What happens when we find out we are Lot instead of Abraham?
Last week I talked about the amazing example of our father Abraham, of his faith and trust in the Lord, to go where ever the Lord called him to go and to do whatever was asked of him. He waited 25 years for his covenant son, then was willing to sacrifice him when asked (now I'm not saying that Abram was perfect, there was a time or two when his faith didn't extend as far as Heavenly Father's plan and he did try to do things his own way, yet as he tried, sometimes failed, sometimes mis-directed he went back to the Lord for direction and as he did his faith was refined until he exhibited the faith to have his exaltation made sure).
Yet even acknowledging Abraham's moments of imperfection I wonder if sometimes we don't feel more like Lot than we do like Abraham. Lot had grand potential and good desires (as far as we can tell). He desired to live peaceably with Abraham and to do the Lord's will, yet over time like the frog in the boiling pot of water (cliche true, but effective) or as it says in Nephi being led away by a flaxen cord, what started with Lot just having his tent pointed toward Sodom soon (soon being a relative term) led to him living there listening to men at his door propositioning angels, yes I said propositioning, the men of the city had gotten so bad that they sought to corrupt the purity of angels and Lot's virgin daughters. Yet that night, as they fled a burning city, Lot's wife still looked back, she was drawn more to a city and a people who would rape her daughters than of a life that the Lord was leading her to. When the angels first came to escort Lot and his family away they told Lot to talk to his son-in-laws, yet those son-in-laws said that the city was good enough for them. (Mind you according to Ezekiel 16:49-50 Sodom also struggled with pride, over abundance and abundance of idleness and not giving to the poor, those too are sins we see all around us.)
Yet as I am typing this I don't mean to pass judgment, am I shocked at the apathy and depravity? Yes, and that is why I am seeking to type this in such plain language. God doesn't save a city for no reason, in order to save a land from such depravity and to prevent innocent children from being born to those cities to be corrupted He decreed its end. If there had even been ten people in that city He would have decreed it safe, yet there was not, so Lot was encouraged to leave. This is the world we live in today, Pres Benson, Pres Kimball and Pres Packer have all said that we live in a world of wickedness comparable to Sodom and Gomorrah.
"“These are days of great spiritual danger for our youth,” President Packer said. He said that he knows of no time when worse things were so widely accepted in the world, not even in the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. While evil was localized then, he pointed out, it has now spread across the world."
(https://www.lds.org/ensign/2004/04/news-of-the-church/youth-need-inoculation-against-the-world?lang=eng)
Yet as I said above, though I feel in my bones a call to repentance, I also realize that I cannot judge, for I struggle to leave behind the things of this world. Oh how I wish I could be an Abraham, but often I feel like a Lot or a Lot's wife. The scriptures don't tell us their goals or desires, we don't know what specific path led them to leaving Sodom one night, with one making it to a cave and the other becoming salt, but it shows us what happens when we pitch our tent toward Babylon and that can happen in so many ways. One small example for me is music. Due to certain aspects of my job there can be some days when I can listen to music for hours at a time, so I can get bored with the more uplifting music after listening to it on repeat. Then even knowing that the more uplifting music sets a better tone in my work environment and helps me feel closer to the Spirit, I still make the choice to click other music instead. Nothing that seems explicitly bad, yet not uplifting either, then sooner than I care to think my youtube playlist has gone to pot and I have to start all over again.
Yes the world is enticing, it's the nature of being a mortal fallen being on a fallen earth. Sometimes the things of the Spirit don't come naturally to us, sometimes we reach for frustration, anger or judgment instead of loving-kindness, compassion and empathy. Just now as I've been scrolling through facebook I've been assaulted by the many divided posts about gun-control and violence. I realize myself that I have strong feelings in this debate, yet instead of trying to tell other people why I'm right, what if I took the time just to listen. I wonder what good would come if we all just listened.
I wish I knew what my over all point is tonight, I guess I am tired of a wicked world one that we won't admit really is as wicked as it is. We get so caught up in the battle of legislation that we miss that our society is a mess and love would go a really long way (I think we all realize love needs to be part of the equation, yet somehow it gets buried). I am tired of hearing All is Well in Zion.... 2 Ne 28:20-21
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateththeir souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
We live in a wicked world and we need to admit it and face what that means. What got Lot and his family, apathy, that things just weren't that bad. I realize that we are bearers of light and truth and we can make an amazing difference in a darkening world. But first we have to realize the world is a dark place, the adversary is on the move and we need to realize that so that our defenses are raised, we are seeking the light, we are seeking the Savior and we are ready for battle. Satan is seeking to lull away this generation, to slowly accept what the world has to offer, to convince that we need to be on the "right side of history". We always respond with love, at the same time we say what we feel and know to be true. What the world has to offer is toxic in large enough doses, it doesn't matter how big your small dose is if you just keep going back for more. And that dose can be divisiveness, apathy, sins of omission or commission.
My dear brothers and sisters, please see the world for what is truly going on, we can't keep saying the world isn't that bad yet, certainly it can still get worse, but it is already pretty bad. It is time to armor up, come to grips with what is going on and be willing to fight for our souls, for this is an eternal war infinitely worth fighting for.
Yes some moments we are Abraham and some moments we are Lot, yet through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, we can change, we can be more than we think we can and we can change the world. We aren't a weather vane being tossed about by every wind that blows our way. No we must be the light house, on a firm foundation that guides others to safety through the wind, rain and darkness.
*I don't share these views as doctrine, but hopefully as food for thought
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