Franciscan Fractal
Contemplating Today’s Culture through the Eyes of St. Francis & the Life of Christ
“The Sin of Performance”
Jesus answered him (the devil), “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him (Jesus) until an opportune time. Luke 4:12-13
The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is less of a commentary on Jesus than on what he was exposing in this world. Jesus entered the wilderness for 40 days, and during that time focused solely on God while fasting.
Hunger became the driving force for Jesus at the end of the 40 days. The devil appears and presents Jesus with an option to turn the stones in the wilderness into bread, so that Jesus might end his journey of starvation. Jesus responds by quoting Scripture, “One does not live by bread alone.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) The issue here might seem like the courage of Jesus and the devil’s failure to trick Jesus into listening to him. However, the real question may be one of performance. The devil simply wants Jesus to “perform” for him, since he knows that performance is a deadly trap for anyone that can lead to self-destruction.
When the tempter fails in his “bread-making” effort, he turns to showing Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world. Claiming that he can give the kingdoms to anyone, the devil speaks of the reality that the kingdoms of the world belong to him. (The tempter’s tools of graft and corruption know no better place to proliferate than in bureaucratic structures.) The devil states that he can give the kingdoms (along with their corruption) to anyone. All Jesus needs to do is to take his focus off of God, bow down, and all that the devil “owns” will then belong to Jesus. Jesus again is asked to “perform” for the devil. His response is, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” (Deuteronomy 6:13) Jesus refuses to perform on the tempter’s stage.
In one final attempt, the evil one moves his scythe closer to Jesus. The devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you.’” (Psalm 91:11) Jesus’ response is, “‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
Traditional interpretations of these temptations usually focus on Jesus being without sin. However, what is generally missed is that this story is focused more on how evil functions in this world than on the goodness of Jesus.
Evil is often hidden, frequently as a deception. The ploy that we all experience is a screen that evil places over our eyes and in our hearts. We get caught up in the trickery. Instead of depending totally on God for our life, we feel that there is something lacking in our being, as though we have a ‘hole” in our center. We live as though we are not worthy enough, not capable enough, and not deserving enough. Thus, in order to fill this “hole,” evil gives us the gift of “performance.”
Why depend on God when we can do it ourself? All we need to do is try a little harder, work a little longer, read a little more, save a little more, attend a little more church, and then we will get our “reward.” We forget that what we get is the “devil’s reward.” The “reward” is that we lose our life. It’s just what the tempter or evil wants for us, just as the devil wanted Jesus to lose his life when he tempted him.
As we begin Lent, we need to ask ourself if we, like Jesus, are being tempted by “performance.” Do we need to look “good” before others? Do we feel unhappy if we are not gaining more prestige, money, degrees, attention, and the like? If so, perhaps it is time to walk away from evil’s temptation of “performance.” Jesus did so by being one with God. That occurs by grace. God’s grace is the only love that can fill the “hole’ in our being. It requires that you and I do nothing, since everything comes from God without our effort or our performance.
Remember: Be still and know that I am God.
Prayers and Blessings,
Fr. John
