Avoiding the Near Occasion of Sin

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Fighting Temptation

We’ve been talking about fighting temptation, which essentially means reforming our feelings through right behavior and a disciplined imagination. Now one of the key ways of overcoming temptation both behaviorally and imaginatively is to avoid near occasion of sin. But what, exactly, does that mean?

One of the most violent and disturbing things Jesus said in the Gospels is about getting rid of whatever causes you to sin. He says that if your hand causes you to sin, you should cut it off. And if your eye causes you to sin, you should pluck it out. After all, He says, graphically – it’s better to get into heaven missing a body part then have the whole of you get tossed down into the fires of Hell.

Essentially, you may have to cut certain things out of your life – certain things that aren’t bad in themselves, but which, for us, are near occasions of sin.

We have to cut those situations out – and it’s going to be really hard. It might even feel a bit like an amputation. But it’s worth it.

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Situations and Sin

Our sins, our temptations, and our vices, are nearly always linked to particular situations.

Take, for instance, the use of foul language. Almost none of us would erupt into loud, uncontrolled vulgarity in the middle of Mass, or during an important business meeting. But plenty of us do struggle with vulgarity while we’re driving.

Sinful behavior and addiction is largely environmental. If you put folks in a certain environment, they’re almost certain to give in to their temptation. But if you remove them from that environment, the intensity of their temptations – and their likelihood of giving into it – goes way down.

This is just what classic Catholic moral advice has always said: avoid near occasions of sin. The eye we need to pluck out, the hand we need to cut off, is the environment, the situation, in which we are prone to succumb to our particular vices.

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So what is your vice – when does it usually occur?

When it comes to our deep vices and addictions, willpower isn’t primarily about resisting temptation when the storm hits.

By the time the temptation hits, we’re usually too far gone to resist. Willpower is about strategizing in advance – it’s about identifying the situations in which we’re tempted and avoiding them. Jesus doesn’t say, “If your eye causes you to sin, just resist the temptation next time.” He says pluck out your eye – cut out the occasion of temptation.

For example, if you occasionally – or regularly – watch pornography, delete apps that are a temptation or disable Safari on your iPhone. You still have access to phone, email, text, maps…but you remove access to porn.

Is your computer your problem – only use it with your door open and the screen facing the door so others can see you. Is lust a problem for you at the Gym? Well, go to a different gym or lift at home and run or walk in nature. Change your environment and temptation will diminish.

Above all else, always ask yourself, do I really need these things more than I need salvation from sin?

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What are the temptations you struggle with

Do you occasionally – or regularly – engage in gossip – tearing down others? Then ask yourself who do you gossip the most with. Do you actually need to talk with that person? Really?

The early saints used to say that gossip is the spiritual equivalent of cannibalism, eating the flesh of your brother or sister. So do you really need to keep hanging out with that person, even though you know it means you’ll keep ripping the flesh off your neighbors, like two vultures tearing up a roadkill?

Maybe it would be better that you enter Heaven separately, instead of both being cast, along with your vicious words, into Gehenna together?

Do you use the anonymity of a screen to justify gossip? Social media is often the greatest temptation for gossip, but most people don’t realize that tearing down others, even strangers, online is the sin of gossip.

Do you engage in masturbation, or eating to deal with anxiety or boredom, or do you fly off the handle with anger and the appetite for control? Then ask yourself what are the situations that lend to these sins? How can you change the situation so that you are less likely to give into the temptation?

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The whole Catholic approach to temptation – to disordered vices – is to do whatever it takes not only to resist them, but to make yourself less likely to be tempted in the first place.

That means avoiding the near occasion of sin – the situations that usually result in our sin.

Remember what we’ve meditated upon today - Will power isn’t primarily about resisting temptation when the storm hits. Willpower is about strategizing in advance – it’s about identifying the situations in which we’re tempted to sin and then avoiding them.

Jesus doesn’t say, “If your eye causes you to sin, just resist the temptation next time.” He says pluck out your eye – cut out the occasion of temptation.

So what do you need to cut out of your life to avoid temptation?