Someone once asked my thoughts about the idea that a Christian ministering among the needy in the inner city is safer from sexual temptation than someone else ministering to those who live in the more affluent suburbs. The idea seemed to be that God is more pleased by (or does greater work through) those who devote themselves to working in the inner city than those who serve in the suburbs. You may disagree with his premise, but my point to him was if he’s right, then that actually means that Satan has more reason to derail inner-city workers!
Since Satan and demons are finite beings and can only expend limited time and energy in tempting people, then it stands to reason that their higher priority would be to take down someone in the inner city who is doing a work close to God’s heart. (Of course, I absolutely know that ministry to those in the suburbs is also an important part of God’s plan, but I’m just following the questioner’s logic.)
Our Enemy Is on the Prowl
Pride, power, money, and sex are Satan’s major temptation tools, and pride and power often are underneath the temptation to money and sex. The inner-city worker will still be tempted by money, but even if he or she is freer of it than someone ministering in the suburbs (and that’s not necessarily so), consider the issue of sexual temptation. People are still people, and the city is as full of sex as the suburbs—arguably, fuller of sex (at least the open and blatant on-the-streets and in-your-face stuff). And if Satan especially hates what the inner-city Christian is doing, shouldn’t we expect him to bombard that believer with more sexual temptation to destroy God’s work?
Our enemy the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour, and the landscape is littered with people he has destroyed. Obviously, he can do more damage to God’s kingdom by taking on Christians (once set on a path of destruction, drug addicts don’t need as much attention from him), more damage still by taking on Christians of influence and notoriety, and the most damage of all by taking down Christians who are doing strategic work that is close to God’s heart. I believe that’s exactly what Satan and demons do (I developed some of that in my novels Lord Foulgrin’s Letters and The Ishbane Conspiracy). And they will use all weapons at their disposal...including and often especially sexual temptation.
Consider what 1 Peter 5:5-9 says:
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Beware of Pride
Pride is a problem for all of us, but there is an obvious pride in a Christian believing their sexual vulnerability is less because they are “doing God’s work.” (On the contrary, as I’ve argued in my booklet Sexual Temptation, such a Christian will probably be more vulnerable—but certainly at the very least the same, not less.) This applies to believers in every position of ministry and leadership.
For example, if we think we are not vulnerable to being robbed, pretty soon we will leave the car unlocked, and cash laying on the passenger’s seat...greatly increasing our chances of being robbed precisely because we thought we wouldn’t be. This is part of God opposing the proud: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
For a believer to think they have a better chance of standing because of where they minister is a pride issue that makes them more sexually vulnerable. That person, whether a man or woman, needs—as we all do—to humble themselves, not lift themselves up. If they lift themselves up, God will take them down. (Same for all of us.) But if they humble themselves, God will lift them up. Part of humbling themselves is realizing their wrong thinking in this area: “Because I’m this spiritual believer doing God’s work in the inner-city, I’m less vulnerable to sexual temptations that derail my less spiritual brethren out serving in the suburbs with the Fat Cats.” If they don’t humble themselves, they turn the job over to God...who will humble them by allowing them to fall.
Peter says, “Be self-controlled and alert.” A critical part of alertness is recognizing the full extent of the danger that confronts us. A fall is preceded by a lack of alertness to danger and a failure to take the necessary steps to escape danger.
We All Face Temptation
Peter reminds us that our “brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” In context, those sufferings are the attempts of Satan, the roaring lion, to devour them. So the sufferings are primarily all that Satan is behind, which includes both persecution and temptation. This is a good reminder: everyone is experiencing temptation.
A man imprisoned and about to be martyred for his faith can experience sexual temptation. A woman could be in a jail cell with him, and he could fall into adultery. He could struggle with his thought life. He may be the godliest man, in circumstances of adversity and service that make our ministry pale in comparison. But precisely because His service for Christ is so strong and strategic, Satan will use everything at his disposal to bring that man down. In prison, there may not be much money or material things to tempt him. But sex will still be one of the most readily available temptations.
That’s true of all of us, including “brothers throughout the world.” It doesn’t matter where you are and what you’re doing. We still have to be humbly alert in this area, or Satan the roaring lion will take us down, and God will humble us.
God Is Faithful to Help Us
The good news is that God promises in 1 Corinthians 10:13 to always provide a way out. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.”
We do not have to succumb to temptation. Now, will we ever give into it? Yes, but in no case do we have to. It is not out of our hands. And it’s not God’s fault or because His grace is lacking. We can call upon the Lord for help and call a friend to talk us down from sin. If that seems like a crutch, so be it. Damaged people sometimes need a crutch to walk.
By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we wake up and yield ourselves to Him and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves, our families, our churches, and those God has entrusted to our care.
God, I pray you will convict us, your children, where we are walking in pride. Help us to instead walk in humility as we serve you. Empower us to follow you wholeheartedly and to take seriously what your Word reveals about our responsibility to live righteously by the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask this in the name of Jesus, King of Kings.
