Ethical Trials: Beyond Suffering and Sin
Series Title: Ethical Trials as Inner Formations (Article 1)
“The great ethical decisions of life are not to be taken lightly, for they become part of the very fabric of the self.”
— Howard Thurman, Disciplines of the Spirit
Some ethical conflicts arrive with headlines or unexpected text messages. Others arrive quietly in a late-night prayer, a disturbing pastoral conversation, or a high-stakes leadership decision no one else may ever see. These are not always matters of life-threatening persecution, nor are they rooted in personal sin, as many would like to think. They are ethical trials, not simply decisions of right and wrong. More accurately, tests of who we are becoming through the inward moral wars that expose and form our spiritual selves.
In this two-part series, I aim to frame such ethical issues as spiritual trials distinct from external life trials (suffering, persecution) and internal sin (lust, pride, rebellion). After reading Howard Thurman’s Disciplines of the Spirit, I observed that ethical crucibles test our new covenant identity, biblical convictions, and formation in Christ.
In Part I, I’ll do my best to lay the theological and biblical groundwork, drawing from Daniel’s story, the work of Soren Kierkegaard (although I will not criticize like he did), and Howard Thurman’s book Disciplines of the Spirit. In Part II, we will turn toward practical strategies for navigating ethical trials with spiritual integrity, or what Thurman eloquently positioned as the “Inward Journey.”
The Groundwork of Ethical Trials: Between Suffering and Sin
I now understand ethical trials are distinct from the other two major categories of spiritual testing: Suffering and Sin. However, what is interesting to me is that they are still a part of the spiritual testing that, in many cases, will cause us to sin or honor God.
Where life trials are endured and sin is confessed, ethical trials must be discerned because they require soul-searching (Psalm 139:23), identity-rooted clarity (Psalm 32:8), and often, painful obedience (Psalm 39:10-11). I synthesize these into a triangle playbook for the spiritual formation of our inner and outer struggles in becoming what God demands of His people.
I just learned this word, so I’m not flexing, but the Scriptures provide a range of categories for testing, using the Greek term peirasmos (trial, temptation, or test). Using a framework, we can broadly identify this as the triangle playbook of spiritual challenge:
Life Trials – External suffering not caused by moral decision: illness, persecution, loss (Job 1; Genesis 50:20; Romans 5:3-5). The believer’s pursuit ought to be endurance and trust in their faith.
Sin – Internal disordered will or rebellion (Romans 3:23; Psalm 51; Galatians 5:17). The believer’s pursuit ought to be repentance and renewal.
Ethical Trials – Decisions that test spiritual character and identity (Daniel 6; Esther 4; Matthew 4:1-11). The believer’s pursuit ought to be moral courage and Christlike formation.
I’ll phrase it this way in terms of applied theology,
Ethical trials are the moments when the outer culture demands an action, but the actual battle takes place in the minister’s inner life.
Case Study
I am very impressed with the life of this young teenager named Daniel. Scholars believe he was between the ages of 14 and 17 (based on the Babylonian elite training program requirement). For me, he leads a life of conviction and not mere belief. He should be studied well beyond workplace success methodology.
Speeding up a bit, Daniel’s confrontation with Babylon’s decree (Dan. 6:6-10) is not a matter of outward rebellion but inward resolve. He does not posture or protest. He continues his life of deep prayer, even when it becomes politically dangerous.
He is faced with ethical decisions that are both private and public in their consequences (God’s allegiance and Nebuchadnezzar’s public policy), yet habitual and courageous in their depth. Daniel's ethical trial teaches us that spiritual discipline is the soil from which ethical clarity grows. His moment in Scripture is beyond Daniel avoiding sin or suffering unjustly. It is a test of moral conviction and Godly transformation. Will he remain faithful to his disciplined life with God when the costs rise? Scripture shows that he did.
Look at the scripture on his resolve in Daniel 6:10:
“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house… and got down on his knees three times a day and prayed…”
Immersing myself in this topic, I stumbled across Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), a Danish philosopher, thinker, and Christian. His reflections in Fear and Trembling and The Sickness Unto Death highlight ethical trials as matters of identity and vocation, which are beneficial to our ministerial life. In philosophical depth, he is an excellent addition to Thurman’s work on the trial of the self.
In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard describes Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac as a teleological suspension of the ethical—a test not of moral logic but of radical obedience rooted in trust. I recently preached James 1:19-27 (Responsive Faith), and this is the whole reality James is getting after.
v22…
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves…”
What James is showing us through the inspiration of the spirit is that our Soteriology must be trained in our Bibliology and acted out in our Physiology. Theology in our hearts. The scriptures in our hands. Obedience in our bodies. Soren's observation that Abraham exudes radical obedience is spot on.
In The Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard reveals that despair arises when one refuses to become the self that God intends. This was striking to me because this is where spiritual or missional formation manifests. If I am reading him rightly, ethical trials are moments of either alignment with or avoidance of our true selves before God.
Ethical Trials as Spiritual Disciplines
Howard Thurman’s Disciplines of the Spirit blessed my whole life. He gave a theological roadmap for understanding ethical trials as tools of inner formation. I’ll unpack more in article 2, but for now, here is one that strikes deeply:
Commitment
“A man must decide the line beyond which he will not go.” — Howard Thurman
Thurman is determining that ethical clarity requires spiritual and moral commitments. When we encounter difficult choices in life, we must lean on the commitments already forged through prayer, scripture, and formation, not our default human impulse. Inserting Daniel once again (1:8):
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the King’s food, or with the wine that he drank...”
Thurman challenges ministers and believers alike to cultivate ethical strength not by reacting to crisis, but by nurturing a life of disciplined spiritual practice.
Jesus Gives the Devil that Ethical Work:
Jesus' temptation by the devil in the wilderness is an ethical trial of His messianic vocation (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus displays the “Triangle Offense” towards the devil.
Stones to bread – Misusing power to serve self (vv. 3-4)
Throw yourself down – Demanding God to prove His care (vv. 5-7)
Bow to Satan – Gaining power without the cross (vv. 8-11)
Each temptation is framed by Scripture, but resisted by gospel identity. We must know that “It is written...” is not merely a quote to plug into a sermon; it is the outpouring of a life deeply shaped by Scripture, discipline, and divine sonship.
Jesus, like Daniel, shows that ethical trials are not to be won in the moment, but our pre-formed souls are to endure them.
So, what does all this mean? Why are ethical trials so important? What are we ministers to do with this reality? Two simple points:
The Scripture demands a deeper standard: Christlikeness formed in the wilderness of ethical testing.
Ethical trials will come. The question is: Will our souls be ready?
Reflection Questions
What recent ethical decision have you faced that required spiritual rather than strategic clarity?
Are your current spiritual disciplines forming the kind of soul that can withstand ethical pressure?
In what ways do you need to recover or deepen your spiritual commitments to Christ?
Where might your public ethics be outpacing your inner formation?
Resources:
Howard Thurman, Disciplines of the Spirit (Friends United Press, 1963).
Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton University Press, 1983).
Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death, trans. Hongs (Princeton, 1980).