There goes the neighborhood!

Sodom was, no doubt, a "bad" place.

But what were the alternatives? Are Christians living in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Detroit or Chicago -- wretched dens of iniquity all -- any less "righteous" for doing so? How about Beijing? Dubai? or Bangkok?

The Lord said the slain of Sodom would be better off in the day of judgment than many of those who dwelt in Capernaum during His mortal ministry (Matthew 11:23-24). Were Peter and his mother "unrighteous" for making their home in Capernaum? (Matthew 8:14-15.)

Sodom and Gomorrah occupied land promised to Abraham and his kin by God Himself. Was Lot "unrighteous" for living in the land God gave his uncle?

Marauders plagued the country side. Lot and his family were "foreigners", a smallish band of immigrants, mostly women, refugees from a region-wide famine that killed, among others, Lot's father. Living alone apparently presented a greater danger than living in company with others, even "sinners". 

Alien minorities, be definition, being fewer in number, have limited power to change established laws and culture. Lot's fate was bleak outside the protection of a "community" -- any community -- that would accept him and his kin. Perhaps the immorality of Sodom became apparent only after Lot relocated there. (I don't recall this valley being a haven for homosexuals when my grandfather moved here. Now it is. Should we leave?)

The New Testament clearly establishes Lot's bona fides:

2 Peter 2:6-8:

 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensemble unto those that after should live ungodly;
 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;

These verses do not describe a man who did "embrace Sodom"! Rather Lot was "vexed" by their "unlawful deeds"! Do we dare find fault with him whom the Lord Himself -- and Peter -- honored for his righteousness, calling him a "just" man, a "righteous soul"? 

Whatever the reason Lot's wife turned back -- to save her other children? to gather forgotten things? because she doubted the angels' warning? because she trusted in God's continuing mercy? -- we don't know. And we mustn't judge. Her life and death remind and warn us to obey and be faithful.

But righteous Lot? We would all do well to emulate -- and not besmirch -- his heaven-approved example.