The Road to
Sodom
by Gene Easley
"Abram
dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain;
and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked
and sinners before the LORD exceedingly" (Genesis 13:12-13).
Lot did
not instantly move to the city of
Sodom
when he departed from Abraham. He
went first to the well-watered plains of
Jordan.
Lot
was a man who was looking out for himself.
He knew the plains of Jordan
offered far more opportunity for advancement than the part of
Canaan
that had become Abraham’s portion. Then
he saw
Sodom. It was a prosperous city.
Financially, the opportunities beckoned.
He began pitching his tent toward that city and started his journey
on the road toward
Sodom.
In
Lot’s heart he quickly began to value the things that
Sodom
valued. The people of
Sodom
did not care about the things of God, but money and pleasure captured
their hearts. It does not
appear that Lot ever fell into the sin for which
Sodom
is known, but for convenience sake he tolerated its ungodly ways.
It is apparent that Lot’s two daughters who escaped the judgment
on
Sodom,
however, did bring with them a disregard for high moral values when they
initiated incest with their father.
How did
the city of
Sodom
arrive at a place of total degradation without someone along the way
stepping in and changing its course? In
military operations there are strongholds that military units
establish--places where opposition is totally suppressed.
Perhaps, this is what happened in
Sodom. No one dared speak out
against the lifestyle of the Sodomites.
Lot kept silent, too, so that he could enjoy the good life and the
luxuries of
Sodom.
My
contention is that as
Sodom
advanced toward the day of God’s judgment and total destruction, there
had to have been some of its residents who realized they were going in the
wrong direction. For some
reason, they yielded their God-given duty and God-given right to lift
their voice and change the course. As
horrible as the sin of
Sodom
was, equally horrible was the sin of those who remained silent and refused
to be a voice for righteousness.
Many of
the major Christian denominations in
America
began in a true pursuit of God. Salvation
of the soul, separation from sin, righteousness, and faith were all on
their agendas. But today most
of them have deviated from the original course, and many find themselves
on the road to
Sodom--seemingly with no one bearing a strong enough voice to change their
direction.
When John
Wesley laid the foundation for the
Methodist
Church, he would never have dreamed that his organization would find itself on
the way to
Sodom, unable to purge out the old leaven.
During his life there never would have been a discussion among his
fellow workers as to whether homosexuals should be ordained for ministry
in the
Methodist
Church. But between the 1700s, when
Wesley’s movement began, and today enough voices have been silenced to
allow the ungodliness of
Sodom
to take a stronghold among the Methodists.
In Isaiah
1:10, God labeled His own people of
Israel
with the names of
Sodom
and Gomorrah. Speaking to
Israel, Isaiah stated, “Hear the word of the
LORD, ye rulers of
Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrah.” What a sad testimony for
those who name the name of the Lord! Isaiah
prophesied of coming judgment and desolation.
The road to
Sodom
is always the road to judgment.
In 1962, at the age of 19, I was saved in a small church that belonged to
one of the larger Pentecostal denominations in
America. At that time most of the
Pentecostal churches still preached a message of dedication to God and a
denunciation of sin. They
worshipped God with fervency and wholeheartedness (thankfully, some of
them still do). Many of their
church periodicals printed inspiring testimonies and studies of Scripture
that gave the reader spiritual help and encouragement.
Today, some of those same publications now center mostly on social
and humanitarian topics with a slant toward glorifying Hollywood and other famous celebrities and stars.
They are on a path taking them from their original course.
Because of an effort to please men instead of God, they have not
been able to escape the drift toward
Sodom. They, as well as the
mainline denominations, are on that road to destruction.
If we are not going toward God, we are headed toward Sodom.
In our day, traffic is
heavy on the road to
Sodom. It is not just among those
who do not claim Christ, but it also involves those who make a profession
to be a part of His church. Jesus
warned that the last days would be as the days of Lot: “Likewise
also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29But the same
day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven,
and destroyed them all. 30Even thus shall it be in the day when
the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30).
You cannot forsake Christ and His righteousness and end up anywhere
else but
Sodom. America
has taken the road to
Sodom, and we do not have strong enough voices speaking out to stem the tide.
Pastors have become fearful that they will be called “fire and
brimstone” preachers if they stand up strongly against sin and
immorality. They are afraid of
losing popularity and of being mocked.
So, they have backed away from denouncing sin.
We are without a voice.
We are
told that we need a “broad” mind. But
the Christian is not called of God to have a “broad” mind.
We are called to have a pure mind, a holy mind, a mind whose
thoughts and opinions are based on the Holy Scriptures.
And if we follow a call to holiness and purity, we will not end up
on the road to
Sodom.
We have
witnessed pastors and church leaders begin to surrender a little in one
area and then in another until the enemy destroyed the power of godly
conviction in the church. The
result is that the enemy has gained a stronghold.
All voices that oppose the new permissive lifestyles are silenced,
and these compromisers and all who follow them find themselves on the road
to
Sodom.
What are
the Methodists doing today? What
are the Episcopalians doing? What
are the Presbyterians doing? They
have found themselves at the gates of
Sodom, and the sad testimony is that many of them have decided that they
can’t turn back. They will
also find themselves suffering the judgment that awaits them for their
actions. The
judgment of
Sodom
was not a one-time event. God
always judges sin.
How did
Sodom
find itself in the immoral and sinful situation it was in?
There simply were not enough strong or persuasive voices along the
way to help change its course. The
only road away from
Sodom
is the road back to the Cross of Calvary.
“Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”
(Acts 20:21) is the only answer.
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following source credit: Copyright (C) 2009 by Gene Easley, Alamo, Texas.
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