In case you didn’t know or hadn’t thought about it, it is quite arduous to become a pastor. And this is a good thing! I think we’d all be glad to know we’re a part of a larger church body who heavily scrutinizes everyone who has the questionable ambition of becoming anyone’s spiritual leader. The simple hutzpah of wanting to become a pastor or a spiritual leader of any kind should give us all pause about someone’s suitability for the job, just sayin’.

Anyone who takes on the role of pastor, priest, imam, rabbi, guru, life coach, or counselor can be of tremendous help and support, ideally. Or they can do immense damage because these roles have to do with the care of our souls and our tender inner cores. We don’t want folks with unhealthy agendas mucking around in our souls, to say the least. No one is perfect, but some discretion is advised here.

To become a pastor in the ELCA, there are multiple panel interviews, psychological testing, seminary training with more panel interviews, and seemingly unending number of essays future pastors have to write about themselves. There’s A LOT of kicking of the proverbial tires before someone becomes a pastor in denominations like ours because there should be. I got tired of all the process, but I understand the necessity and give thanks for it.

As long as the process felt to me to become a pastor, the process thankfully did not involve going out into the desert without provision for 40 days while being tempted by the devil. This time in the desert does seem to be a really intense vetting process, however. Afterall, Jesus goes into the desert before his teaching and ministry begins where he is tested. He is given opportunities to falter and to stray from God’s will before he truly starts his work. If you’re God and you send Jesus as your Son to be the Messiah with the power to heal and redeem, while not consolidating power, it would probably be best to know for certain that he’s not going to fall into some confusion about following your holy will, particularly when he’s pushed to the edge of death. Because he’s going to be pushed to the edge of death and beyond.

We all need to know that Jesus is trustworthy, that he passed through his “interview” with the devil with God and the angels as his witness. We need to know that, as our teacher, healer, and redeemer, he’s not falling into the same traps we all tend to fall into ourselves.

So, what are these traps? Jesus is tempted only three times in ways that are distinct, but these three ways perhaps encapsulate or broadly describe the many ways we can miss the mark.

If Jesus could turn down the temptation of turning of the stones into bread after 40 days of fasting, I’m pretty sure he’d be able to turn down all the ways he could prioritize his physical self over his relationship with God. There are lots of ways we might choose our physical bodies over God or over loving of our neighbor. Now, physical safety is a great thing, but we can use safety as an excuse for not caring for our neighbors. For example, it is quite common for folks to be afraid of people living on the street and this fear may give us all the excuse we need to avoid caring for our homeless or destitute neighbors.

The second temptation is the temptation of having the angels save Jesus from even stubbing his toe. Perhaps this temptation is about the ways we want to avoid inconveniences, consequences, or any of life’s difficulties.

Afterall, we want our lives to be ones of satisfaction and comfort. Of course we do! Comfort and convenience are amazing things. I mean, I love having a washing machine that works. I love living on a quiet street. I love lots of things about how easy our lives are. But Jesus refuses to use his status or identity to remove himself from the hardships of life. He came to journey with us, to be in the most difficult realities with the poorest, sickest, and most despised people in this society. That was his goal, so of course he didn’t ask to avoid the miseries of life. Jesus goes into the pain and suffering while we, for the most part, are all looking for a way out.

Jesus’ third temptation is perhaps the most straightforward one to understand and this is how we covet political, social, and economic power. We watch our movie stars, YouTube influencers, or whoever we hold up in esteem and we want a little bit of that glory for ourselves. Or we watch our world governments, including ours, jostle for position, threaten war, commit crimes against humanity, all for the sake of winning the high-stakes game of power politics and wealth. And we may find ourselves agreeing that this is the way the world is and so this is what must be done. It is too easy to forget or discount the reality of human suffering that explodes into the world with each drone strike or bomb or sanction. Indeed, domination can seem more necessary than even just empathizing with those who suffer at the receiving end of our many forms of violence. The temptation of chasing worldly “glory” can also be tiny, subtle, and personal or it can be on the world stage with hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.  

Temptations abound in our world and humans seem endlessly creative about the ways in which we sin and turn away from the path of Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus passed his vetting process to become Messiah just fine. But those of us who are on this path with Jesus and who are called to be the body of Christ in the world today, how are we doing? Something to ponder.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never given anything up for Lent. If anything, I’ve aspired to add practices to my life instead of taking things away, like adding a prayer practice or additional giving, etc. But this year, I decided to give something up, not as a sacrifice, but giving up indulging in a temptation that takes me away from God and is just bad for me. I’m giving up unnecessary screen time after 5pm, which includes for me ingesting news on YouTube, doomscrolling on Facebook, crossword puzzles, or obsessively peeking at email. I can work. I can call people. I can do what’s good in my life, even as I give up unhealthy uses of my attention.

This is a small, unheroic thing to give up that is ultimately for my benefit. But perhaps that’s what God wants; for us to be unheroic in doing what is good for ourselves and each other and to know that this is enough.

Thankfully as Christians, we don’t have panel interviews and required essays asking us to describe our spiritual lives in minute detail. And, thanks be to God, we don’t need to starve for 40 days with the devil tempting us. However, Lent is a time to ask ourselves some questions. To wonder. To notice. And look for those opportunities to follow Jesus one step closer. That perhaps might mean giving something up or adding a practice in. The temptations of Jesus are our temptations and Jesus’ answers can be our answers with the help of God, prayer, practice, awareness, and the love and support of our community. May this Lent be a blessed time of growth for all our spiritual walks with Jesus.

AMEN