A Worldview the Size of My Hometown

One of the craziest stories in the Bible involves God's destruction of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. God describes the cities as being so evil that not even ten righteous people could be found within their borders. God chooses to save one man and his family out of all the people who lived there. The man's name was Lot and he was only able to bring his wife and daughters with him, as his two sons-in-law didn't believe him when he tried to warn them of the coming destruction. When God delivered Lot and his family from Sodom he told them to leave without turning back. Lot's wife decided to turn back toward the city in an apparent lust for the sinful place they were leaving behind and suffered the same fate as the city she loved. This all sets the stage for one of the most disgusting stories the book of Genesis tells. Lot's daughters seemed to be under the impression that the rest of mankind was destroyed and it was therefore their responsibility to repopulate the other, or at least their responsibility to repopulate their bloodline. This thought led them to deceivingly getting their father drunk and each procreate with him on different occasions. Their crude and drastic decision led to the people groups known as the Moabites and the Ammonites, who go on to be two of the great rivals of God's chosen people in the Old Testament, the Israelites.

So what is a person supposed to make of a story like that?
There are obvious implications in regard to God's judgment against evil, but I want to focus more on Lot's family's paradigm of their hometown Sodom. It's interesting to observe not only Lot's wife's yearning to return to a city which no longer existed, but also Lot's daughters' apparent hopelessness after its destruction. Whether they actually thought the whole world suffered the fate of Sodom is unknown, but for Lot's family, Sodom was the whole world.

One thing I've found to be true as I've had the privilege of reading the Bible while traveling to different parts of the country and the world over the last decade of my life is the importance of having a worldview that expands beyond the borders of the town we call home. In no way do I intend to criticize those who have lived in one town for a lifetime. Oftentimes that's a respectable life to live, especially if someone is in a healthy environment. The problem lies in the fact that most people don't find themselves in a healthy environment. And if all that a person knows is the town they come from, they may not even know that it's not normal for everybody else.

Let me share an example of what I'm talking about. Over the last several years I've had the privilege of getting to do ministry at jails, prisons and drug rehabilitation centers. Anyone who's in a healthy mental state within those facilities is willing to admit they lived a life in the past they don't want to go back to. In fact, many don't wish to leave the confines they're currently in due to fear of going back to the place they came from and getting back into the same bad habits that got them in trouble.
It's interesting to note that though the world has 7.7 billion people, 7 continents and over 200 countries, each with hundreds of cities, our worldview tends to be limited to those towns we've resided in.

To the outside observer reading the story of Lot's daughters in Genesis 19, their actions don't make any sense. But if you were to jump into their worldview for a second and realize the fear they had because all they'd previously known was gone, perhaps their actions would seem a little more understandable. What about you? If someone with a broader understanding of the world were to observe your life would they question the logic of the decisions you make?

While travel is a fantastic adventure and I'm grateful for the places I've been fortunate enough to go to, I don't believe it's absolutely necessary to have an appreciation for perspectives outside our city limits. The Bible insists upon putting faith in God to the extent that we are challenged to see things from another perspective. Fear retreats to what we know intimately and makes all decisions on that basis. While faith fearlessly advances into new territory and embraces possibilities outside what we've been able to tangibly observe.

The story of Lot and his family runs adjacent to the story of Lot's cousin Abraham and his family. Interestingly enough, God called them both to leave from their homeland in pursuit of a greater calling. Though Abraham made many mistakes along the way, it seems that he more readily embraced a faith driven life with an expanded worldview. This led to a life of great blessing for not only himself, but also the lives of his family and those around him.

I believe God is calling us to expand our horizons. Whether it's as drastic as moving to a new place or as simple as reading about other cultures, faith is greatly enhanced when one steps out of the comforts of what we know and begins to see the life outside of the walls we naturally confine ourselves to.

Embracing the Awkward

Contrary to popular belief, I believe love is uncomfortable, at least at first. Ironically, we live in a culture that tells you the opposite, one that tells you to embrace things only if they feel right. In other words, avoid the awkward. The Bible gives a thorough definition of love in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, and I'm always struck by the line, "Love is not self seeking". In other words, love is not selfish. Yet so often when we talk about love, the conversation tends to focus on ourselves.

If love is selfless, then love must be utterly familiar with being uncomfortable. If we are to not be self seeking, then we must embrace the awkward, that which we naturally avoid. I think of meeting someone for the first time and having that awkward conversation that we really don't want to have, asking questions that we really don't care to hear the answer to. Perhaps this is because we're obsessed with our own comfort. We tend to avoid conversations that make us uncomfortable. What if we embraced meeting new people because we were genuinely interested to hear their story? What if we became oblivious to the uncomfortable because we are more concerned with the feelings of those we're speaking to than our own?

Love walks on the edge of one's comfort zone, constantly expanding the borders to new horizons, inviting the uncomfortable to share in our comfort. Love listens well to others because she cares to hear their story. Love is constantly meeting new people because he is well aware of how many wander about in such loneliness. Love becomes familiar with the unknown because she is aware that most people never leave what they know. Love is beautiful as he cares more about you and me than he does about himself. Love embraces what you and I find to be awkward because she isn't focused on her own feelings so much as she is on others'.