Recently, my daughter’s school, where she attends half-day preschool, had an emergency evacuation of the building. Administration had smelled something alarming, and in an abundance of caution, the school evacuated all PreK-8 students to the parish church down the hill. All parents and teachers received a multitude of emails and text updates over the hour in which emergency crews inspected the building and updated us all on the status of the students and the safety of the building. After the crews had determined that there was no danger, the students made the trek back up the hill to resume their studies.
The school had acted with an abundance of caution, and as a parent who loves his 4-year-old daughter, I am grateful for the care they showed. However as a former teacher, I can imagine there were some disgruntled educators who may have been displeased with the interruption to their schedule for something as simple as a smell. As a former student, I can only imagine the joy it brought them to miss academic time, especially those whose prayers may have been answered about delaying a test.
I believe this whole event can be a simple analogy for sin and temptation. Sin is dangerous to the soul. It separates us from the love of God and is unhealthy for our soul in the sense that we have a deep seated unrest the more we sin (without repentance). While sin is the actual act of commission or omission, temptations are desires, feelings, or rationalizations that draw us closer to committing a sin. Thus, temptations are to be avoided and/or fought with the utmost urgency because there is no greater priority than our relationship with God.
The school decided to take the safe route. There was one sniff of danger, and they decided it was better to be safe than sorry, especially in a world where the retrospect scrutiny of catastrophes is unforgiving. In our sin, many times we are called to take the same approach. We are called not only to hate the sin, but also the temptation of the sin and clear out as soon as possible. The alcoholic should not make a habit of hanging out in bars. The husband or wife should not enjoy or seek out the seemingly harmless flirtatious behavior of other friends or coworkers. The gossip who struggles with pride and judgement should not spend hours on social media. If we smell danger in regards to sin, especially if we are very vulnerable to our sin, we must use an abundance of caution and evacuate the situation.
Yet in the world that we live in, if we ran from every moment we were confronted with sin and temptation, we would have to run from the world completely. This is certainly not our calling. We are to live in the world even if we are not to be of the world. Sometimes we are called to endure the smell in the school for the sake of academic advancement. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we are not always called to run from temptation, but to fight through it so that we can lead others from temptation as well. We can do this through having a plan of attack like reciting a scripture verse or asking the intercession of the saints. Hebrews tells us, You have not struggled against your sin so much as to shed blood. Yet, Jesus fought against our sin to the point of pouring out all of His Blood for us, and became the model Whom we draw upon for strength in temptation. He teaches us that total abandonment of the will to the Father is key in our struggle against sin, and that our fight through temptation bears fruit not only for ourselves, but also those around us.
The life of the Christian is finding the balance between the two reactions to temptation (fleeing or fighting). True wisdom is found in knowing when to show an abundance of caution or when to stand firm in the face of temptation for ourselves and others. This can only be accomplished when we know ourselves and our weaknesses. It is also important to remember that our relationship with Jesus is about mercy, and that if we fail (as long as we are not presumptuous) we can be forgiven. But we also must move forward with the intention of doing whatever possible (even to the point of shedding blood) to not sin again. Whether we choose to evacuate the school because of the smell, or stick it out to save academic time, all actions are to be geared to the love of God and others. And if we truly act in this way, we conquer temptation and sin with Jesus.
