Tuesdays with Abraham

Read Genesis 19:9-11 – And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. (NKJV)

What do your friends think of your claim to know Christ? Do they know you’re a Christian? For some men, it’s easy to fall into the trap of being one guy at work or with the buddies and a different guy around church friends. One man told me it was “just business” as he chose to compartmentalize his Christian faith in a Sunday-only box. Here, Lot’s friends are confused by his resistance. While we won’t assume Lot is guilty of the same wickedness that drives them, we can’t miss the fact that they see him as one of them and are angry at his judgmental response. We may not fully know Lot’s true spiritual condition, but we can see that he walked too closely to the people of Sodom and the line between him and them was clearly blurred. Only by God’s grace to Abraham does Lot escape being swept up in their well-earned judgment.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.