When you hear the phrase “high-profile Christian”, who comes to mind? For some of us, it’s somebody from the arena of athletics—Tim Tebow or legendary NFL coaches Tony Dungy or Joe Gibbs. Maybe it’s someone from the business world like Dan Cathy, former CEO of Chick-fil-a, or David Green of Hobby Lobby who’s been involved with the Museum of the Bible and many other faith-based initiatives over the years. Maybe it’s someone from the political realm like Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, or Mike Pence who are all very outspoken about their faith. Or perhaps someone from the worlds of music or entertainment—Chris Pratt, Tyler Perry, Denzel Washington, or Carrie Underwood.
When we think of the platform some of these people have, it’s perhaps easy to minimize or downplay the importance of our example. But the fact remains none of us is a “no profile Christian.” Someone is always watching, evaluating, and checking us out—even if it’s just the people immediately around us—our family, neighbors, or co-workers. And a key issue that’ll determine whether we handle that responsibility successfully or wilt under the pressure of such scrutiny boils down to how we answer a single question—Do you know who you are?
As I mentioned in previous posts, the story of Joseph in the Old Testament is perhaps one of the most gripping and mesmerizing accounts in all of the Bible. And when we come to Genesis 39—after being betrayed by his brothers and sold to traders who took him to Egypt where he was purchased by a man named Potiphar—Joseph’s future seems pretty bleak. In fact, only one thing that should give us any hope otherwise—it’s the first five words of v. 2: “The Lord was with Joseph …”.
We don't know when it happened, but at some point Joseph made a decision to trust God. He chose to dwell on God’s character rather than the pain of His injustice. He chose to continue to walk in faith even though it was difficult. He chose to believe God was at work in his life even when he didn't see what He was up to. He understood that in every situation we have a choice as to whether we’ll trust God or not, and Joseph chose to trust God in confidence He was doing something in his life, even though he had no idea what He was up to.
Genesis 39 is the story of Joseph’s battle with sexual temptation. Potiphar’s wife did all she could to seduce him, but Joseph was able to resist her advances. There are some basic rules and guidelines he used that enabled him to stand firm … rules and guidelines we’d be wise to apply when we find ourselves facing that inner urge to do wrong that appeals to us at a place of personal weakness. For that’s what temptation is—the inner urge to do wrong that appeals to us at a place of personal weakness. It’s not something we can blame on someone else … or attribute to our defective DNA … or lay at the door of our circumstances. Those things may factor into the equation and predispose us to respond in a certain way. But at the end of the day, when we succumb to temptation, it’s because we made the choice to do so. No one can make us sin—we do that on our own.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says …
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (NIV)
There is no better example of the legitimacy of this truth than Joseph in Genesis 39. And from this story five principles emerge that will help us in our personal struggle with temptation. Lets look at them:
Principle #1: When things are going well, be on guard!
Joseph was a slave of Potiphar—the captain of the Pharoah’s bodyguard … a position of honor and responsibility because it meant he was personally responsible for the Pharoah’s safety. And Joseph—this tall, good-looking young man who carried himself with a sense of self-confidence and poise, rose to a position of influence and authority in Potiphar’s household. Joseph and Potiphar were not father and son, but there was something about their relationship that seemed to transcend the culture that separated them. Potiphar liked him and, for his part, Joseph admired his master. Here’s how the Bible pictures it:
The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. (Genesis 39:2-4, NIV)
Potiphar was no dummy. He knew Joseph was uniquely gifted and highly talented … so much so he placed him in charge of his house and affairs. And notice what happens when Joseph takes over:
From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. (Genesis 39:5, NIV)
Potiphar, even though he wasn’t a God-fearing man, could see God’s blessing upon His young man. While he probably had no religious faith, or was the adherent to some pagan belief system, he could see God’s hand at work in Joseph’s life. As we all know, there’s no contradiction between God’s blessing and our temptations—in fact, in many ways we’re more likely to be tempted when things are going well. When we’re enjoying God’s blessings, we often become complacent. There’s a very clear lesson we can extract from this story: Today’s victories often become the seedbed of tomorrow’s trials. So when things are going your way and your dreams are starting to come true, watch out! Be careful! Take nothing for granted! Keep your eyes open! For that’s when Satan delights in striking us.
Principle #2: When you’re tempted, remember who you are.
At this point that a new character enters the story—Potiphar’s wife. But the picture you get, as things play out, is that her marriage to Potiphar was a false front. V. 7 lays out the situation clearly:
“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” (Genesis 39:7, NIV)
The Hebrew language has a very descriptive way of putting it. The words translated “took notice” in English are literally she “lifted up her eyes” at Joseph. As he crossed the room, she followed him with her eyes. He was young and handsome—the way her husband had been before too many fancy state dinners had spoiled his waistline. And the story tells us she was persistent, because she kept coming back at him again and again:
“Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” (Genesis 39:10, NIV).
Maybe she thought he didn’t really mean it when he said “No” … or that she could wear down his resistance … or that he wanted to say “Yes” but was afraid to do so. But Joseph, in spite of her repeated advances and innuendos, continued to say “No.”
Verses 8-9, give us some insight as to why he repeatedly resisted her advances.
But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “My master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9, NIV)
There were two loyalties in Joseph’s life that precluded him from responding to her persistent suggestions—his loyalty to his boss and his loyalty to God. He knew what she was suggesting was wrong on both fronts. Joseph knew he belonged to God and when you know—really know—that you belong to God, it makes the decisions in your life a whole lot simpler. If you belong to God, you can’t sleep with your boss’s wife—it’s just that simple. It doesn’t matter that she’s lonely, or attractive, or available, or dressing provocatively, or anything else. You just can’t do it. Certain things are off limits—period. End of story. No discussion needed.
Joseph didn’t mess around. He didn’t flirt with trouble. He didn’t say, “How far can I go and not get caught.” He just said no! Which leads us to …
Principle #3: When you are tempted, act fast.
Just because Joseph said “no” didn’t mean Pharoah’s wife wanted to take “no” for an answer. One day she decided to up the ante:
“One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” (Genesis 39:11-12, NIV)
There’s a list of rationalizations and justifications a mile long Joseph could have turned to had he decided to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. But he didn’t utilize any of them. What he utilized was his speed: He turned and ran and got out of there as fast as he could. He didn’t toy with “yes” or see how close he could come to trouble without paying a price. He acted decisively and got out of there!
A couple of things to notice as it relates to this part of the story. (1) The time to make up your mind as to how you’re going to respond to temptation is before you’re actually faced with it. If you wait until you’re in the heat of the moment and think you’ll then figure out what to do, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. You don’t move into “Let me pray about it” mode when Potiphar’s wife is playing kissy-face with you. You better have already prayed about it and worked through how you’re going to respond. (2) God isn’t obligated to give you a second way out. 1 Corinthians 10:13 reminded us God will provide us a way out, but He isn’t obligated to give us an additional couple of options in case we don’t like the first one. It is our responsibility to respond promptly and make use of the escape hatch God provides when temptation comes.
Principle #4: When you do right, don’t expect a reward.
As you can imagine, Potiphar’s wife wasn’t too happy about being rebuffed. Chances are she wasn’t used to being told “no” and not getting what she wanted. So, two things happen. First, she makes a false accusation.
When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” (Genesis 39:13-18, NIV)
In essence, she accuses Joseph of sexual assault—a charge that, while totally baseless, had a measure of plausibility because she was holding his garment after he bolted from the house. And as a result, Joseph is unjustly imprisoned.
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. (Genesis 39:19-20, NIV)
When Potiphar heard what happened, he had Joseph thrown in jail—all because he did the right thing and acted on his God-honoring convictions. We sit there and think “this is patently unfair” and we’re right—it absolutely was! But it goes to show that, particularly in a fallen and depraved world, we aren’t always rewarded for doing what’s right. The reward for doing right isn’t necessarily temporal. The reward for doing what is right comes in the form of …
Principle #5: When you do right, God will honor you.
Before we leave this story, lets look at how it ends:
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:21-23, NIV)
Because of his faithfulness to God and commitment to do the right thing, Joseph lost his job, his freedom, and much of his reputation. He looks, again, like a ruined man. But even though what played out in his circumstances was patently unfair and wrong, there are some things worse than going to jail for doing the right thing. One of them is living with a guilty conscience—looking in the mirror and always seeing someone looking back at you who failed … who was found lacking when it came to doing the right thing when the heat was on.
It’s really interesting—when the chapter began, we find Joseph enjoying success in the house of Potiphar and it said “the Lord was with him.” When the chapter ends, he’s in jail and he’s been unjustly accused of something he didn’t do. But it still says, “the Lord was with him.” In some ways, nothing has changed. Sure—Joseph’s circumstances have changed. His surroundings have changed. His outlook has changed. But in terms of his character—in terms of who he was—nothing had changed! He knew who he was and he knew he was God’s. And his circumstances had no bearing on that.
Which goes back to the key question, “Do you know who you are?” The reason it’s so critically important to have wrestled this question to the ground is that when you know who you are, you can serve God anywhere. Your circumstances don’t matter. Your surroundings really don’t carry weight. For what’s most important is not what’s going on around you but what’s happening inside you. In Joseph’s case, in spite of the unanticipated turn of events—in spite of the unexpected setback and reversal of fortune when it was looked like he was just beginning to get some traction that was going to turn the tide brought on by the wrongdoing and injustice of his brothers—he finds that if you know who you are, you can serve God anywhere. In many ways, the will of God is not a job, or a location, or a position. It is, ultimately, a matter of character, integrity, and purity before Him. If you’re the person God wants you to be, you can serve Him anywhere.
When Genesis 39 opens, Joseph’s a rising star in Potiphar’s household. When the chapter closes, he’s a forgotten man who’s been unjustly accused and condemned to prison. But as you know, his story is far from over. In the weeks to come, we’ll continue to make our way through it.