It’s amazing how quickly we turn to justify ourselves in sin. Our consciences become hardened quicker than we realize and we find ourselves pushing boundaries rather than asking how to best live a life above reproach.

We find ourselves asking how deeply we can saturate ourselves in sin before we actually stumble. What television can I watch before I find it influencing me? What music, what company can I keep, what situations can I put myself in; after all, I just went to the party to evangelize!

Notice how Scripture takes stands where we do not. Proverbs 1:10 argues, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” Well of course, we think, who wants to give in to sin? Apparently, by the ways we live, we want sin much more than we’re willing to admit. How then can we live this standards of simply not giving in to sin?

One interesting thing to note is the many ways in which the Church has adopted the fallen world’s ways of thinking. Traditional thought tells us to look for our “fight or flight” instinct. It will tell us whether we ought to stay and fight or flee the situation. Many Christians have adopted this approach to the great detriment of their holiness. This approach assumes that there is a level of sin which we can withstand, that we may allow to remain in our presence.

Scripture, however, seems to argue that the answer is not “fight or flight” but “fight through or by flight.” In other words, “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), “flee idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14), flee worldly passions (1 Timothy 6:11), and “flee youthful passions” (2 Timothy 2:22). Flee, get up, get out, get away! We’ve come to believe that flight is cowardice when we ought to understand it as one of our most effective weapons in the battle against sin.

But, some might be thinking, “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7), “Brent, you’ve got it all wrong, I must stand and fight sin.” While this is certainly true, I think that we’ve misapplied it. We seem to take this as immersing ourselves in sinful situations and seeing just how much we can tolerate. Instead, I think we must exercise a life of perseverance, which is aided by the discernment to know when and the courage to flee sin.

Our adoption of the “fight or flight” mentality sets us up for failure because we somehow have come to view fleeing as “less valiant” than fighting. However, the way we’ve come to think of fighting sin, as I’ve alluded to is to simply see how much temptation we can surround ourselves with before we either fall or finally flee. The fight or flight mentality also carries with it the presumption that there will be times when we fail. We cannot allow submission to sin as a regular option in our lives. Fleeing removes such concerns as it removes us from the temptation.

Part of the underlying problem is that we’ve come to apply the idea of the “victorious Christian life” wrongly. Instead of believing that part of the way God demonstrates His faithfulfulness is by always providing a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), we think that He is obligated to see us through self-appointed temptations.

It takes strength to flee because it means a recognition of weakness. Think of how quickly we forget the very words we teach our children, “We are weak but He is strong.” In the pursuit of the mortification of sin in our lives, we must master the art of flight as a means of fight.