Let me set the scene for you. A man who learned the ways of God from his uncle one day packed up and moved out on his own. In doing this he drifted toward a wicked city filled with all sorts of immorality and made his home there. He tried to raise his daughters in the midst of this immoral sewer flowing all around him.
I suppose at first some of the things this man and his family saw shocked them but over time they learned to compromise their moral standards saw such acts as a way of life for the inhabitants of this wicked city. It became tolerable and then acceptable. Things rocked along like this for some time until God revealed to the beloved uncle that His judgment was coming to this wicked city.
Through some fervent intercessions from the uncle God allowed that the life of the nephew would be spared only if he and his family left the city of Sodom. God sent two messengers to reveal this message to Lot but the men of city tried to have homosexual relations with them. They surrounded the house and tried to break the door down. I know this sounds wild like some scene from a raunchy movie but you can read the whole story for yourself in [Genesis 19]. Lot in an unimaginable act of compromise and moral failure offers his two virgin daughters to this twisted group of men for the fulfillment of their out of control lust. God struck the men with blindness to protect the young girls and to give Lot the opportunity to get out of the city.
Lot wanted to go to his son in laws to warn them to get out of the city. At this point I will let the scriptures speak for themselves, “And so Lot went out and spoke to his sons in law who were to marry his daughters and said, ‘Up, get out of this place for the Lord will destroy the city.’ But he appeared to his sons in law to be jesting.” [Gen 19:14]
Lot lost the ability to have any spiritual influence over his future sons in law because of the compromise they saw in his own life. His life did not count. He took the path of least resistance and his attempt at preaching appeared foolishness to these men. They had watched Lot. They had seen him chumming up to the towns men and turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to their evil ways. Lot knew better. He was influenced by Abraham who willingly followed God away from the pagan culture of their home town. Lot for whatever reasons slid of next to sin and made his home there. He lost the ability to have any good influence on Sodom or his sons in law.
I see this same thing all the time. It breaks my heart to watch parents live hypocritical lives in front of their children and then watch the children rebel against everything they learned at church. When it is not lived out in the home, the parents forsake the right to have any spiritual influence over those children. Parents cannot get away with the philosophy of “Do as I say and not as I do.”
If parents drink alcohol you had better believe that children will follow suit and if the parents do it moderation the children are likely to do it in excess. Parents who are immoral in their sexuality will not be able to steer children away from promiscuous lifestyles. Children want and need boundaries. Those boundaries are proof of love and desire to protect the children. When there are no boundaries instead of feeling freedom children often feel unloved.
Parents are not the only ones who can lose the ability to influence for good. Look at hypocrites in the church. The pews are packed with them. This is why I have heard with my own ears that many people want nothing to do with church or with following Jesus. The church preaches one thing but often the members live a whole different life outside the stain glassed walls under the steeple. Profanity flows profusely from the lips of church members. Just as much alcohol is consumed by many so called Christians as by those with no relationship with Christ. Many “Christians” compromise standards and make concessions continually for church attendance in lieu of hunting, fishing, select sports teams, and entertainment. Sexual immorality is alive and well among people in the church. My Sunday School teacher as a teenager, who was the president of a bank and a deacon, had an affair on his wife leaving her for the other woman. His two boys were devastated and one died early during his teenage years in a late night car crash. This dad lost the ability to influence his sons for good. Sin will cost us and those close to us more than we ever imagine.
Many “Christian” teenagers who have made sexually abstinent vows have given in to compromise in moments of heated passion and thrown it all away. I think of a young man I knew in college who in a moment of passion forgot his calling to ministry and thought of sexual gratification. The girl ended up pregnant and the name of Jesus was shamed yet again. You know the preachers who have fallen immorally. Though some of them still preach, do you trust them? Do you listen to them with the same respect you once did.
David sinned in the scriptures and lost the respect of some of his children even having one who formed a coup to take the thrown from him. David had to run for his life from his very own son Absalom. David lost his influence for good in Absalom’s life.
If the church is ever going to have any influence on our communities and in our neighbors we are going to have live lives worthy of respect. Contrast Noah to Lot. Lot compromised and it cost him the lives of his future son in laws and nearly cost him the lives of his daughters and did cost him the life of his wife. Noah grew up in a wicked culture where the Bible tells us that every thought of man was on evil continually. [Gen 6:5] God determined to destroy the world. One man found favor in God’s eyes and it was Noah.
Read for yourselves what the Lord thought about Noah. “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Noah was not perfect but he distinguished himself in his generation. He went against the moral tide. He lived against the ethical tide of his generation and did not compromise. He walked with God and held fast the confession of his faith in a wicked and pagan culture. Noah had influence over his sons and their wives for they were all saved on the ark when the flood came.
Whether you are a parent, part of some church and you claim to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, or you are a friend, I exhort you not to throw you’re your influence for God. Stand firm. Don’t bow to peer pressure. Hold the standard of holiness high in your own life. Don’t lose your influence for good because of hypocrisy and compromise.
I suppose at first some of the things this man and his family saw shocked them but over time they learned to compromise their moral standards saw such acts as a way of life for the inhabitants of this wicked city. It became tolerable and then acceptable. Things rocked along like this for some time until God revealed to the beloved uncle that His judgment was coming to this wicked city.
Through some fervent intercessions from the uncle God allowed that the life of the nephew would be spared only if he and his family left the city of Sodom. God sent two messengers to reveal this message to Lot but the men of city tried to have homosexual relations with them. They surrounded the house and tried to break the door down. I know this sounds wild like some scene from a raunchy movie but you can read the whole story for yourself in [Genesis 19]. Lot in an unimaginable act of compromise and moral failure offers his two virgin daughters to this twisted group of men for the fulfillment of their out of control lust. God struck the men with blindness to protect the young girls and to give Lot the opportunity to get out of the city.
Lot wanted to go to his son in laws to warn them to get out of the city. At this point I will let the scriptures speak for themselves, “And so Lot went out and spoke to his sons in law who were to marry his daughters and said, ‘Up, get out of this place for the Lord will destroy the city.’ But he appeared to his sons in law to be jesting.” [Gen 19:14]
Lot lost the ability to have any spiritual influence over his future sons in law because of the compromise they saw in his own life. His life did not count. He took the path of least resistance and his attempt at preaching appeared foolishness to these men. They had watched Lot. They had seen him chumming up to the towns men and turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to their evil ways. Lot knew better. He was influenced by Abraham who willingly followed God away from the pagan culture of their home town. Lot for whatever reasons slid of next to sin and made his home there. He lost the ability to have any good influence on Sodom or his sons in law.
I see this same thing all the time. It breaks my heart to watch parents live hypocritical lives in front of their children and then watch the children rebel against everything they learned at church. When it is not lived out in the home, the parents forsake the right to have any spiritual influence over those children. Parents cannot get away with the philosophy of “Do as I say and not as I do.”
If parents drink alcohol you had better believe that children will follow suit and if the parents do it moderation the children are likely to do it in excess. Parents who are immoral in their sexuality will not be able to steer children away from promiscuous lifestyles. Children want and need boundaries. Those boundaries are proof of love and desire to protect the children. When there are no boundaries instead of feeling freedom children often feel unloved.
Parents are not the only ones who can lose the ability to influence for good. Look at hypocrites in the church. The pews are packed with them. This is why I have heard with my own ears that many people want nothing to do with church or with following Jesus. The church preaches one thing but often the members live a whole different life outside the stain glassed walls under the steeple. Profanity flows profusely from the lips of church members. Just as much alcohol is consumed by many so called Christians as by those with no relationship with Christ. Many “Christians” compromise standards and make concessions continually for church attendance in lieu of hunting, fishing, select sports teams, and entertainment. Sexual immorality is alive and well among people in the church. My Sunday School teacher as a teenager, who was the president of a bank and a deacon, had an affair on his wife leaving her for the other woman. His two boys were devastated and one died early during his teenage years in a late night car crash. This dad lost the ability to influence his sons for good. Sin will cost us and those close to us more than we ever imagine.
Many “Christian” teenagers who have made sexually abstinent vows have given in to compromise in moments of heated passion and thrown it all away. I think of a young man I knew in college who in a moment of passion forgot his calling to ministry and thought of sexual gratification. The girl ended up pregnant and the name of Jesus was shamed yet again. You know the preachers who have fallen immorally. Though some of them still preach, do you trust them? Do you listen to them with the same respect you once did.
David sinned in the scriptures and lost the respect of some of his children even having one who formed a coup to take the thrown from him. David had to run for his life from his very own son Absalom. David lost his influence for good in Absalom’s life.
If the church is ever going to have any influence on our communities and in our neighbors we are going to have live lives worthy of respect. Contrast Noah to Lot. Lot compromised and it cost him the lives of his future son in laws and nearly cost him the lives of his daughters and did cost him the life of his wife. Noah grew up in a wicked culture where the Bible tells us that every thought of man was on evil continually. [Gen 6:5] God determined to destroy the world. One man found favor in God’s eyes and it was Noah.
Read for yourselves what the Lord thought about Noah. “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Noah was not perfect but he distinguished himself in his generation. He went against the moral tide. He lived against the ethical tide of his generation and did not compromise. He walked with God and held fast the confession of his faith in a wicked and pagan culture. Noah had influence over his sons and their wives for they were all saved on the ark when the flood came.
Whether you are a parent, part of some church and you claim to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, or you are a friend, I exhort you not to throw you’re your influence for God. Stand firm. Don’t bow to peer pressure. Hold the standard of holiness high in your own life. Don’t lose your influence for good because of hypocrisy and compromise.
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