When I was a kid, my family attended many Campmeetings in Tennessee. My parents decided to save money on motels by staying at a KOA campground. So, we borrowed a huge tent and set up on a shaded campsite. I’ll never forget the sense of adventure I felt being on a “real” camping trip. It was such a nice campsite we wondered why no one else had claimed it.
Then it happened! While we attended one of the church services, heavy rain pounded our flimsy fortress. When we returned, everything (our luggage, bedding, food, etc.) was soaked in ankle deep water. Apparently, everyone else realized that campsite was on a low spot prone to flooding. I learned a valuable lesson—be careful where you pitch your tent.
Genesis 13 tells the story of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, a good man who made some bad decisions. Conflict erupted between their herdsmen over grazing rights. How do molehills become mountains? You just add dirt! A minor issue became a major problem, so Abraham decided they should part ways. Abraham deferred to his nephew and offered him first choice of the land. When Lot surveyed the land, he noticed the well-watered plains of Jordan. Chasing the greener grass, Lot “pitched his tent toward Sodom” (Gen. 13:12), a dreadful decision that would haunt him to his grave.
You see, nobody backslides overnight. It’s a process of drifting from God and making small decisions that take you in the wrong direction. You miss a few church services here and there. Your heart begins to grow cold. You make excuses for not praying and reading your Bible. You start hanging out with the wrong crowd. You rationalize a few compromises. Then one day you wake up like Samson in the lap of Delilah with a bad haircut or like the Prodigal Son in the pigpen eating rotten leftovers. Then you’re left with a sense of wonder—wondering what happened? Where did it all go wrong?
Lot merely pitched his tent toward Sodom. No big deal, right? Wrong! It was more like a slippery slope toward Sodom. Next thing you know he traded his tent for a house in Sodom and was sitting at the gate of sin city (Gen. 19:1). As long as he was with Uncle Abraham, he enjoyed a blessing by association with a godly man in a covenant relationship with God. When he left Abraham, he gravitated toward an evil environment that was cursed and his life began to unravel. Lot’s life is a tragic tale of what happens to people when they open the door to the wrong influences.
Gambling with his soul, Lot lost the lottery. First, he was taken hostage in a battle between nine kings (Gen. 14) and Uncle Abe rushed to his rescue. That should have been his wake-up call to get out of Dodge, but he ignored it. Lot lost his senses and was corrupted by the sick society of Sodom. How else could he offer his two virgin daughters to a mob of rapists who pounded on his door to violate the two angels who appeared as men and came to warn him (Gen. 19:1-8)? What man in his right mind would do that?
Lot lost his fortune too. When he left Abraham, he was a wealthy man with herds of livestock and many servants. When he fled Sodom, he only took what he could carry. He also lost his married daughters and their husbands who perished in the fiery judgment. They thought he was off his rocker when he warned them of pending doom (Gen. 19:14). Furthermore, he lost his wife who looked back as they fled and was turned into a pillar of salt. Jesus issued this somber warning, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk. 17:32). This was surely not just a curious glance over her shoulder to see what was happening, but rather a longing gaze, desiring to return to the sinful city that brought judgment down on her.
Lot nearly lost his own life too as he lollygagged. In fact, the angels literally took him by the hand and escorted him out of Sodom (Gen. 19:16). Finally, Lot lost his dignity when his surviving daughters, perhaps fearing they were the only people still alive, got him drunk and committed incest with him to get pregnant. The resulting children and their descendants, Moab (Moabites) and Benammi (Ammonites), became perpetual enemies of Israel. What a mess! And you think your family is dysfunctional.
All of this heartache could have been avoided if Lot had only pitched his tent in a different direction. Decisions determine our destiny. Destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice! Jesus made this comparison, “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the hour of my return” (Lk. 17:28-30, TLB). So, the next time the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, remember it’s always the greenest near the septic tank. Let’s all learn a valuable lesson from Lot—be careful where you pitch your tent.