Lot's Desire: Genesis 19:1-11
When our heart resides with the world, it cannot simultaneously reside with God. Jesus tells us our heart cannot serve two masters. Frequently, our heart willingly pays the cost required to get the world’s stuff. But when the world has our heart, our heart doesn’t want to pay the cost of letting go of the world to receive from the Lord.
Lot was at the gate of the city when the angels of the Lord came. In ancient cities, the leaders of the city manned the gate. They watched over the city and took note of who came. They looked over the goods being brought into the city to make sure proper taxes were collected and underhanded business practices were discouraged. In this story, Lot is acting as a combination of market manager and IRS agent.
Since Lot is in this role, he has power in Sodom. Lot doesn’t just live in Sodom, Lot helps rule Sodom. Lot is a part of the power structure. He belongs to Sodom.
Lot invites the men – clearly unrecognized travelers and not familiar farmers come to sell their goods – to stay at his house. Perhaps he thought they had money to spend and desired to establish relationship and earn favor. Perhaps Lot knew the habits of Sodom and wanted to spare them the consequences. Either he’s thinking about his own gain or ashamed of Sodom’s behavior. If he’s thinking about his own gain, that speaks to his character. If he’s ashamed of the behavior of the people, his choice to remain – even to go back after being rescued by Abraham – speaks to his character.
Lot has an issue. Further exploration of this passage will expose his issue. When the townsfolk come to his house, Lot tries to exchange his daughters for the travelers. He doesn’t want to seem unhospitable to the travelers, but he doesn’t want to lose face in the town. He’s willing to trade his own daughters to save his communal standing! Fortunately, the travelers think of an easier solution to the problem. They pull Lot inside and shut the door. That’s a far better solution than offering up one’s own daughters as a trade. Granted, striking the townsfolk with blindness likely also helped prevent further disturbance.
Lot’s issue is that his heart belongs more to the world than it does to God. It all began when Abraham and Lot parted ways. Lot chose the side that reminded him of Egypt (the world). Then, Lot chose to dwell in the city to continue to increase his wealth rather than live on the land as God directed Abraham. Next, Lot became a power player in the city to increase his standing. Finally, Lot willingly trades his own daughters to maintain his standing in the world. Lot’s problem is an unwillingness to give up the ways of the world to follow God’s ways. When our heart resides with the world, it cannot simultaneously reside with God.
