“And the second is like unto the first,” as the scripture says in another place. Lot told his sons-in-law of the coming destruction and they laughed in his face. I can just hear them saying, “Are you crazy, old man?”
And that is not the first time that accusation was wielded. Noah comes to mind. Maybe this reaction is even older than the one we discussed last time. Peter warns against it in 2 Peter 3. “Mockers” will come and make fun of your belief in a final judgment and the end of the world. Any time you preach something that demands accountability of the sinner, you are a lunatic, an old fuddy-duddy, a spoilsport, a prude, or any of a dozen more rude epithets. It is yet another universal and timeless attitude, another instance in which we are living in Sodom today.
But we can ask the same question we did last time. Has anyone called me those names lately? Have I talked about God, my Lord, my salvation, my church family, and my hope of Heaven enough that it bothers them? Have I mentioned Hell at all?
God expects people to know who we are. He does not want us hiding in plain sight. What is important to us should be in our hearts and on our tongues. Maybe that is the problem: those things are not really that important to us. Our faith is an embarrassment. Remember what Jesus had to say about that?
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Matt 10:32-33.
At least Lot acknowledged God, the reality of His authority over us, and our accountability to Him in the coming destruction to those sinful people. Do we?
Dene Ward