobe Bryant had such an accountability group. Imagine if you and I had such a group ourselves.
The Bible teaches: 9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
We need people we can be held accountable with, who can ask the tough questions and help us when we have fallen into temptation.
The best way to deal with temptations is to…
5. Avoid tempting situations
How true this Proverbs turns out to be, 16The wise watch their steps and avoid evil;
fools are headstrong and reckless. (Proverbs 14:16)
Some people seem to have an inclination to rush in where angels fear to tread. What is interesting in Kobe’s case, according to some reports, the team did not know he was in Colorado for knee surgery. He went without his wife, and ended up having sex with a 19 year old desk employee at the lodge where he was staying. He acknowledges they had sex, he says it was not rape.
James Dobson said, “The grass on the other side is often not greener and often not even edible.”
In the movie the gambler, Kenny Rogers sings, you have to know when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away and when to run. That not only applies to cards, it applies to life. When it comes to tempting situations, it is not time to walk away, it is time to run.
If you are a Christian, this final point applies to you. If you have not yet accepted Jesus, you can make this passage a reality in your life today by asking Jesus to be the CEO of your life, admitting you have done wrong, the Bible calls that sin, and asking God to forgive you of your sin, accepting the price Jesus paid as your price, accepting Jesus as Lord of your life.
As Christians, we need to
6. Hold to God’s Word
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13, 13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
God is not out trying to find ways to cause you to sin. Through His word, He warns us of the danger, and provides a way of escape when temptation is present. He takes no delight in our downfall, He seeks to rejoice in our success. If you don’t believe that, you don’t know God.
We all fail a time or two in life, sometimes blindsided, at other times, walking in with eyes wide open. In that season of temptation which runs from birth throughout life, if we key in on these 6 things, we will be less likely to give in, less likely to be on the national news, more likely to be strong in the Lord and in His might.
Like anything in life, it is a choice. And because you have a free will, you decide the choice. So, how will you choose to live?
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