Maybe you have experienced it too.
You find yourself in a place, surrounded by people who are the opposite of honest and trustworthy.
You are for peace, but they are for war.
They laugh at evil and trick others into joining them in their riotous ways.
"Riotous" behavior is opposite of "Righteous" behavior.
People compare modern cities to Sodom and Gomorrah, but I don't know of any place on earth as selfish, pleasure-seeking and cruel as the people in those cities where Lot and his family lived. None of us are without sin. -to a certain extent, we all live for ourselves. But these people lacked any feeling of care for their fellowman. Cruel and heartless! -not just a few people, but everyone in the whole area!
They laughed at Lot when he tried to warn them. "Who are you to judge us?" (Gen. 10:9) the men accused Lot. "You aren't even from around here!"
Ugh. -the outsider. -speaking a different language than the majority around hm. -when he speaks up, they say he is judging them. When he warns his sons-in-law, they laugh. Silly old man! What's he talking about?! Everything is fine.
Did they honestly think that they were right? -these men of Sodom? Did they believe Lot was bad and they were good?
I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, to see things from their viewpoint. But theirs is a very disturbing view. I can't wrap my mind around it. The idea that tourists are fresh meat. Visitors to town are ripped from their beds and gang raped. Who does that?!
So, Lot sat behind closed, locked doors.
Peter said that Lot's righteous soul was vexed.
We have never experienced anything close to what Lot suffered. But I think we have all gotten a little taste of it. It's wearying, exhausting, discouraging. We try to explain our point of view, but everything we say just makes it worse. It's not that we feel more righteous than other people. We just prefer to live dull lives. It didn't take much to be more righteous than the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. God said He would spare the cities if He could find ten righteous people - He couldn't.
It's okay to not be amused by cruel jokes and behaviors. It's okay to be kind to people others look down on. It's okay to feel sick and angry when you see someone hurting themselves, or someone else. It's okay to say no to dangerous habits that other people enjoy. You really don't have to fit in with all of the other people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Some people may feel threatened by your kindness and ridicule you. Some may mock and accuse you -trying to trip you up or find fault. (It's never hard to find fault with fallible humans. We ALL have short comings.)
But listen, don't feel like you have to stay there. Lot was scared to move to the mountains! He begged the angels to let him stay in a small, nearby city. I've often wondered what was up there in those hills that was so scary. If I was Lot, I think I would have left for the hills years before the angels' visit.
So, if your soul is vexed too, maybe a visit to the mountains will refresh you and remind you that "wild" is sometimes healthier than "civilized."
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