Abraham Part II
I am breaking up Abraham's life into several sernonettes in order to capture the events both thoroughly and quickly. This is the second in the series of Abraham.
The Separation of Abram and Lot
The separation of Abram and Lot is a lesson in ecumenism or the coming together or reuniting of all denominations. The herdsmen of the two men fought with each other, probably over grazing issues. Rather than try and resolve the issue and come up with a compromise, Abram decided to separate from Lot. It would be better to remain brethren and be apart, then to be enemies and be together. They still considered themselves family and Abram came to Lots rescue on at least two occasions, but in order to keep peace they separated. Once they separated, we saw just how different they really were because Lot would make his own decisions.
I believe that this is one of many lessons against ecumenism. Although the different Christian denominations are brethren, and belong to the same family, they are strongly divided upon sometimes several uncompromising positions. It is a sad thing to see them warring with one another. The lesson Abram and Lot teach us is that separation is not always a bad thing. Whether it is to keep the peace, or to keep the heritage pure, the real damaging agent is hate. Romans chapter 14 is very clear that we are not to despise those who do not hold the same convictions that we do, but we are to be fully persuaded of what we believe. Few people are godly enough to find the balance to have both purity and love. In fact love has come to mean just the opposite of purity, but I submit that you can be pure, separate and discriminating, and be loving, gracious, and kind.
Lot chooses Sodom
When Abram decided to separate, he offered Lot first choice of the land. If Lot went to the left, then he would go to the right. Lot chose the well-watered plains of Sodom. Sodom had a lot to offer. There was fertile land, plenty of water, and close cities where he could trade. But Sodom had its bad points too. It was a very wicked city. The crime was high. You would expect that a man who would have had the godly influence that Lot had would do his best to stay away from the city as much as possible. Yet it is not long until we find Lot not just living in the city, but sitting in the gate (a reference to a position similar to public office.) He had not only made himself one of its citizens; he had made himself one of its leaders. It would be good to have a godly man in office you would think, but Lot we will find did not have a reputation of being a godly man. Abram on the other hand looked for a different city: "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Heb 11:10) The whole reason he left Ur in the first place was to separate himself from ungodly people.
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