Lot was born to Haran, Abraham’s brother. Haran died when Lot was young so his grandfather took over his care. When Grandpa moved Abraham and the family out of Ur to head towards Canaan, Lot went with them. They didn’t get far before Grandpa died too. Abraham (called Abram then) took over Lot’s care from there. Lot was with Abraham when God first gave Abraham His promise of blessing and called him to continue journeying out of the land of ungodliness.
It is after they left Egypt and arrived in Canaan that Lot’s story began to go downhill. (Gen 11:27-13:1)
1. SEPARATE THEM FROM GOD’S PEOPLE
When Abraham and Lot arrived in the land of Canaan there was strife between Lot’s men and Abraham’s men. Both Lot and Abraham had amassed many possessions and there didn’t seem to be room for it all. Abraham gave Lot the option of choosing where he would like to settle down with his family. Lot chose the best land and pitched his tent close to the city of Sodom. He separated himself and his family from Abraham (the first of God’s chosen people) and his family (Gen 13:11, 14).
Today as New Testament followers of Jesus, we see God’s chosen people reflected in all of those who follow Him, all of those who are a part of the Body of Christ, the Church. When we separate ourselves from the church we do not lose our salvation, but we do lose the influence of the Holy Spirit working in the heart of others to pour into our hearts. That influence helps to speak the Truth into our lives that our families desperately need.
2. IMMERSE THEM IN THE UNGODLY CULTURE
Next we find Lot, no longer pitching his tent near Sodom, but actually dwelling there (Gen 14:12).
Just as we underestimate the influence the Holy Spirit (through the Church) has on our families, we underestimate the influence the Enemy (through the culture) has on our families. If someone told your toddler the grass is blue over and over again and no one ever told them differently, your toddler would have no choice but to think the grass is blue. The culture teaches them about sexuality, identity, and life itself, but we never teach them what scripture says about those things. We as Christians drop our kids off into the middle of a lying culture allowing the culture to constantly inundate them with lies through media of all sorts. We also expose them to people whom we deem as trustworthy who speak over our children their scripturally inaccurate opinions, and then wonder why they see the culture as the truth instead of the Truth as the Truth.
3. DISMISS GOD’S RESCUE AND CALL TO RETURN
Pretty soon the wickedness of the city caught up to Lot and he got captured by it, literally. The kings of the cities were all fighting each other and they decided to take Lot and all his stuff with them when they went off to war. Blessedly for him, God sent his man Abraham to get Lot and bring him back. However after being rescued, Lot went right back to Sodom. (Gen 14:12-16)
When we belong to Jesus, there will most likely be times that we get off track and get caught up in some nonsense or another. Blessedly for all of us, Jesus works through the Holy Spirit to provide a rescue and way home for us. The true tragedy happens when we go right back to what we were just rescued from. Lot didn’t realize that captivity was a result of his own poor choices, and so often, neither do we. His family went right into captivity with him, and a lot of times… so do ours. When God provides a way out, we MUST TAKE IT as soon as possible.
4. ALLOW THE CULTURE TO DICTATE DECISIONS
Eventually, God decided enough was enough and made plans to annihilate the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham begged for mercy on behalf of any righteous people living there, but turns out there was only our friend Lot. So, God sent His messengers to rescue Lot and his family once again. This time, while the group was having dinner a crowd arrived at the door demanding Lot send out his new friends so the crowd could abuse the messengers. Lot realized this was a bad idea, but he offered his virgin daughters instead. (Gen. 19:1-11)
😖Seriously? I hope you find this as appalling as I do, but we also can’t be too quick to judge Old Lot. He remembered enough from his days with God to know that sending the messengers out to the men would be a bad idea, but his judgment was so clouded by his time in the godless culture that his alternative solution was equally as revolting. The culture began to dictate his decisions.
The enemy is really good at blurring the lines. Slowly he erases our memory of what is right and wrong until we can no longer tell the difference, and if we as the leaders of our families cannot tell the difference, how can we expect our children to? We begin to look at the world through the eyes of the culture instead of the eyes of Jesus and our decisions will reflect that, often to the detriment of our family.
5. MENTION JESUS SO RARELY, WHEN YOU DO, YOUR FAMILY THINKS IT’S A JOKE
God’s messengers told Lot to go get his Sons-in-law and daughters who lived elsewhere in the city. When Lot got there and told them about God’s coming judgment, they thought he was joking. They refused to come. Lot knew about God. Lot had been with Abraham when God promised him that He would make a great nation that would bring blessing to all the world, but we can assume that he never told his family, or at least not often enough that they believed that he believed. (Gen 19:12-14)
Are you a follower of Jesus? Do you believe that He is our only hope? Have you put your faith in His sacrifice and resurrection? Have you made Him Lord of your life, and taken hold of the promise to spend eternity with Him? If you have, if you truly have, does your family believe that you truly believe that? We have to tell them, over and over again. They must make their own choice about who they believe Jesus to be, but by God’s mercy, may they never doubt who we believe Jesus to be.
Sad Old Lot. In the end, he was called righteous Lot, but it says that he “tormented his own soul.” The consequences of his leadership of his family were great, and not in a good way:
His sons-in-law stayed and died in Sodom. They stepped into eternity without placing their faith in God.
His wife left the city, but quickly looked back, putting her faith in what was, in what she knew, not in the promise God was offering her. (Gen. 19:26)
His two younger daughters got Lot drunk, and got themselves pregnant by him. They lived their lives through the lens of the culture they grew up in. They kept their faith in their own ability to live on in the future instead of putting their faith in God. (Gen. 19:30-38)
Lot’s story is hard to read, but it's an important lesson in what NOT to do. Leading our families is hard, and as we see by Lot’s example, it is impossible apart from Jesus.
How do we do better? Bring them to Jesus. Over and over again. Everyday. Loudly. Quietly. Anyway we can… Bring them to Jesus. One day I will go home with Him, and I want to do everything I can to prepare the way for my family to come too.
