Titus 2:1-5
This past week I asked the preaching team if I should gather a focus group to discuss the temptations seniors face as I had done for the sermons on temptations of children and teenagers. Someone asked, "Why? Just look in the mirror and preach from experience!"
I was going to fire the person who said that, but the next day but I couldn't remember who it was! Today's sermon is the first in this series ("Fatal Temptations") where I can speak from experience.
Even though I'm not yet sixty years old, I think I officially entered into "geezerhood" about three weeks ago. I was flying somewhere to speak and the flight attendant gave everyone a mint. As I sucked on the mint I dozed off. Just a minute or so later I awakened and felt moisture on my lower lip. I thought, "Wow! I'm glad I woke up; I was almost drooling! That would be embarrassing." Then I looked down and saw a huge wet spot on my tie. I had been drooling all over myself! I now feel very qualified to speak about seniors.
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The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus: "Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled and sound in faith, in love and endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good" (Titus 2:1-4).
Notice, according to the Bible, different age groups face different kinds of temptations. Satan is relentless in his attack against us. You may have been a faithful Christian for years, but he still tries to entice you into sin to embarrass you and negate your influence. The temptations in the older years are not usually the gross sins of the flesh but the more subtle sins of the spirit. We have to stay alert to Satan's lures because his ultimate goal is to kill, steal, and destroy at every stage of life.
Even though I didn't need a focus group to determine the primary temptations of seniors, I did visit three older classes last week and ask them to help list what they considered their most difficult temptations. Today I'm going to share the top five temptations that older people face as voted on by about 200 of our senior adults. Admittedly, this is not an expert poll. We can be blind to our own faults or too embarrassed to admit our areas of vulnerability. But the results of this poll were almost as I anticipated (although there were one or two surprises for me).
The fifth most common temptation that seniors wrestle with is Spiritual Retirement. I would have put this up near the top, but the people I asked listed it down at number five. Please remember these were seniors who are active in a Bible study class. I think spiritual retirement is a big problem. By spiritual retirement, I mean the temptation to back off from church involvement and spiritual responsibilities when we get retirement age.