A MAN SHOULD GO WHERE HE WON’T BE TEMPTED

     This bit of advice is found in the mouth of Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s drama A Man For All Seasons; it is addressed to a hanger-on named Richard Rich.

     Rich wants to be wealthy and important in others’ eyes. He certainly doesn’t want a job; he wants a position. And it turns out that he is willing to sell himself, to do whatever it might take, to continue “climbing the ladder” (for of course once one begins on this path the power of avarice convinces that person there must be something better, more prestigious, more lucrative).

More knows this about Rich all too well, but in a gesture of friendship he obtains something for him: with a house, a servant, and £40 a year—but “at the new school.” “A teacher?” Rich complains. More continues: “Why not be a teacher? You’d be a good teacher; perhaps even a great one.” “And if I were, who would know it?” Rich objects. There’s not enough accolade or glory to suit him. And so More observes: “A man should go where he won’t be tempted.” The rest of the play is the working out of Rich’s rejection of this advice, becoming “successful,” but by means of selling his soul—“for Wales”…

Where might you or I go where we “won’t be tempted”? Is there really such a place? Some of the greatest saints were dogged for their lifetimes with temptations and spiritual attacks. A list of those names would include St Anthony of the Desert, St Francis of Assisi, St Ignatius Loyola, St Padre Pio, St Mother Teresa… They all knew, in their various paths of holiness, the challenges thrown at them: to settle down, not get so “fanatical,” to ease up: in short, to compromise.

And so Jesus Himself was tempted. In today’s Gospel Mark only mentions the fact; in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels there is the famous description—to satisfy self, to seek the easy way, to embrace power. And all these “means” are (in theory) vehicles to the “end” of success as a Messiah. But again: at what cost? God forgive me, but at root it’s the difference between the Way of the Cross and the “gospel of prosperity.”

St Paul reminds us of this, in my slight paraphrase of Romans 5:3-5. There he tells us that affliction (temptation) makes for endurance; that endurance forms proven character, which leads us to hope “that does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” We know we are weak (see Romans 7:15ff!), but we also know in which army we fight, on which team we play: “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57).

There is nowhere we can go where we won’t be tempted. We can’t guarantee we won’t sometimes cave in to temptations. But we can be certain that our perseverance in Christ will lead us through the temptations. We can stand strong in the One who makes us stand.                     -Fr. David