Can Christians of 2022 Better Relate To Lot Than Christians of 2019

[Dennis1209]

7 minutes ago, Not of the World said:

On the surface I share your feelings but I also recognize that we cannot necessarily relate or understand the culture of that place in time.  

In addition, it benefits us much better trying to understand the Bible from a Jewish mindset, and their culture and beliefs of the time period. 

[R. Hartono]

21 hours ago, Space_Karen said:

In the bible a mob appears on Lot's doorstep. Rather than protect his family, Lot offers his daughters to the mob in a gesture of appeasement.

This behavior is extremely distasteful to most. I think most would agree Lot fighting to the death to defend his daughters would have been a better legacy and story. A man protecting his family is the type of act most of us would expect from our peers. Rather than the behavior of Lot which most would consider cowardly and shameful.

But then 2022 rolled around and my perspective on this story completely changed.

Today we have fentanyl dealers in our communities. We have many real problems which have arrived on our own doorsteps. Are we handling our issues with more courage or success than Lot did his?

It seems that while Lot's story in the bible was completely incomprehensible to many christians prior to 2020. 

Within the last 2 years, Lot's story has become a million times easier to relate to, as it has perhaps become identical to our own. 

Trouble arrived and our only response was to follow in Lot's footsteps of appeasement. Being too afraid or apathetic to speak out against fentanyl killing our family and friends. As well as other issues faced by society. Not knowing how to organize, communicate or cooperate to address issues.

Many feel a deep sense of guilt over this. We had always thought that we would be freeing slaves and punching nazis if things got hot. But somehow it was not to be.

If we wake up one day to discover we're only human. We're not as brave or great as we thought we were. Where do we go from here.

Do we need to make changes? Do we continue along the same path?

How do we become greater than Lot. What can we learn from his example.

And how should we think of Lot and his story now that we have a greater personal appreciation for the troubles he faced.

 

 

Lot would do the same if you came visiting him at Sodom, he would offer her daughter to save your belly.

How much can christians be compared to Lot ? May be not worth at all.

[Omegaman 3.0]

6 hours ago, Not of the World said:

On the surface I share your feelings but I also recognize that we cannot necessarily relate or understand the culture of that place in time.  

So, we do the best to understand and relate to our own culture, not being swayed and adapting to the standards of the world, God's doesn't change, nor do our marching orders, we serve Him, even in our imperfections, He can and will use us. The more we yield to Him, the more effective we will be!

[Sower]

Can Christians of 2022 Better Relate To Lot
         Than Christians of 2019

Nothing has changed. There is no new sin under the sun. This too will pass. Very few will change their lifestyle.
Perhaps the tentacles of the virus sickness has affected us comfortably indifferent apathetic lukewarm believers.

Maybe it has been a wake up call. Have you been encouraged to sow seed? Ever wonder why there is no desire?
No desire to assemble with other like minded believers in the body of Christ. The virus was a great opportunity to
share the 'good news' to unbelievers you may have encountered.
Many lost were 're-thinking' their lives, wondering about their eternal future during the 'pandemic.'

I personally do not see the parallel of Lot and the pandemic. My bad/ignorance. Never studied Lot.
But I have seen so many during the great "fear" mongering pandemic reconsidering, actually re-thinking life.
We who have the truth have been given the privilege, the opportunity, the responsibility, to share God's good news.
Why are there so very few testimonies, stories, examples, of sharing Christ to the lost and dying here on this forum? I would think as believers, having heard the gospel from some other faithful Christian who shared the truth with us, we would desire to share the good news to everyone still walking around in darkness.

"Home School Blog"

What is a biblical worldview?

"A biblical worldview (or a Christian worldview) is a worldview based on God’s unchanging Word. Since God is the Creator of everything in heaven and earth, He is the standard for truth. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and unchanging.

The Bible contains the words of God, and God is Truth. Therefore, we can trust what it says. 2Tim states that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Inspiration means that God “breathed it out.” The Holy Spirit guided and directed humans to write down and preserve His words through Scripture.

A biblical worldview is not just a theoretical idea. A biblical worldview changes the way we respond to major events in the world. How do you respond to a natural disaster? How do you respond to traffic? What do you do if your fast food order is wrong? How do you respond to a terrorist attack? What is our response to political turmoil? Someone with a biblical worldview is going to respond to these events through the lens of Scripture. While others may have their worldview shaken after a disaster, a Christian will respond with trust in God’s wisdom, confidence in Christ’s future return, and zeal for spreading the gospel.

Christians don’t rely on a biblical worldview only when major events happen. A biblical worldview informs how Christians prioritize their time and money, respond to leadership, raise their children, and respond to hurtful words and comments. God’s Word is a guide for all of life"      (Not just disasters)  

[preaching to myself].....

 

"50% of Christians say they are deeply committed to practicing their faith, 
but only 11% have a biblical worldview.

Cultural Research Center, Arizona Christian University, 2021

[AnOrangeCat]

I don't especially think so. Long before fentanyl there's been heroin, opium, cocaine, meth, and so on ruining people's lives. People complained, people fought about it, and so on, but we still have those things around. No real change to speak of aside from the hot drug of the moment. Questionable substances and Lot's situation just don't feel very relevant to each other IMO.

On 11/1/2022 at 8:33 PM, Space_Karen said:

Trouble arrived and our only response was to follow in Lot's footsteps of appeasement. Being too afraid or apathetic to speak out against fentanyl killing our family and friends. As well as other issues faced by society. Not knowing how to organize, communicate or cooperate to address issues.

I think it's very easy to say this but it's not entirely accurate. It's always been important to be aware of our own limitations and to pick our battles carefully. Many of the problems we face today are top down in nature. They exist because of our sinful nature and government wickedness, corruption, and inefficiency. People can and do speak out against these things, every time they complain to their friends or on social media, every time they tell their children about morality, the dangers of drugs, and so on. The best many of us can do is to try to keep ourselves and our own spheres of influence clean.

[BibleStudent100]

20 hours ago, Jayne said:

You've said here that because Lot is called righteous in 2 Peter that his actions of wanting to throw his daughters to sexual predators was "correct under the circumstances".

I have to disagree with you here.  There are plenty of Godly people in the Bible and today that did and do TERRIBLE things that are unjustifiable.

In Hebrews chapter 11, David is mentioned as a man of faith along with many other individuals from the OT.  Yet, King David was a highly flawed individual. The difference between the adultery and murder that David committed was that he was severely disciplined by God for his behavior and that shameful conduct was publicly  condemned by Nathan, and no doubt others.  So while recording King David's sins AND his incredible humility and love for the Lord, there is no record that Lot's offer to give his daughters to the sexed crazed men of Sodom was a "bad call."  So there must have been some reason for Lot doing so that we just don't know about, which is entirely possible as that event took place some 4,000 years ago.  Cultural norms prevalent at the time were quite different from our modern perspectives.  

The same understanding applies to what Abraham did regarding his beautiful wife and the Pharaoh of Egypt.  The Bible does NOT condemn Abraham for what he did, so that act must have been understandable by the Lord for those times and circumstances.

[Heleadethme]

God called Abraham out for his lack of faith in that instance. 

But we have to understand that the rules of hospitality in Lot's place and time were such that the host was responsible for the safety and well being of any guests under his roof....which superseded his own interests or the interests of his household.  Also it would have been a less egregious sin for men to abuse females than to have sex with other men.  I believe we could take it that Lot made a heart wrenching decision to offer to sacrifice his daughters for the sake of fending off what was considered to be worse offences.   As others have mentioned Lot was considered righteous by God and that's why He rescued him out of Sodom before judgment came.  

[Dennis1209]

As half of the OP references drugs and the harm it is causing, I would like to point out something prophetic. The drug problem will only worsen from here on out, IMO.

Revelation 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Sorceries = φαρμακεία pharmakeía, far-mak-i'-ah from G5332; medication ("pharmacy"), i.e. (by extension) magic (literally or figuratively):—sorcery, witchcraft.

Many know our English word for drugs is derived from the Greek word pharmakeia (pharmacy). I will not quote the latest statistics on the percentage of the population addicted to prescription and illegal drugs as it continually grows, but it is staggering.

I do not wear a white smock and stethoscope around my neck, but it is easy to see where drug addiction leads and how to finance and get the next fix. Revelation 9:21 above lists some of the behavior associated with drug addicts that cannot support their escalating habit by working. The spread of disease is related to the activities of many abusers, and mind-altering drugs are a portal to the demonic realm. Drug-induced orgies and fornication are the standard practice these days.

Mind-altering drugs are now legal in several countries. Clean paraphernalia is supplied free by taxpayers to reduce the spread of disease. Drug dens are operated and financed by governments. Here in America, gateway drugs are slowly becoming legal with no punishment, medical marijuana cards, and prescriptions. If a person has a minimal amount not considered trafficking of various drugs on their person, they are usually ticketed or sent on their way good to go.

I am sure drug addiction has been with us for a very long time. No one can argue that in my generation, the problem has exploded to epidemic proportions as never before.

If the problem is this bad now, the war on drugs history, open borders with easy cartel access, and a huge market to enhance our failing economy.

Revelation 9:21 has come about in my lifetime and is growing worse by the day. Everything prophetic now points to Jesus’s soon return.

[Jayne]

2 hours ago, Heleadethme said:

God called Abraham out for his lack of faith in that instance. 

But we have to understand that the rules of hospitality in Lot's place and time were such that the host was responsible for the safety and well being of any guests under his roof....which superseded his own interests or the interests of his household.  Also it would have been a less egregious sin for men to abuse females than to have sex with other men.  I believe we could take it that Lot made a heart wrenching decision to offer to sacrifice his daughters for the sake of fending off what was considered to be worse offences.   As others have mentioned Lot was considered righteous by God and that's why He rescued him out of Sodom before judgment came.  

I've heard this argument for decades.  It was culturally appropriate by sinful humans who deemed it OK -  ergo - God approved of it.

I have never been able to support that.  God does not change - his nature does not change.  He does not accept sexual abuse from beginning to end.  Who cares what the culture accepted?

 Those girls would have died.  Just like the Levite's concubine who was thrown out to the rape-mob who wanted to rape the Levite.  He didn't care one whit.  They abused her,  instead,  all night long the Bible says - until she was dead.

When the Levite found her on the doorstep the next morning - all he said was "get up, let's go". He wasn't concerned at ALL until he realized she was dead.  Then he got mad.  He chopped her body up into 12 pieces and sent them to the 12 tribes.

I do NOT believe God winked his eye at that. 

Yes, that' "just the way it was".  But that does NOT mean that God just turned his back on it.

There are scores of "cultural norms" that are gross, sinful, and practiced all the time.  Throwing your virgin daughters out to rapists - who would have raped men or women - may have been the norm for Lot.  

But it wasn't the norm for God.

[Jayne]

4 hours ago, BibleStudent100 said:

 Cultural norms prevalent at the time were quite different from our modern perspectives.... 

The same understanding applies to what Abraham did regarding his beautiful wife and the Pharaoh of Egypt.  The Bible does NOT condemn Abraham for what he did, so that act must have been understandable by the Lord for those times and circumstances.

Cultural norm?  So what?  Does that mean that God approved?  It was a cultural norm in parts of Africa for certain tribes to be cannibals.  It's a cultural norm in the United States and other parts of the world for women to freely expose their body parts.  Pornography has been made a cultural norm in the world today.

Does God approve of these things?

Just because a man spends decades engaging in porn and God doesn't "punish him" does that mean that the cultural norm is approved by God?

Both Abraham and Rahab the Harlot lied to keep people safe - Abraham [himself - although he put his wife in harm's way twice] and Rahab [the spies].  Both are praised for their great faith and specific actions of faith in both Hebrews and James.

But NEITHER are condoned for their lies.

People in the Bible and people today do terrible things, stupid things, and horrid things in the name of cultural norms and foolish decision making and God does not strike them dead.

That does not mean God approves of their actions.