Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah and Millennials

I recently heard a sermon on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The pastor, my friend Ken Holdorf, focused on the mercy that God showed to Lot and his family, rescuing them from the destruction of the evil cities.  It got thinking about another lesson that could be taken from the story.  That's a danger that comes having preached a few sermons in my life.  I often process the message in terms of what would I have done with the text?  In this case, I got to thinking about how it might relate to our ministry to millennials. 

To understand why Lot and his family were in danger we need to go back to a decision that he had made years earlier.  In Genesis 13 Abraham and Lot separate.  Lot, Abraham's nephew, had relocated to Israel with the rest of the family but a problem had developed.  As Lot's family grew, there was not enough property to accommodate them all.  Abraham proposed that they separate and gave Lot the option of staying or moving elsewhere.  Lot looked around and saw that there were greener pastures on plains near the Jordan River.  "It's looks good.  I will live there," he stated.  There was one problem with Lot's decision; he put he and his family at risk.  Lot and his family settled near the city of Sodom.  Genesis 13:13 specifically states, "the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.  Not the place you want to raise a family.

I have seen the same thing countless times during my years in youth ministry.  Young people often make decisions that put themselves at risk.  They make decisions based on what looks good, or what is fashionable at the time.  When that happens they can end up going down a dangerous road.  In the process they could get hurt, and/or cause grief to those who love them.  The lesson we can learn from Lot's story is that we have a God who loves those who have made poor choices.  He longs to be reunited with those who have wandered astray.  Our God loves the broken and lost. 

We are messengers who need to deliver God's mercy and grace.  We are called to pray for those who have made poor choices and gone astray.  It can be difficult when we are the ones who have been hurt.  Sometime their poor choices have cost us money, in addition to the sleepless nights. The mistakes might even be obvious to us.  As a result we feel a need to blame or offer advice, when what we really need to be doing is loving them, accepting them and helping them move on.