The Sodom Effect

[aiki]

2 Peter 2:7-10
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked
8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)...​

So, let me ask you: Are you tormenting your righteous soul with the lawless deeds of the wicked? Lot had to go and live in the city of Sodom to do so, but today one only has to push a few buttons on a t.v. remote, or click a link or two online, and one can find an unending stream of vile, God-hating, Sodom-esque "entertainment" for one's "viewing pleasure." One can find shows about demons, or the devil himself; about adulterers and fornicators (called "romance"); about foul-mouthed tough guys, toting guns and knives, racking up the body-count each episode; about the corruption, danger and violence of living in a world full of walking corpses; about wise-cracking atheists who mock God at every turn; about homosexuality, or murder, or monsters.

There are video games, too, into which a person can immerse themselves for hundreds of hours, if desired, and in which a person can run over people with their car, or run along an avenue murdering people at will, or shoot and kill "the enemy" over, and over, and over again. Or one can move through a dark, demonic, death-filled world chased by hideous creatures, watching cruel acts of savagery and devilish blood-lust, or being the victim of such things oneself. Or one can adopt a persona online and engage in all sorts of perverted sexual events with other avatars, gratifying without constraint every evil sexual notion that enters one's mind.

"Goodness!" you might say, "I'd never involve myself with such things!" I'm glad to hear it. Neither would I. But many do. And some of them claim to be followers of Christ. If they really are children of God, they are doing as Lot did in Sodom, tormenting their souls with the filthy conduct of the wicked. How can this be? How do followers of Christ, called to holy lives of peace, joy and righteousness, mire themselves in the darkness and evil of the World?

It never happens in one, big leap. A God-honoring, holy follower of Christ does not awake one morning and decide suddenly to throw off all moral restraint and dive headlong into sin. No, instead, there is a gradual drift, a slow creep, toward greater and greater evil; no single motion toward the dark seeming, in itself, to be terribly harmful or wrong. And so, its fairly easy to justify to oneself the small compromises one makes on the way into Sodom. "I don't want to be legalistic. There's freedom in Christ," "This is just how the non-Christian acts. I can't expect them to live like I do," "I don't feel bothered by this stuff. My conscience isn't troubled by watching this wickedness," "It isn't real. It's just make-believe," and so on. Employing these sorts of rationalizations, resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit in doing so, investing time and attention (and money, too,) in compromising things, the heart of a child of God is darkened, their conscience dulled, their passion for God diluted and diminished as they settle comfortably into Sodom.

The compromises are gratifying, too. Dwelling in Sodom feels good. As Scripture notes, there is "pleasure in sin - for a season." (Hebrews 11:25) Those rotten movies Christians watch make them laugh, or thrill them, or maybe even move them to tears. Never mind that they get covered in moral filth in the process by giving audience to wickedness of all sorts; what's important is that there is some gratifying moment in the movie that the compromising Christian can say has redeemed their having been well-splattered by the mud of immorality while they watched it.

Birds of a feather flock together. It's amazing how morally-compromised, nominal, carnal Christians gravitate to each other. And when they do, they form an echo chamber of compromised living, confirming and supporting each other in occupying Sodom. Insulated from dissenting voices, bolstered by what appears to be the majority, the "common experience" of fellow believers, Christians living in Sodom, living in spiritual and moral compromise with the evil entertainments and distractions of the World, hear the voice of their uncompromised fellows to come out of Sodom and dismiss them as "fringe," or "fundamentalist," or "legalistic."

It is not legalism to speak of Christian holiness, to urge fellow believers to moral purity, to righteous, God-honoring living, but the command of Scripture, of God Himself:

Psalm 101:2-4
2 I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

Ephesians 5:3-12
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
14 ...what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

James 4:4
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15-16
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

The final end of the city of Sodom and of those who dwelt within it was utter destruction. Lot narrowly escaped that destruction but many others did not. God promises us all - saved and unsaved - that corruption, destruction and death ALWAYS comes from sinful compromise. (Romans 6:23; James 1:13-15; Galatians 6:7-8, etc.) God would rather that you walked with Him in holiness, shunning the filthy conduct of the wicked, fixing your eyes constantly upon the Saviour whom you love (2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 12:2-3), blessed as a consequence with deep, rich fellowship with him. But, those who refuse to leave Sodom, suffer not only the torment of their souls, but sooner or later reap the harvest of death that the poison of Sodom produces. I hope and pray this will not be you and that you will be one, instead, who stands outside the walls of Sodom, in love and mercy calling to your brethren to forsake its ruinous "delights" before it's too late.

Jude 1:20-23
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
22 And have mercy on those who doubt;
23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

 

[TheWhat?]

[Psa 107:1-43 NKJV] 1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for [He is] good! For His mercy [endures] forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so], Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, 3 And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, [And] He delivered them out of their distresses. 7 And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. 8 Oh, that [men] would give thanks to the LORD [for] His goodness, And [for] His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. 10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons-- 11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High, 12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and [there was] none to help. 13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, [And] He saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces. 15 Oh, that [men] would give thanks to the LORD [for] His goodness, And [for] His wonderful works to the children of men! 16 For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two. 17 Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. 18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, [And] He saved them out of their distresses. 20 He sent His word and healed them, And delivered [them] from their destructions. 21 Oh, that [men] would give thanks to the LORD [for] His goodness, And [for] His wonderful works to the children of men! 22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing. 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, 24 They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. 25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. 26 They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits' end. 28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. 29 He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. 30 Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. 31 Oh, that [men] would give thanks to the LORD [for] His goodness, And [for] His wonderful works to the children of men! 32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders. 33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; 34 A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. 36 There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place, 37 And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. 38 He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease. 39 When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, 40 He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness [where there is] no way; 41 Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes [their] families like a flock. 42 The righteous see [it] and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth. 43 Whoever [is] wise will observe these [things], And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

[1Ti 4:1-5 NKJV] 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

 

[Abaxvahl]

Insulated from dissenting voices, bolstered by what appears to be the majority, the "common experience" of fellow believers, Christians living in Sodom, living in spiritual and moral compromise with the evil entertainments and distractions of the World, hear the voice of their uncompromised fellows to come out of Sodom and dismiss them as "fringe," or "fundamentalist," or "legalistic."​

This message convicts me also, and this part about the voices reminded me of a relevant Psalm which traditionally in many places is prayed every morning especially for this portion after Psalm 3, it is Psalm 94:8-11 (95 in Hebrew):

"Today if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
'Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.'"

And who can forget God's call in Revelation 18? "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities."

 

[anna ~ grace]

I’ve realized that some secular music and me is not a good mix. Some songs stir up feelings of anger, despair, loneliness, excessive guilt, and other feelings, and they’re off my playlist.

 

[TheWhat?]

[Ecc 3:12-15 NKJV] 12 I know that nothing [is] better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor--it [is] the gift of God. 14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does [it], that men should fear before Him. 15 That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.

[Ecc 12:11-14 NKJV] 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books [there is] no end, and much study [is] wearisome to the flesh. 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

[Rev 22:14 NKJV] 14 Blessed [are] those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

It is good to ensure that holiness is not made an idol that ignores the core teachings that relate to how we should treat others. Stoicism with a poker face is not holiness.

 

[aiki]

It is good to ensure that holiness is not made an idol that ignores the core teachings that relate to how we should treat others. Stoicism with a poker face is not holiness.

Yes, it is important that holiness not be made an idol. I'm not sure, though, why this is the comment you've made in response to my OP. Are you thinking that I am urging believers to worship of the "idol" of holiness? If so, please show where this happens in what I wrote. If not, what is motivating your warning about holiness being made an idol?

I'm also puzzled by your description of holiness that "ignores the core teachings" concerning how we ought to treat each other. No godly, Christ-centered, loving interactions between Christians happen apart from holiness. It just isn't possible to say one is treating their brother or sister in Christ in a right and godly way but not in a holy way (or vice versa). Right and godly treatment requires holiness in order to be right and godly.

I certainly wasn't espousing Stoicism in my OP. I did, though, show from God's word several scriptural commands to Christians to forsake evil and live holy lives. Nothing in those commands could be construed as Stoicism. Why, then, make a comment about it?

It has been my observation that modern, western Christians have taken up a strange fear of the concept of holiness. Many of them connect this most vital aspect of Christian living to legalism, to Puritanical caricatures, to self-righteousness and religious pride. While all of these things serve as twisted, ultimately evil versions of it, the holiness to which God commands all of His children remains non-negotiable, an absolute essential of the Christian life. When, though, western believers warn each other off the twisted versions of holiness they all fear, often they are not careful to urge strong fidelity to genuine, biblical holiness. As a result, all holiness is assumed to be necessarily the legalistic caricatures of movies and stories and all talk of holiness walking the path toward these caricatures. But as I pointed out in my OP, holiness is crucial to walking with God (Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1). There is no fellowship with a holy God in a life rife with compromise and sin.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Yes, it is important that holiness not be made an idol. I'm not sure, though, why this is the comment you've made in response to my OP. Are you thinking that I am urging believers to worship of the "idol" of holiness? If so, please show where this happens in what I wrote. If not, what is motivating your warning about holiness being made an idol?

I'm also puzzled by your description of holiness that "ignores the core teachings" concerning how we ought to treat each other. No godly, Christ-centered, loving interactions between Christians happen apart from holiness. It just isn't possible to say one is treating their brother or sister in Christ in a right and godly way but not in a holy way (or vice versa). Right and godly treatment requires holiness in order to be right and godly.

I certainly wasn't espousing Stoicism in my OP. I did, though, show from God's word several scriptural commands to Christians to forsake evil and live holy lives. Nothing in those commands could be construed as Stoicism. Why, then, make a comment about it?

It has been my observation that modern, western Christians have taken up a strange fear of the concept of holiness. Many of them connect this most vital aspect of Christian living to legalism, to Puritanical caricatures, to self-righteousness and religious pride. While all of these things serve as twisted, ultimately evil versions of it, the holiness to which God commands all of His children remains non-negotiable, an absolute essential of the Christian life. When, though, western believers warn each other off the twisted versions of holiness they all fear, often they are not careful to urge strong fidelity to genuine, biblical holiness. As a result, all holiness is assumed to be necessarily the legalistic caricatures of movies and stories and all talk of holiness walking the path toward these caricatures. But as I pointed out in my OP, holiness is crucial to walking with God (Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1). There is no fellowship with a holy God in a life rife with compromise and sin.

The post begins with a slippery slope argument that relies on a counter scriptural argument of "taste not, touch not, handle not" commandments that have no value in restraining sensual indulgence. Thus the reference to Stoicism.

Since this is the discipleship area, that focus concerned me since the scripture says this type of focus doesn't produce Godly results but this focus is still being used.

The slippery slope argument did not illustrate how relationships break down or have any relationship focus in them, so it falls under the category of behavior modification to appear holy, thus the reference to the poker face.

 

[aiki]

The post begins with a slippery slope argument that relies on a counter scriptural argument of "taste not, touch not, handle not" commandments that have no value in restraining sensual indulgence. Thus the reference to Stoicism.

Interesting. I described the entertainment practices of some Christians, likening those practices to Lot's living in Sodom, daily an audience to its wickedness. And then I described why it is people who are genuinely born-again might end up in a kind of "Sodom" in the entertainments they choose. My aim in the OP, though, wasn't to prescribe the means of "leaving Sodom," of living a holy life, but was to highlight that the Christian who "lives in Sodom" by willfully choosing to make themselves an audience to wickedness in their entertainment choices is not living a holy, God-honoring life and is also setting themselves up for the ruination that comes from "dwelling in Sodom."

I did not, though, anywhere suggest that "leaving Sodom" was accomplished through "taste not, touch not, handle not commandments." This is what you assumed my thinking was, but if you had read the many other threads I've started on the Discipleship subforum, you'd know that Stoicism is not at all what I would have recommended as the way of achieving a holy life. It seems, then, you have mistaken description for prescription and jumped to a faulty conclusion, as a result.

Since this is the discipleship area, that focus concerned me since the scripture says this type of focus doesn't produce Godly results but this focus is still being used.

Well, as I've explained, you appear to have mistaken the "type of focus" of my OP pretty seriously. As many of my other threads in this subforum reveal, I don't believe or recommend "escaping Sodom" by mere alteration of the externals of one's living.

The slippery slope argument did not illustrate how relationships break down or have any relationship focus in them, so it falls under the category of behavior modification to appear holy, thus the reference to the poker face.

"Slippery Slope Argument"? Are you saying people who take up occupancy of "Sodom" in their entertainments, watching dark, vile things, playing games full of death, the demonic, and/or the sexual, do so in one giant leap, going suddenly from a holy joy in God and a life of obedience to Him to a life occupied with, and delighting in, sin? I've never seen this. Ever. Instead, what I have observed - over and over again - is exactly what I described in my OP. Call it a Slippery Slope Argument if you like, but it is, in my experience, precisely what has happened in my life in the past and in the lives of many, many believers I've known and discipled over the last thirty years. While it is not always the case that one small thing will lead to another in every instance we might imagine, in this case, in the case of Christian believers and their compromise with the World and sin, a gradual decline IS the typical course they follow. And so, I described this decline.

But, again, describing this decline is not the same as prescribing a means of altering it. Such prescriptions may be found in other of my many threads in this subforum, which is why I did not offer such prescriptions in this thread.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Interesting. I described the entertainment practices of some Christians, likening those practices to Lot's living in Sodom, daily an audience to its wickedness. And then I described why it is people who are genuinely born-again might end up in a kind of "Sodom" in the entertainments they choose. My aim in the OP, though, wasn't to prescribe the means of "leaving Sodom," of living a holy life, but was to highlight that the Christian who "lives in Sodom" by willfully choosing to make themselves an audience to wickedness in their entertainment choices is not living a holy, God-honoring life but is also setting themselves up for the ruination that comes from "dwelling in Sodom."

I did not, though, anywhere suggest that "leaving Sodom" was accomplished through "taste not, touch not, handle not commandments." This is what you assumed my thinking was, but if you had read the many other threads I've started on the Discipleship subforum, you'd know that Stoicism is not at all what I would have recommended as the way of achieving a holy life. It seems, then, you have mistaken description for prescription and jumped to a faulty conclusion, as a result.



Well, as I've explained, you appear to have mistaken the "type of focus" of my OP pretty seriously. As many of my other threads in this subforum reveal, I don't believe or recommend "escaping Sodom" by mere alteration of the externals of one's living.



"Slippery Slope Argument"? Are you saying people who take up occupancy of "Sodom" in their entertainments, watching dark, vile things, playing games full of death, the demonic, and/or the sexual, do so in one giant leap, going suddenly from a holy joy in God and a life of obedience to Him to a life occupied with, and delighting in, sin? I've never seen this. Ever. Instead, what I have observed - over and over again - is exactly what I described in my OP. Call it a Slippery Slope Argument if you like, but it is, in my experience, precisely what has happened in my life in the past and in the lives of many, many believers I've known and discipled over the last thirty years. While it is not always the case that one small thing will lead to another in every instance we might imagine, in this case, in the case of Christian believers and their compromise with the World and sin, a gradual decline IS the typical course they follow. And so, I described this decline.

But, again, describing this decline is not the same as prescribing a means of altering it. Such prescriptions may be found in other of my many threads in this subforum, which is why I did not offer such prescriptions in this thread.

It appears we're talking about different things.

Thanks for the discussion.

 

[TheWhat?]

Sometimes people don't understand why I don't seem to preach about sin. Don't get me wrong, I do sometimes criticize sin, and when I do, I hit the subject as hard as I can. But the real reason I don't preach about sin is because the law cannot save us.

[Mat 19:25-26 NKJV] 25 When His disciples heard [it], they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at [them] and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

[Mat 19:17 NKJV] 17 "No one [is] good but One, [that is], God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

[2Co 3:14-17 NKJV] 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the [veil] is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.

Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and I think he was for a reason. We can't save ourselves. Neither can we be obedient, ourselves -- it is impossible for men. It's not that I have anything against teachings about sin; scripture speaks enough about that as it is; it just doesn't do any good if we miss the target. It seems to me that sometimes, christians can be so sin-centered, that they lose sight of the good, and while some prefer to target and attack sin, I choose a different approach.

[Luk 18:13 NKJV] 13 "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise [his] eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'

 

[aiki]

I would never urge being "sin-centered." And as my threads on this subforum show, I haven't. What I am doing in this one thread is pointing out the necessity of holiness, contrasting it with the highly-compromised living many western Christians have taken up. We cannot do, as Christians, without a holy character of living. Holiness is essential to walking well with God, to enjoying Him fully. (Hebrews 12:14) But we understand holiness in part by contrast to that which is its opposite, to sin. My OP for this thread challenged, in particular, the common practice of many Christians I know who, in the forms of entertainment they adopt, make themselves, like Lot in Sodom, a willing audience to evil.

Although, the NT is replete with exhaustive condemnations of sin and filled with injunctions to pursue righteousness, this isn't the case because the Law can save anyone. It simply doesn't follow that focusing on and condemning sin means one is urging law-keeping as a means of salvation. If this was so, every contributor to the NT would be guilty of teaching legalistic, works-salvation doctrine. This isn't, of course, at all what they actually teach, though they frequently condemn sin in a wide variety of forms. It is a modern equivocation of holiness with legalism that, in my experience, provokes Christians to shy well away from the important topic that holy living actually is in God's word.