Some years ago, a small, inconspicuous carnival came to town in a very small town outside my hometown of Hickory, North Carolina. The carnival featured traveling shows, rides, and exotic animals, attracting many people to my town. The city fair happens annually in September, at the beginning of the school year.   

The much-anticipated free admission tickets to the fair were passed out at all the local schools. This generosity fueled the relentless begging and pleading with our parents to take us to the fair. The marketing genius behind the free tickets for the kids required parents to pay to come with their children. I must note that the free tickets were only a hook intended to lure the innocent and unsuspecting to a world of deceit, trickery, and gullibility. But for the kids, it was all about riding the Ferris wheel, carousel, bumper cars, and the tilt-a-whirl. With the "thrill rides" also came the annual indulgence in cotton candy, corndogs, and Pepsi cola. These traveling shows were long before the amusement park days, so it was a yearly event unmatched by the mundane day-to-day reality.

In September 1968, the fair offered a new and exciting ride: the double Ferris wheel. 

A double Ferris wheel is an amusement park ride consisting of two vertically rotating wheels attached by a rotating bar. Each wheel has equally spaced gondolas, and combining the two circular motions creates a more thrilling experience than a single Ferris wheel. Once a popular attraction at local fairs, only three double Ferris wheels are currently operational in the United States.

Something very unexpected happened when the fair came to town.

The fair held a particular excitement yearly with all the lights, shows, games, and food trailers. Just as the sun had started to set, the entire city was forced into darkness. The electricity was out for most of the night. 

The next day, the local newspaper, The Hickory Daily Record, headlines read: "City Short-circuited by the Side Show." Evidently, because of the new double Ferris wheel ride and other additional attractions, the fair caused an uncalculated drain on the city's power grid. Volts of power jumped from line to line, from transformer to transformer, to meet the demands. The overheated circuits caused a citywide blackout.

A short circuit occurs when a faulty connection, sudden power surge, or damaged wire causes electricity to travel along the wrong route and damage an electrical device. Homes and businesses are protected from short circuits and power surges through "breaker" boxes that cancel power to that portion of the building when a problem is detected. In automobiles, fuses and relays protect the intricate sensors and devices in the car.

The allure of sin is akin to the side shows at a carnival or fair, drawing us in with their bright lights and promises of excitement.

At the fair, there is a section called the Midway. Midway is filled with gaming booths and food concessions. The excitement of playing unusual games and winning a prize is a definite attraction. The booths are typically brightly lit and colorfully decorated with prizes that can be won. Games are portrayed as fun, simple, and easy to win.

It is not a place for the naïve.

Carnies at the fair have a reputation for deceit, and sin is deceptive, often promising rewards that it never delivers.

My encounter with sin was like a game at the fair. The Carny, in this case, sin, reached out and promised a win, but the game was rigged.

Here is the way the game worked. Five ping pong balls were dropped down a clear tube onto a board with different delineations of numbers under hallowed out impressions where the dropped balls would eventually rest. He would quickly add up the respective numbers. If we were to get one hundred total points, we would win the grand prize. The first "drop" was free, just for me. He put up a twenty-dollar bill for the free round as the grand prize. If I won in the first round, I would win the money at no risk. However, for each successive round, I would be required to match the amount he would contribute to the pot.

I played along. I dropped the first five balls during the free round. He quickly picked up the balls, adding up the numbers. Amazingly, my first drop netted me seventy-five points. He inserted statements like, "I've never had anyone get that many points on the first round; you are one lucky guy. You are bound to win on the next drop; you got seventy-five on the initial drop. Come on, buddy, drop again, collect your prize, and move along. You're too lucky for my business."  Then he said, "If you want to play another round, I'll put up another twenty-dollar bill; you put in a twenty-dollar bill, the total prize now is sixty dollars" ($20 from the free drop, $20 from him, and $20 from me). He pointed out that I would win, and all I had invested, at this point, was twenty dollars, and I would win forty dollars more than I had invested. It looked like easy money, and my risk was only twenty dollars.

I took the bait and was lured in. Each round from that point on would double the investment on my part. He added forty dollars in round three, and I had to match his forty dollars. At the third round, the pot was up to one hundred and forty dollars, and my contribution was only sixty dollars. Now that I'm beyond the volunteer threshold, I feel compelled to play because I have risked too much and need to regain my money. After each round, the Carny would pick up the balls, reciting a memorized addition stream, which would increasingly get me near to winning the grand prize. By round four, I had invested one hundred twenty dollars for a chance to win two hundred sixty dollars. That round was to be my final round because I ran out of money to match his contribution. At that point, he acted sorry for "cleaning me out." He kept reminding me that it was my choice to play and that he didn't force me to continue. As a conciliation prize, he gave my wife, who was crying and in shock, this ugly stuffed purple tiger (with sawdust). He quickly turned away from us to focus on new victims.

The game looked inviting, easy, and risk-free at first. Eventually, the risk increased until I was hooked, too far gone to turn back. My wife and I vowed never to get sucked into a trap that was "too good to be true" ever again. It was a hard lesson to learn. We were first-year married teachers, with all our grocery money swindled from us.

In a genuine sense, that is exactly what sin does; it short-circuits the normal pathway of reason and conviction.

James 1:13-14 gives an unmistakable picture of this process.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted in Luke chapter 4, yet He did not sin.

Temptation begins to short-circuit by "drawing away" a seduction. This verse definitively says, "his own lust." Some temptations are universal (lying, cheating, stealing, etc.), but most are individually specific. For example, I am not tempted to drink alcohol, and I never have been, but other temptations are very strong and require vigilance, caution, and self-control.

What are we drawn away from?

Temptation manipulates the ability to think rationally and live godly. It causes one to believe they have immunity from the consequences of the choices. In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey says, "We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions." It leads to feelings of indestructibility by creating a false sense of control. Then we are fooled into believing we are an exception, that the eventual sin will not be discovered, nor will it have any consequential effect.

The temptation to lust is commonly associated with an immoral sexual desire. The basic definition of lust is desiring what God has not intended for one to have or to have currently. Most of the time, the temptation in a believer's life is not to commit some blaring gross immorality; it is usually desired, innocent, and neutral.     

The result may be something God will allow the believer to have, but not now. It may be God's plan for a couple to get married, but not right away. If they hastily jump ahead of God's timing, they may invite unnecessary hardship and miss His perfect will. That's how sin short-circuits God's plan.

Let me illustrate this from my personal experience as a youth pastor.

A young man in the youth group needed a car to get to and from school, practices, and church. Instead of buying a car he could afford, he went to the dealership and bought a new, red sports car. He had high monthly payments and interest rates, and his automobile insurance was expensive. The ramifications of this purchase caused him to get a part-time job that took him away from church, family, youth group, and sports. The story even took another downward turn when Mark wrecked the car, making it undrivable. He then had to work to pay for something he couldn't drive and enjoy. Looking back on that incident, God may have had a new red sports car in his plans, but not as a sixteen-year-old boy in a Christian High School.

Temptation short circuits through deception. The verse uses the phrase "enticed," which finds its etymology in the Greek word δελεάζω, from which we derive the word deceive. In some translations, this word is expressed as a "sleight of hand," a common phrase used to describe magicians who trick through misdirection and distraction. In Hebrews 11:25, Moses identifies that sin has a permanent outcome; sin's deception only pleasures for a short time.

At this point, the short circuit has created a new path.

The point of conception occurs when the disciplined will gives way to discontent license. Romans 13:14 commands, "Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." Allowing the door to the heart to be left cracked open invites temptation to find a resting place in the heart. There is no such thing as accidental sinning. No sin has ever been committed without first engaging in contemplative thought.

Yielding to temptation now produces results. Solomon gave fatherly advice to his son in Proverbs 1:10, "My son, if sinners entice thee…consent thou not." According to James 1:14, the conception (lust has conceived) is sin. The sideshow has now come full circle. All its wooing and attraction have swayed its target. The unsuspecting victim has succumbed to the trap. The enemy lures its prey by appealing to a faulty view of God's provision. Sin is the short-circuit, providing a path God did not design or designate.

The effects of sin are devastating. According to James 1:14, the conclusion (when it is finished) or result is death. The root word for finished in this verse is the same one used by Christ on the cross when He said, "It is finished" (τετέλεσται), referring to a one-time act that can't be undone. Sin has a lasting effect on a person's life.

Sin thrills, then kills; it fascinates, then assassinates.

When considering sin, we usually examine the after-effect, the result. We look at a sinful person and see what sin did to them. However, we seldom consider sin's effect on us—the pre-thought before indulgence. We are given a list of possible side effects when taking prescription medicines. Usually, that list includes a warning to contact the doctor or pharmacist if the user experiences any unusual symptoms. We must consider how sin affects us, causing us to think unclearly, act irrationally, and sacrifice the permanent on the altar of immediate gratification.

Sin short circuits the believer's ability to love God properly.

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This is the proper pathway for the believer's heart.

Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Loving God properly precedes the desire to obey His authority. The order of Christ's statement does not work in reverse. Sin tries to reverse what Christ said. Sin says if we "keep His commandments, we will love Him." This change in focus and thought is evidence that something has gone awry. It changes the focus of our love toward God, others, and family to self-aggrandizement, promoting oneself as influential or important.  

Sin short circuits the believer's ability to love others properly.

In John 13, Jesus washes the disciples' feet and teaches them a lesson about love. In verses thirty-four and thirty-five, he says, "A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another."

Husbands are commanded to love their wives sacrificially and unconditionally, as Christ loved the church. Wives are commanded to submit to their husbands. Parents are to love their children. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) and not exasperate them. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives many characteristics of godly love. If we love as God loves us, we will love the unlovely and the unlovable.

Selfishness overcomes sacrificial love when sin has short-circuited the home. Husbands and wives turn selfless love into conditional love. Divorce rates have steadily increased even among Christian homes. Parents abuse their children through neglect because the children are intrusive and require time. Children dishonor, disrespect, and rebel against their parents (authority) because of the bitterness of unnatural love.

Another aspect of sin's short-circuits of the ability to love is our inability to love ourselves properly.

It leads to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, having no way out. When sin enters a man's heart, he devalues himself and his self-worth. Guilt riddles the soul with feelings of paranoia and isolation from others. Hence, the loss of love for self and humanity diminishes—as a result, self-harm, hate, and aggression. Self-harm, depression, abortion, genocide, and a litany of horrible acts on humanity are justified when our self-respect has been ridiculed and diminished by sin.

Depression and other forms of mental illness are not punishments for sin.

Mental illness is a consequence of living in a fallen world. Mental illness is a result of the fallen condition of the world and can happen to anyone. It is not a punishment for sin. Jesus did not consider all illness to be a result of sin. In John 9, the disciples asked Jesus about the root cause of a man's blindness: was it his sins or the sins of his parents? Jesus said neither; the disability allowed God's glory to be displayed. The disciples wrongly considered it a spiritual issue in which sin was present in man's life. "But Jesus showed not every illness is a result of sin." He told them that the man's blindness was for God's glory. Jesus healed him, showing His power over man's physical deformity.

Final Thoughts

While living in New Jersey, we owned a house built in 1930. NMC, or nonmetallic-sheathed cable, was the type of wiring used from the 1930s onwards and is known as the first generation of sheathed cable. It uses cloth or fabric sheathing to insulate the wires. The wiring throughout the house was old and brittle, and the pathway of the wire was very confusing.

I decided to install a lamppost out by the driveway. Naturally, being the man, I refused to hire a professional to do the work. I installed the post, dug the trench to run the wire, turned off the electricity to that section of the house, connected the wire to the junction box in the basement, ran the wire out, and buried the underground-rated Romex cable out to the lamppost. I'm sitting on the ground next to the post, ready to splice the cables and make the final connection.

Using my wire cutters, I cut through the excess Romex cable. Then, a loud band, a buzzing vibration tingled through my body, a bright light, and I was knocked back about five feet from the post. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see if I was still on earth. My neighbor came running to see if I was still alive. He heard the pop and saw the light. In my effort to save money and install the lamp, I almost got electrocuted. Somehow, in the earlier days of the construction of the house, someone had connected a live wire from another part of the house to the section that I thought had been disconnected at the breaker box. What happened was that I short-circuited 120 volts through my body to the ground where I was sitting. It could have killed me. As the old saying goes, "God watches over children and fools." Psalm 116:6 states, "The Lord protects the simple; I was brought low, and he saved me."

Pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie said, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay." The short-circuiting effect of sin's sideshow will cause a blackout in the believer's power grid.

To the wise, a simple warning is always sufficient.