Sermonette: Lessons from Lot

The Anti-Hero In Us All
#899s

Given 06-Sep-08; 19 minutes

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In stories, an anti-hero is an individual who gets the job accomplished, but through pragmatism, compromise, and bending morals. Abraham's nephew, Lot, fits into this category. Lot judged for himself, pitching his tent toward evil Sodom, an area from which he had to be rescued. Even though he stopped short of yielding to perversion, his judgment was tainted by the continuous association with evil, becoming hardened and cynical even though he, as a self-proclaimed judge, preached against perversion. Because Lot tolerated evil, having chosen to live in Sodom—one foot in the world and the other on a slippery banana peel—he was not taken seriously by his sons-in-law. Lot's daughters persuaded him to get drunk and have sexual relations with them in order to continue the lineage. Lot's choice to co-exist with sin caused him and his family to be dysfunctional, unable to distinguish the sacred from the profane. Regarding Lot, we do not know what God chose to characterize as "righteous," but we need to reserve judgment, realizing that we also have been tainted by our surroundings.




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