When I was a youth, a preacher at
a revival in Bowling Green said that it’s not a sin to be tempted, but to give
in to temptation is sin. How awesomely
important and profound are these words!
We have been recently made aware of a coach at Penn State accused of
sexual child abuse. Would he be
disgraced today if he had the words of that visiting preacher to guide
him? The functioning of one’s autonomic
nervous system should not be mistaken as a guide to ethical behavior. The sources of autonomic reactions are in
sexual matters deep seated and somewhat mysterious. We don’t know the full panoply of causes why
certain reactions are elicited. What we
do know is that it cannot be God’s will—who guides us to consider the best
interest of others—to abuse children. This
distinction between temptation and sin applies equally to a broad swath of
life. The opportunity and possibility of
action for short-sighted personal advantage (the temptation) is simply not a
reliable guide to ethical behavior.
There must be an explicit disconnect between temptation and
behavior. To not have this insight dooms
one to profoundly unethical, antisocial behavior. It’s worth reiterating the words of the
preacher “It’s not a sin to be tempted, but to give in to temptation is sin.”
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