Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

A Woman Seduced by the Good Life

A free verse poem based on Genesis 19:12-26

Her role in history is summed up by 12 Old Testament words:

"But Lot's wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt."

Just 12 words.

One sentence.

A whole life!

In the New Testament Jesus summed her up too

with the second shortest verse in the Bible:

"Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:32)

Just three words.

Why should we "remember Lot's wife?"

Why not "remember Sarah."

or "remember Esther"

or "remember Deborah"

Jesus said, "remember Lot's wife."

For what did Jesus want us to remember her?

What kind of lady was she?

We do not even know her name.

Just "Lot's wife."

Most woman don't like to be known as a "wife."

They'd rather be known as themselves...

Not as a tagalong, or Tonto

So we're seeing the disappearance of "Mrs."

And "First lady" or "Pastor's wife."

Women prefer being a whole person,

not as a half-couple.

I don't know how Lot's wife would feel about this.

It would be better if we knew her name.

We could say, "Remember Edith"

or "Remember Lois"

or Remember Amber."

Instead, all we have is "Lot's wife."

Then again,

Maybe that's exactly what she was.

"A wife."

Maybe she was one of those women

whose only goal in life

is to be a wife and mother.

If so, she failed at both.

She was a poor wife,

and a worse mother.

How did her life turn out so badly?

It was certainly not her intention.

Can you imagine a wife and mother

wanting to destroy her family

and leave behind a bad example for all to remember.

Almost 40 centuries later?

Certainly she planned for better.

Like all wives, she must have started out

with better hopes.

To really make something out of her husband,

so overshadowed by his Uncle Abraham.

Perhaps she saw potential there.

And, hoped to help him succeed.

And what of her daughters.

What new mother doesn't

want the best for her daughters?

To get the opportunities she never had.

To make something of themselves.

To go on and get their education,

succeed!

Certainly Lot's wife must have hoped for these things.

But she was a failure as wife and mother.

And she is remembered only as a failure.

Jesus even reminds us to remember her failure.

How did this happen?

What ruined her example?

A simple family decision.

And, what was that important decision?

Was it which God to serve?

Which doctrine to believe?

Some great theological issue?

What momentous decision destroyed this woman's witness?

The decision about where to live.

A simple family decision.

We all make them:

Should we live in the country or the city?

Should we stay in this apartment, or buy a house?

Should we buy a house or build our own?

Should we fix up an old house or build a new one?

Should we move nearer our work or stay here?

Should we just stay here and add on to this house?

Simple decisions.

Family decisions.

Ordinary decisions.

But where Lot and his wife went wrong.

Was in making a simple family decision wrongly.

They ignored the massive moral consequences imbedded in

a simple decision about where to live.

How did Lot and his wife make this decision?

Did they pray about it?

How did Lot decide where to live.

Did he even ask his wife?

If he did, we don't know what she said.

But her later action hints at what she might have said.

Maybe they took that day's equivalent of a legal pad

and jotted down the pros and cons.

Did they consider the educational angle?

The thriving city of Sodom

offered an enriched educational advantage

for their two daughters.

Chalk one vote up for Sodom.

What kind of education could they get

wandering around the academically deprived mountains

With sheep and goats?

Did they consider the material angle?

They were already rich.

After all that's why they were splitting with Abraham.

Both were too rich for one area.

But, beside rich, there's rich-er.

What good is wealth in the wilderness.

The value of wealth is in the spending. Consumption.

They could take their wealth they earned as shepherds

and leverage it to make some really big bucks in Sodom.

And, maybe even of greater consequence,

in Sodom there were *houses*, not just drafty dusty tents.

And there were shops,

supplies,

silks,

entertainment,

dining out...

shopping malls!

Sodom was clearly the best choice materially.

Make that two votes for Sodom.

Perhaps they considered job advancement.

How far can you climb the ladder in the wilderness?

In Sodom Lot could rise up in the world.

maybe become a leader,

perhaps even get on the town council.

Her wandering husband,

Abraham's Tonto,

might become the leading citizen

of such a town.

Now wouldn't that be a good witness for God?

Sodom made good sense materially.

One more vote for Sodom.

Or maybe they considered the move socially.

The isolated mountains were lonely.

Perhaps Lot's wife was going cabin crazy,

at least tent crazy.

She hungered for social companionship.

To be with other women...

go to a carry-in dinner,

a class party,

have a neighbor over for coffee.

Things you don't do in the wilderness.

Was she tired of boring sameness?

same Lot

same two daughters

same hired hands.

Same sheep, same goats, same tent,

same, same, same.

Cooped up.

Lonesome.

Lonely.

In Sodom there would be people!

Lots of people.

Hustle. Bustle. Busy people.

Other women to visit,

women to talk with at the well.

maybe a women's Bible study to join.

Beside all this,

there were her daughters' social lives to consider.

They'd be a marriageable age soon.

What kind of mother would hide

her beautiful daughters in the mountains

with no fine men around

except hired hands?

Score: Sodom 4, wilderness 0.

Who knows what other angles they considered?

We don't even know if they thought about these.

But if they did,

you can see why they "pitched their tent toward Sodom"

then later moved into a pleasant modern house

inside Sodom,

and finally

wound up

becoming Sodom's leading citizens.

So, what was wrong with their decision?

Aren't educational, and material factors important?

What's wrong with considering career advancement

or social life

in making a family move?

Nothing.

It is what Lot and his wife left out

of their decision-making process:

they left out spiritual values.

Lot and his wife made what appeared to be a sensible choice.

A practical family decision with grave moral consequences.

They just failed to consider

the spiritual results of their choice.

What good is a fine education for your daughters

if they wind up sexually seducing your husband?

What good is material advancement

if it all gets destroyed by fire anyway?

What good is a varied and exciting social life

if your daughters get engaged to godless men?

What good is climbing the career ladder

if it leads to spiritual coolness and compromise?

These were the factors the Lots

failed to weigh carefully.

So, Lot's wife was seduced by the good life.

What she missed figuring was

how powerful an attraction

the good life would have on her.

The *good life* satisfied something...

It met an inner craving,

fulfilled a deep hunger in her life...

to have,

to hold,

to live well,

to be comfortable,

to be secure,

....is this too much to ask?

So, Lot's wife moved into Sodom.

And gradually

almost imperceptibly

Sodom got a grip on her.

Her mind set became secularized.

Her values materialistic.

When two angels warn of the coming destruction

she will not believe it.

She cannot leave it.

The angels must take them by the hand

and force them out of the city.

But she is now safe,

for the moment.

A woman forcefully dragged away

from everything she owned.

Everything she had worked for, all these years.

Her house,

garden,

flowers,

back yard,

friends,

stature in the community,

her furniture,

dishes,

fine clothing.

It is all going up in smoke.

One of the angels warns,

"Flee for your lives!

Don't look back."

But it is a useless warning

to Lot's wife.

Her fear of God is gone.

She now loves the good life

more than the Godly life.

Her heart is in Sodom,

Her eyes follow her heart.

She

looks

back!

And... She is frozen...

into a pillar of salt.

And, almost 2000 years later Jesus will say,

"Remember Lot's wife."

To remind us that

a simple family decision can have grave moral consequences.

And,

that, when you move into Sodom

Sodom has a way

of moving into you.

So what do you think?

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu