Invitational Temptation
When we know what we ought to do and then don’t do it, what happens to us? I think the answer goes back to the garden of Eden. Before sin, there was temptation. In the garden of Eden both Adam and Eve were tempted to exchange the possibility of death for the immediacy of fruit. We are tempted to ignore the prompting of the invisible but omni-present God, for the risk of offending our visible friends and relatives. Temptation is part of the human problem. A famous Greek whose name was Ulysses was noted as a heroic seaman. In one of the seas where Ulysses sailed was an island known as the Isle of the Sirens. The sirens would attract sailors to their shores by beautiful music. But when the sailors drew near the land they would irresistibly cast themselves into the sea, to their destruction. Now Ulysses wanted to hear the maidens sing, but he did not want to come within their power. So this is the way he managed it. One day he put wax in the ears of all his sailors, so that they could not hear the music, and then had himself strapped to the mast. Then he ordered the sailors to row near enough to the island for him to hear the music. In this way he heard the singing, but did not get caught. When we are tempted not to invite someone how do we tie ourselves to the mast, or put wax in our ears to resist the temptation of not inviting someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church?