The First Temptation

We live in a culture that tells us to "look after number one". One implication of this is that to look after "number one" -ourselves- then "number one" must have as full a control as possible of "number one's" life. And our whole post-modern culture largely tries to facilitate this. Banks offer packages that claim to give us a fuller control of our own finances. Health food advertisements tell us that 'sin' is no more than adding fat to our own hips and 'guilt' is the feeling that we have for committing this 'sin' against ourselves. The economic motive of businesses is to get as much as possible for as little expense as possible. New Age gurus persuade us that to attain happiness we can be in control of our own destiny, and to that end we can be our own god. The basic message that we are being given is that the most important person in this whole world is ourselves. And to ensure our own happiness, we must be in control of our own lives. We are told that we should be the centre of our own lives!

And yet this is not a new thing. At the beginning of the world, the same dream of total control was also offered to Eve by the Father of Lies (Genesis 3:4). Think about what the devil was saying. 'If you eat that fruit, you're going to know everything that is good and everything that is evil, just like God. God knows this, and that's why he doesn't want you to eat it!'. In other words, you can be your own god! The first temptation of humankind was the temptation to be in control of our own destiny. Why? Because we are the most important person in the world. Forget about how God would feel if we were to disobey him and eat that fruit!

And this temptation remains today, even in the church. Often we are told that the things we do for God, we really do for our own good. If we serve him and please him, we will be blessed. If we give our offerings and tithes, we will never lack anything. If we do good things for God and the church, good things will come to us. The truth is, most of the time our motivation to follow God is not so much because we love him as because we love ourselves too much to miss out on his blessings or to take his wrath. If we do this, we fail to follow the example of Jesus, who said that there is no greater love than that of someone who gives his life for his friends. Selfless, unconditional love. For what can you expect to get from someone after you die for them?

There is nothing wrong with being in control in our finances, or in making sure that we do not harm ourselves by eating too much, or to make a profit, or to search for happiness. In many cases, we have the responsibility to do so. But we cross the line when we make ourselves the centre of our lives in doing that. Most people don't make money out of advertising unconditional charity (just look at Lotteries). Granted, many of us give to charity, but we should always ask if our motivation is purely out of love for anyone but ourselves. Are we truly giving for the sake of others, or to get some kind -any kind- of reward out of it? We might not intend to be our own gods, but we should always ask ourselves: Have we fallen, as Adam and Eve did, to the first temptation in any way? Deep down, are we only interested in looking after our own selves? And when we do look after others, do we do that just to look after "number one"?