I think we in Christianity today have a sickness, well not exactly a sickness but we suffer from something that if left unchecked will impact millions of people. We have what I call the “Lot syndrome.” What do I mean by the Lot syndrome you ask? Look at what happened in the life of Lot. He lived in one of the most wicked societies of his day and although he was a righteous man before God he tolerated the unrighteousness around him without even a warning.
“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.” (2 Peter 2:6-8)
So Lot lived among them seeing and hearing their wickedness and yet as far as Scripture informs us he said nothing about it to those around him. He even sat in the gate of the city which in Bible terms means he was a leader in the city and yet did little or nothing to warn them of their wickedness.
“And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.” (Genesis 19:1)
He simply tried to fit in. Until the word came that God was going to destroy the city save for Lot and his family. When he finally gets the guts to warn his family about the coming wrath well you could say they thought he was joking. It seems his long years of silence led them to be surprised that the city was even that wicked.
“And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.” (Genesis 19:14)
I think that like Lot many churches have spent the last 20 or so years trying to fit into the American culture. We have designed our churches, and ministries around making people feel the most comfortable. We have designed our teaching to lift self esteem. We have even justified or at least ignored sinful activity such as fornication, and abortion.
Now that the culture has taken a new turn and embraced the homosexual movement society looks to us to accept or at the very least ignore such sins. When Christians come out and take a stand we seem to them as one that mocks because for so long we compromised our churches, or message, and our calling to make them feel loved, accepted, and comfortable.
Some professing Christians with a strong emphasis on professing have come out in support of the gay agenda because they were never of us in the first place.
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1 John 2:19)
When a sincere Christian fails to embrace such sinful behavior or even warns the person to turn from their wickedness the culture is (I believe) genuinely surprised and angered. We wan that God will destroy the wicked and we seem to them as one that mocks since after all we have tolerated such sinful behavior even often sitting in the gate of our city and nation.
How do we break the Lot syndrome? The answer is simple stop forming our churches to please the culture. Stand on the promises and message of the Word of God. Preach the old fashioned Gospel in sincerity and truth. Seek and ask for the old paths of repentance from sin, and separation from the world. Don’t worry out making them feel comfortable but warn them they stand condemned. Remind them that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and urge them to flee from the wrath to come.
The Gospel Beacon 