Escape Hatches

Read 1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1

1. I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.
2. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.
3. All of them ate the same spiritual food,
4. and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.
5. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6. These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,
7. or worship idols as some of them did. . . .
12. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
13. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. 1 Corinthians 10:1-7, 12-13

Harry Houdini will always be remembered as a master of escape. No matter what the contraption, he could free himself. Chains, locks, straitjackets, boxes, jails, and trunks could not hold Houdini. It seemed he always managed to find a way out.

When it comes to temptation, God wants us to be like Houdini. That’s the clear teaching in this section of 1 Corinthians. God wants us to escape temptation’s chains, trunks, and straitjackets, but he does not expect us to do this alone. In fact, he has given us an advantage even Houdini did not have—the Holy Spirit showing the way to escape temptation’s grasp.

Paul also teaches in this section that we need to be Houdini-like with these other issues as well: false guilt; useless restrictions; silly rules; vain legalism; and the special temptation of religious pride.

Corinthian society was much like ours today. Immorality was everywhere, and the pressure on Christians to participate in it was tremendous. For believers surrounded and plagued by all this temptation, Paul offered these words of hope: There’s always a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).

At times we may feel that temptation is overpowering or impossible to resist, but God never lets that happen. Wrong desires and temptations happen to everyone all the time. In every case, God provides a way out.

There are five steps you can take to avoid unnecessary temptations: (1) learn to recognize tempting circumstances; (2) stay away from every activity you know is wrong; (3) consciously choose to do only what is right; (4) ask God to help you; and (5) ask friends who love God to hold you accountable. Most importantly, whenever you are tempted, take the way out that God provides. Do not think that you have no choice. There’s always a way out.