Christian Credibility

One of my least favorite characters in the Bible is Abraham’s nephew Lot.  There is so much to find fault with Lot.  I find nearly every decision and action of his to be despicable.  In the passage below, the angels who spent the night with him, told him that they are going to destroy the city.  Here is the passage from the Bible:

Genesis 19:1-14 KJV  And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;  2  And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.  3  And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.  4  But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:  5  And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.  6  And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,  7  And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.  8  Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.  9  And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.  10  But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.  11  And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.  12  And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:  13  For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.  14  And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

His sons-in-law did not believe Lot.  They thought he was joking when he told then that the city was to be destroyed.  Lot apparently had no credibility with his family.

This is important.  If today you called a family member, and told them that there was an emergency, and no time for questions, they needed to leave their home and get out of the city RIGHT NOW!  Would you be believed? Or would you be ignored, as they figured that you were joking?

I was speaking to someone this morning, and the following memory came to my mind:

A year or two ago one of my grandsons was over, and we stopped at Miller's grocery store.  As we passed through the produce department, he saw fresh habaneros. He wanted to try one. I warned him that those were way beyond any kind of hot pepper he'd likely experienced, but he insisted. We got to the car, and he began nibbling on it like a mouse. "This ain't bad grandpa. . . " Razzing me, he boldly proclaimed. I don't know where he was when he bragged, or what layer he got to, but suddenly he quit bragging and began holding his head out the window and spitting. I don't think he began crying, but he wasn't having a fun time. He understood I hadn't misled him with my comments. . . 

Apparently I had no credibility with my grandson. He didn't believe me about the horrific heat of habanero peppers. I don’t know if next time I warn him about something, that he will believe me, but I can only believe that my credibility had to go up a notch with his habanero experience.

As Christians, it is extremely important that we vigorously guard our credibility. The stakes today are life and death, but we are largely not believed. 

Luke 17:26-30 KJV  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Every time a Christian leader falls. . . every time a well known Christian follower, is found guilty of adultery or lying or embezzlement or tax evasion our credibility takes a huge hit.  Our testimony suffers in our families, if we are known for stretching the truth or otherwise cutting moral corners. . . they didn’t believe Noah. . . they didn’t believe Lot. . . and they don't believe Jesus. . . 

Help me Lord. . .

Help us reach our World with our testimony. . .

Help us be taken seriously. . .

Let us be Light, that men can see the Truth. . . 

I love You my God. . . 

Help us God. . . 

<3

Dave