More Important Than You Think: A Review of “Tempted and Tried” by Russell D. Moore

I confess I didn’t initially have much desire to read Russ Moore’s book Tempted and Tried. I saw where it had come out this year, and I saw where it had gotten some positive reviews. And still I wasn’t interested. It had nothing to do, mind you, with Dr. Moore himself. As a former student at Southern Seminary I had several classes with Dr. Moore and found him to be a stellar professor, great communicator, godly man, and Christ-exalting theologian. The reality is that I just thought I had too many other books to read that seemed more pressing to the nature of my current stage in life and ministry. A book on the temptation and trial of Jesus seemed less important to me at the moment. “Maybe I will read it in a few years,” I told myself. But when someone gave me a copy of the book to review I decided to give it a glance and immediately found myself captivated. This book is easily the best book I have read this year. Russ Moore has helped me to see my own struggle with temptation in new and fresh light and, in turn, has helped me to fight against it with the gospel.

Moore is an impeccable writer. Just last week I was joining those bemoaning the current state of theological prose, but Russ Moore gives hope to the state of things. His writing is both poetic and powerful. He describes temptation, evil, Satan, and, best of all, our serpent-crushing Hero in fresh ways. These fresh and moving descriptions paint a Biblical picture that so often gets lost from our sight as we struggle with sin and temptation daily. What I need to see is what Moore pulls out from the pages of Scripture here. He highlights that temptation is part of a cosmic battle raging around me. Moore brilliantly writes:

Temptation is so strong in our lives precisely because it’s not about us. Temptation is an assault by the demonic powers on the rival empire of the Messiah. That’s why conversion to Christ doesn’t diminish the power of temptation – as we often assume – but actually, counterintuitively, ratchets it up. (21)

I know this, of course, but hearing spelled out the way that Moore does repeatedly in the book painted a vivid picture for me of Satan and the forces of darkness using my sin and failure as an opportunity to try and attack Jesus. It made me realize what giving into sinful temptation is; it’s allowing myself to be a tool against the very King I claim to serve. Repeatedly Moore breaks open the doors of my day-to-day experience and sheds Biblical light on them in just the right ways.

The book attempts to address not simply my temptation and struggle, however, but more precisely points us to Jesus’ own confrontation with the Tempter in the wilderness. From here, Moore connects, in superb Biblical Theological fashion, Christ to the whole storyline of Scripture and to my own life. He demonstrates how Jesus’ victory of temptation and the tempter is the answer to Adam and Eve’s failure in the Garden. How His resistance to the seductive lure of consumption, security, and status actually overturn the failures of Israel in the Wilderness wanderings. And, best of all for my sake, Moore points to Jesus’ obedience in the face of strong temptation as the motivation and power I need to do the same.

No matter who you are or what you struggle with this book can help you arrest those life destroying habits you’ve developed. It can point you to the only hope you have and need to resist temptation. Moore covers a lot of topics in this short book. He touches on our identity in Christ. He uncovers the sin of pornography, eating disorders, and self-vindication. He gives us a Biblical theology of food, highlights the place of discontentment in God’s plan, and much more. He packs his pages with Scripture and flows seamlessly from personal anecdotes to doctrinal expositions to Scriptural supports. He writes simply and yet breathtakingly of the glory of Christ our Victor! And he provides hope and encouragement for the battered Christians desiring to live for the honor of their King. Read this book and you won’t regret it. Contrary to what we sometimes might think, our fight against temptation is always a pressing matter.