Mark Twain once said, “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.” Christians who’ve read the Bible’s first book know this true for it tells of two humans who ate fruit from a tree they were told by God not to touch. Humans naturally want what they cannot, or perhaps more to the point, should not have.
But Tim Chaddick, founding pastor of Reality LA and author of “The Truth About Lies: The Unlikely Role of Temptation in Who You Will Become,” says that many Christians have gotten temptation wrong. They have often trivialized it, failed to speak about its potentially positive results, and have overemphasized some temptations while ignoring others. Here we discuss how he thinks Christians can reclaim a biblical view of life’s forbidden fruits.
RNS: You suggest that temptation has been trivialized in popular culture, as well as the church. I’ll buy the first realm, but I’ve been in plenty of churches, and almost all talk openly and often about temptation. What am I missing?
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