Why do bad things happen to good people? And why do good things happen to bad people? And when such things occur, are they signs that I’ve been a fool to follow the virtuous path???
Temptation in the life of faith has to do with far more than just the momentary impulses to break the rules. While such moments come, and must indeed be resolved, the far bigger struggle is facing the road not taken, the path we abandon when we commit ourselves to the Jesus way of love.
To place love and faith and righteousness at the center of one’s life is to actively choose a difficult road, and one the world does not always reward (and almost never on the short term) – a choice (to follow the Jesus Way) that becomes all the more challenging when those on the “other path” appear to prosper.
In this episode we confront the truth that vice often pays better than virtue (or at least seems to). In a broken world, some cheaters do prosper – not only with wealth and luxury and power, but with reputation and accolade (how many times did Enron make the cover of business magazines?). And we are tempted by what we see! Who wouldn’t be? And yet, we somewhere deep within our soul we know that love is the name of the game and we must tarry on the path that Jesus walks.
How will we make peace with the difficulty of the narrow road of love when the rewards of this age feel so close at hand? Short answer: By acknowledging the temptation to ourselves and to God and leaning more fully into our relationship with Christ (vs. leaning merely into our theology!).
I hope it’s of help…
