Yes, every coin has two sides, and two sides only. Unlike coins, although people, stories, and situations also have more than one side, this does not mean that there are only two sides to matters regarding them. There are often more sides than there is the time that is taken to try to see them.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, the master of temptation seeks opportunities to blur the lines, create confusion, and make it more difficult to see clearly the choice that is, in fact, best for the time at hand.

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him. – Matthew 4:1-11

The trick that Jesus so masterfully avoids is the temptation to see what the devil presents to him in a two-dimensional way and thus respond or react based on that, rather than on a view or understanding that is multi-dimensional. That is, Jesus does not allow his view to be constricted by the fact that he is tired or hungry, or anything else. If he did, he would be lead to fall for the devil’s ploys, and then move toward making a choice(s) that at the root would solely benefit or be centered on himself, and meeting his personal needs at the expense of the greater good.

This passage provides a great example of the ways that are not of God, and that can go undetected and create interference. Temptation seeks to entice and distract us into living in a “going through the motions” kind of way or to distract us from being mindful and intentional. The more we partake of something, whatever it might be, the more likely it is to become rote, possibly lose meaning, and gradually remove us from the goodness of the original purpose and motivation. The devil counts on this, waiting for weakness to arrive. Notice how Jesus is pressed and tempted after being in the desert for 40 days, not right from the start of his stay or even mid-way through, but when he was physically at his weakest and likely to be less aware… when there was a potential opening for temptation to seep in.

During the season of Lent, as well as all year through, temptation seeks to draw us into seeing any, and all things as two-dimensional. Remember, though, as the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” And, just because something is good, it does not mean it is always the best choice, for everyone, all the time. Only God can be the judge of that.