Once upon a time, there was a boy who grew up in a household of faith. As a young man, he was quickly singled out as a top student who was marked by key political leaders. He moved to the big city, where the intellectual elites trained him and gave him responsibility. He moved up in the ranks, and the powerful people of his day considered him a rising star.

Then he fell passionately in love. But there was a problem: The woman he fell in love with was married—married to another power player. The tension intensified. The woman was desperate and the man was having nightmares about what would happen if their cover was blown. His career, credibility, and political alliances hung in the balance. One restless night he had a nightmare: he dreamed his secret love had been discovered. He pictured the horror of his betrayed and bewildered colleagues, the hysteria of the woman, the fury of her accusing husband, the political fallout. He woke up in a cold sweat. The next day, he fled town.

He travelled to a city far away to seek counsel with a couple renowned for their wisdom and discernment. He became physically sick there; his body broken down by stress and fear and grief and guilt. Those who tended him knew that his sickness was deeper than his physical symptoms. When they confronted him, it took all he had to finally to confess the whole mess. Their advice? It was time for a good, long spiritual retreat. And then, perhaps, for a new career. You can't lead anyone well unless your heart is right.

The man in this story is not a 21st century political leader in Washington, D.C. But he could be, couldn't he? That was actually the story of a man named Evagrius of Pontus, a church leader in the fourth century A.D. By age thirty-five, he was near the apex of success in the halls of power in the thriving city of Constantinople. But then temptation struck. When he headed south to Jerusalem, seeking the counsel of Melania and Rufus, they eventually sent him to a monastery where he could get his spiritual life in order. Evagrius needed time away from his life in the halls of power to understand the real power of sin. What he learned about sin's destructive potential is hard-won wisdom for us today.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Spiritual disciplines; Solitude—This story shows our need for spiritual disciplines that God uses to transform us before we can make a difference in the world. (2) Sin; Repentance—Evagrius and his fellow-Christians living in the desert talked about the seven (or eight) "deadly" sins. Ms. DeYoung adds,"The vocation to follow Christ, according to these early Christians, included both fighting against these powerful temptations and finding peace and freedom through a life of spiritual discipline and virtue."