Seduction.

Contemporary use of the word carries a sexual connotation -- but that only ranks third among classical definitions.

The dictionary says “to seduce” is: to persuade to do something disloyal or disobedient; to persuade to do wrong, as by offering something; tempt to evil or wrongdoing; lead astray and finally; to persuade to engage in unlawful sexual intercourse.

In Second Thessalonians 2, 1-3, 14-16, St. Paul writes “Let no one seduce you no matter how.” That’s plenty good enough for me, but fending off seduction ain’t easy.

I am fairly constantly subjected to attempted seduction. At times it’s a veritable barrage of seductive efforts. (Yeah right like women approach me at church and hint at sexy liaisons.)

No, it’s more serious and more subtle than that. What’s happening to me is a series of approaches in which my self-assigned adversaries wish to bend me to their collective will.

It’s why I dread the annual church festival. I know that when this event approaches each year, I will be pressured to attend. Attempted seduction will begin.

I do not care to attend the church festival. I have attended it several times in the past, most often with psychically painful results. I am indifferent to the event itself, but adamantly opposed to my attending it.

It means I must be strongly resolved, firmly defensive, prepared well ahead of time to guard against these endless seductive efforts.

Although it’s not a matter for the confessional, I admit I have caved in over time. Against my better judgment, in years past I have agreed to attend the festival. The result is always the same. I have engaged in moral turpitude. I have violated my own moral rules. It inevitably becomes a rattlesnake in my karma that bites me and bites me and bites me.

I do suffer from fatigue; I’m wearing down. Hence, I come across as “cranky” when I respond to each successive seductive effort. I often hear “You’re so negative” when I defend my honor.

Movies. I don’t go to movies. I don’t watch movies. I no longer have any drive at all to watch movies. Movies are one example of modern idolatry. With my Biblical teaching to back me up, I am opposed to being idolatrous.

So on one Sunday, a longtime friend suggests a movie. I’ve been through the drill with him many times. He should know by now we don’t watch television, we are not media involved. Nevertheless, he says, “You and Laura should really go see ‘2016’.”

I try to be mannerly and not gruff; I even try to shift the subject so I don’t have to seem “negative” to my friend, whose love and care I appreciate.

But he isn’t going for my evasive tactics. He digs in. He begins trying to seduce me, to persuade me to agree to go see this movie.

He says, “Would you go if I bought the tickets?” No. “Would you go if I picked you up, drove you to the theater, bought the tickets, and watched it with you?”

No.

It has gone way beyond the idea that he is just trying to be kind, to do something nice. He wants me to concede to his wishes. But I say,

No.

Good for me. I have held my ground. I did not allow myself to be seduced. But I still feel like a worn-out dishrag. Defending one’s own morals can really cause deep fatigue.

When Laura asks me, “Honey, would you like some ice cream and cookies? ” she isn’t being seductive. She wants to know the answer to the question.

If I had told her I was giving up dessert, and she still asked, and persisted, or brought the confection anyway, she would be being seductive, trying to nudge me off my resolve.

But she doesn’t do that. It’s one of the reasons we have been able to be married for so long: We don’t try to talk each other into doing something wrong. Or against our moral principles.

It does come across as “odd” or “quaint” to others that a person such as I would have actual moral principles. I do not understand why folks look at me and presume I have no morals or principles. Do I have that certain “immoral look” about me? I simply do not understand.

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“The Broncos.” What did you think of when you just read those two words? Did you think of idolatry? I doubt it.

But the very existence of The Broncos is plainly idolatry, as plain as the nose on your face.

Well-meaning acquaintances often ask, “How ‘bout them Broncos?” To be true to my own moral principles, I answer, “I am indifferent to the Broncos.”

A week later, the same acquaintance will ask the same question and I must come up with the same answer. He will not hear my answer. Ever. Bet on it.

Is he really my friend? I wonder. He continues week after week trying to seduce me into involvement in the idolatry that is The Broncos. Would a real friend do that?

One night, I asked Laura, “If someone offered me a bribe for some reason, do you think I would take it?”

Hesitating not very long, she said, “No, I don’t think you would.”

A bribe is a form of seduction. Your credit card company sends you a “premium” for your faithful contribution to their wealth and you see it as “free?”

You have accepted a bribe. You have allowed yourself to be seduced. Ah. Enjoy that little trinket. Do you feel better, having received stolen goods, the result of theft from . . . yourself?