Shameless

 If, as Mark Twain said, man is the only animal that blushes – or needs to, what can we infer when certain ones among us stop blushing altogether? Is a man still a man when nothing he considers, says, or does make him blush anymore? It’s gone beyond the inability to blush, though, and nowadays, the things that ought to make men blush and slink away in shame are considered virtues to be proud of and celebrated.

It’s not a new thing. Since the beginning, sin has robbed men of sense and shame; likewise, there is always a tipping point where God says enough! That moment came when the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded he bring out the angels that were in his home so that they may know them carnally.

Genesis 19:4-5, “Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’”

It wasn’t just a handful of misguided souls that came to Lot’s house and surrounded it; it was all the people from every quarter, young and old. They made their intentions clear, and they weren’t to sit down to a cup of tea and some lamb kebobs. When sin consumes a life, there no longer remains any shame, no matter how distasteful or unnatural the depravity is. Sin has no limits. There is no innocence it will not attempt to corrupt; there are no depths to which it will not descend. This is the preeminent reason sin cannot be reasoned or negotiated with.

Within hours, the entire city had mobilized itself and came to Lot’s house, attempting to defile the newcomers. Men will mobilize in service to evil in a heartbeat, but in doing good, even those who claim to be of the household of faith drag their feet. If there’s an audience and the cameras are rolling, they’ll do just enough to seem magnanimous, but when the lights stop flashing, and the cameras stop recording, their enthusiasm wanes.

The men of Sodom saw nothing wrong in their actions. They saw nothing depraved or immoral in demanding that two strangers who had just entered their city be brought out that they might be defiled. When considering that much of the contemporary church doesn’t have the discernment to call sin by name anymore and has put its hand in helping to normalize the most debased of practices, one begins to understand why the judgment of God is no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when.

At least Lot recognized it for what it was and called it wickedness. Today’s spiritual leaders are bending over backward to convince their followers that the attempted gang rape of two angels wasn’t that wicked after all when compared to being inhospitable. If only they’d brought a muffin basket along, the entire matter could have been avoided—first, some finger foods and tea sandwiches, then the gang rape.

When we fail to confront sin and call it what it is, given enough time, sin will come to dictate terms, and it will not be as permissive toward the righteous as the righteous were toward sin. Lot’s soul was vexed, but he said nothing. He did not call the men of Sodom to repentance, nor did he insist that what they were doing was wicked until they were at his door, trying to force themselves into his home to get at the two angels inside.

What have you been permissive of that is now demanding deference? What is it that you turned a blind eye to that is now insisting you bow before it? What sins has your church coddled and swept under the rug to the point that if you don’t show up draped in a rainbow telling Bob that he’s brave and beautiful for calling himself Betty, you’re shunned and ostracized?

Most people don’t like broaching uncomfortable topics; the devil knows it too. We would rather kick the can down the road than confront obvious wickedness because we don’t want to be that guy or gal. Ever so slowly, we are beginning to understand that if we do not confront it, the wickedness will just continue to grow and metastasize into something ever more horrific until it’s on our doorstep, trying to force itself into our homes, attempting to corrupt all semblance of innocence.

Lot was fortunate enough to have two angels in his home, who pulled him back into the house and blinded the men who were at the doorway. If they’d been just a regular human visiting Lot, the story would likely have a different ending.

Don’t wait until the depraved are surrounding your house before you stand up. Don’t wait until they are kicking in your door to say something. By then, it will be too late. We choose what we accept and validate in our lives. We choose what we allow to pass as normal and what we call out as sinful, debauched, or depraved.

The one hard and fast rule is that if you claim to be a child of God and He is against something, you should be against it as well. If you accept what God rejects, then you are His in name only, but your heart belongs to another master.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.