By John Lane
I have heard the same sermon preached dozens of times. It sounds so believable, yet it’s not true. The sermon centers around sexual temptation and Joseph.
The story in Genesis 39 is well known. After being sold into slavery, Joseph finds himself working for Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Potiphar’s wife finds Joseph appealing and makes sexual advances. She becomes insistent to the point of compelling and Joseph flees the scene, leaving her holding his cloak.
Preachers cannot help but draw the conclusion: if you are to overcome sexual temptation, flee from it. Just run! How simple. How concise. We even seem to have the Apostle Paul backing up this strategy 1 Corinthians 6:18 where he writes, “Flee from sexual immorality.”
But in reality it isn’t that simple and it doesn’t work. Flight may work for a singular moment of temptation, but the old adage is true: You can run, but you can’t hide.
We fail to grasp the greater words of Jesus concerning sexual sin: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft and slander” (Matthew 15:19). If desire comes from my heart, how do I flee myself? When I run away, I am still around.
Joseph didn’t remain pure because he ran away. He ran away because he had practiced purity in his heart and mind before the temptation. His response to temptation revealed his practiced commitment to purity. “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)
The reason many are losing the battle against sexual sin is not because we aren’t running away, it’s because our minds aren’t transformed by a practiced commitment to purity before-hand. What fuels our flight from sexual sin? The pre-transformation of ourselves.
John Lane originally hails from Flint, Mich., and the East Michigan Conference. After a move to Wabash Conference in 1997, he pastored Wesley FMC in Anderson, Ind., for 10 years and now pastors the Bedford FMC in southern Indiana.
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