Introduction

Hello church! Today we are going to see that overcoming temptation is possible in our lives. I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel my hardwiring is a little messed up. Did God make me this way on purpose? Because I struggle. I worry. I try to change and get better and sometimes I get so frustrated at my lack of progress. Sometimes I wonder, what is wrong with me?

Do you ever feel that way, too? Or am I the only one?

Let’s remember something important: “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). If you’re like me and sometimes you feel a little messed up, God does not condemn you. He actually came to save you! He sees your mess and it doesn’t scare Him. He understands, and he enters into our lives to save us, not condemn us. That’s an important reminder.

There’s a word I want to introduce today that describes our potentially messed up, internal hardwiring. The word is called “habitus.” That’s the word. Habitus. It sounds a lot like “habits” but it’s not the same thing, even though they’re related. Habits are what we do, our habitus is who we are. It comes from a French sociologist named Pierre Bourdieu. Basically it means our internal, habitual, reflexive behavior. When we automatically react to something, we are acting out of our habitus. Our habitus is the combination of our beliefs, our understanding, our personality, and our habits — everything. It’s the core of who we are and why we do what we do.

To be blunt, our habitus can be good or bad. It can be courageous or it can be fearful. It can be selfish or it can be generous. It can be sinister or it can be Christlike. It will choose to love or it will choose to hate. It all depends on what we believe and how we put into action what we believe over a long period of time.

Alan Kreider writes about the early church:

The early Christians rarely grew in number because they won arguments; instead they grew because their habitual behavior was distinctive and intriguing. Their habitus enabled them to address the common and terrible problems that ordinary people faced in ways that offered hope. When challenged about their ideas, Christians pointed to their actions. They believed that their habitus, their embodied behavior, was eloquent. Their behavior said what they believed. And the sources indicate that it was their habitus more than their ideas that appealed to the majority of the non-Christians who came to join them.

The early church was full of people whose internal core had been completely rewired into something hopeful, optimistic, patient, and joyful. They lived, loved, and reacted differently, “in ways that offered hope,” to the terrible problems life brings all of us. They lived with incredible love and self-control that non-Christians were strongly attracted to.

I wonder: is my habitual behavior “distinctive and intriguing?” Do I “face common and terrible problems in ways that offer hope?” Are my actions reflective of what I believe?

What about you? How would you answer those questions?

God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world but to save the world through him

Main Teaching

Today we’re going to look at a passage of scripture that demonstrates Jesus’ habitus. This passage is called the testing of Jesus because after Jesus fasted 40 days he was tested by the devil. The way Jesus responds gives us a good look at his habitus.

Read Matthew 4:1-11

Some Observations

So let’s start by making a few observations. Jesus had just finished 40 days of fasting and then was tempted by the devil. First, the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread; then the devil tempted him to throw himself off the temple; then the devil tempted Jesus to worship him and in return receive all the kingdoms of this world as his own.

A. Did you notice how the devil barked at Jesus? “Say this!” “Do this!” “Do that!” The devil is demanding, bossy, manipulative, and hurried. Jesus is never like that. If you ever feel God is speaking to you like that — in a demanding, bossy, manipulative, hurried way — realize that’s not your Father, it’s your accuser.

The devil talked to Jesus as if the devil was in charge. But notice this: the devil barked three commands at Jesus to no effect. None! Jesus spoke one command to the devil and the devil immediately obeyed!

Jesus has all authority over demonic powers, including the devil. And guess what? You have all of Jesus. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10).

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