Bad Guys #2: Lot

Have you ever been at a point where you found yourself asking, "How did I get here???"

Events spin a little out of control and before you know it you are in a place that is confusing and unfamiliar and painful. And you seem to remember that not too long ago you were in a better place enjoying life and time with the Father. Then after a series of decisions and a numbing to our sin we find ourselves at this foreign place.

That is the life of Lot. Imagine. He is an old man. He wakes up one day to find out both of his motherless daughters are pregnant. But they live in a cave away from people. The girls have never left him. And no men have appeared. And there was no sign of immaculate conception. No, there are two girls pregnant and only one available sperm donor. Him. He had to face the music: his daughters knew him intimately while he was drunk. He has been deceived. His daughters have violated his trust. They have broken family values and traditions. And somewhere in the fog of his life, he knows that they have done something ugly in the sight of God. But how can he hold that against them? How hypocritical can one old man be?
How did he get here?

Well, he lived in the cave because he wouldn't live in the city of Zoar. He had lived in a city before and the sin and corruption of others cost him so much. Cost him embarrassment. Cost him family. Cost him dearly. So as he fled for his life, he would wander up into the mountains and live in a cave away from the sin and stain and influence of others. He would grab those closest to him and with the strength and will in him, he would protect them for once. He would keep them from what had corrupted their lives. They would get past it in time. God would restore them. He would do his level best to start over away from those poor influences.
How did he get here, running for his life, clinging to what was left of his family?

God was raining sulfur on those godless, vile cities. He knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn't have been there. And now God had given him a second chance. For whatever reason, God saw fit to spare him and his wife and daughters. So, even amid the hesitation the angels led them by hand outside the city. It was hard to leave. That was his life. Right or wrong, and mostly wrong, that was his life. He knew there was so much that tainted him and his family. So many voices and actions right outside the front door that was just vile. He knew that. He was wrong. He was sorry. But when the moment to leave came, he hesitated. God forgive him, he was comfortable in that life. That sin that he knew was so wrong was so hard to leave behind. In fact the only reason he left was because he knew death was certain for those who stayed. And even then the angels literally had to grab him by the hand and lead him away to safety. When sin climbs on you and wraps you up within it, it is easier and less painful to just stay in it, right? Maybe not. As they ran and fled for something new, that great fresh breath of a second chance, she looked back. Weren't they told not to? Leave, go and don't look back at that place of sin. But total obedience is hard to find again after wandering so far away from it. Besides, how could he blame her. He had his own pillar of salt moment back in the town. But they had gotten past that and were about to make it anew. And then she looked back.
How did he get here, lost without his wife and stuff?

The angels came to Sodom and Gomorrah. They were warning Lot. The city is vile, they kept telling him. Rotten. God is going to destroy it. And just before he went about defending his city, or more accurately his decision to live in it, the door rattled with that knock. Those heathen wanted to "know" these angels. How do I tell them no? How do I still maintain my good name in the city? People know Lot. They know I am not really one of them. They know I have a lot of possessions and land and influence. How can I deny them their sin with these men or angels or whatever they are but still make sure they like me? How do I choose between my God and my sin? He would compromise and offer up the relationships that matter the most: his daughters. They had never been with a man before. He would offer up their purity and their innocence. Protecting our sin, maintaining those lives defined by it, will cost us those relationships that matter the most to us. His daughters would remember that night when he offered their bodies to the raving pack of sin.
How did he get here, forced to reconcile the sin with God?

He had too much stuff. Abram had even more. His people were fighting with Abram. And instead of deal with all of that, Abram suggested taking some land and separating. Abram had done a lot for him. He couldn't ask for a better uncle. And now Lot could choose any place to live. He saw that valley and it was amazing. Beautiful. Sure it was close to those cities and the sin. But he would not live there. He would just move near it. He would pitch his tents near Sodom. But he would never live there.

And that is how he ended up in that cave facing the tragedy of his life. He chose to step near that life of temptation and compromise and sin. He could have gone anywhere. But that place looked so appealing.

And even in the midst of that sin, God sent those angels to deliver him from the death that sin merited.

Even in the midst of my sin, God sent Jesus to deliver me from the sin and consequences my sin merited. Lot saw his life spiral away from him simply by starting that string of decisions that lead to compromise and ultimately to sin and death.

The lesson of Lot is to see that each decision that inches us closer to sin is a decision that costs us the most important relationship we have. It causes distance from God and separates us from him. Fortunately for us, the cross will span that gap. Not just once. Over and over and over. No more sulfur showers. Now God's grace pours and falls on us in the form of Jesus Christ.

When I have my Lot moments, I need to sober up and look back to the cross. Focus on moving to that. Don't look back on the sin you are to leave behind. Don't hesitate. Don't compromise. Don't find yourself asking how you got so far away from God. It is never one big step. Rather, a series of smaller ones. We don't storm away from God most of the time. We wander away bit by bit.