A few posts ago, I talked about how we humans are really good at seeing the big picture, but not so good at taking the little steps to get there. In today’s post, I’d like to talk about how we understand change. We can all recognize dramatic changes in our environment, circumstances, relationships, etc. If I went home today and my wife told me that she was leaving me for a traveling shoe salesman, I’d notice the dramatic change in our relationship. (Especially if the guy could get me a good deal on some Pumas. I’ve had a weird fascination with Pumas recently. They’re really comfy. You should get a pair.) What I might not notice is how my wife got to the point of running away with Al Bundy. (Yes, I know he wasn’t a traveling shoe salesman, work with me.) Why did she decide to leave? It probably wasn’t an overnight decision, but rather a series of steps towards leaving.

There’s an old saying that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it’ll jump out. But if you put that same frog into a pot of water, then bring it to a boil, it’ll never notice the temperature difference. I’m not sure that PETA would allow me to actually carry out that experiment, but I think it’s true for us.

Jesus put it this way:

Matthew 5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

I don’t think Jesus is trying to create a “new law”; I think he’s telling us: “Listen, you don’t just wake up one day and decide to have an affair. It all begins with a lustful heart. If you can stop the look, you can stop the affair way before it happens.”

Look at what happened to Abraham’s nephew, Lot:

Genesis 13:12-13
…Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

He wasn’t actually living IN Sodom, just near it. Notice the text doesn’t tell us that Lot was a bad guy, because he wasn’t living in the city. Nothing bad there, right? Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before living near became living in.

Genesis 19:1
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

I imagine Lot and his family getting a little closer to the city every day until finally they found themselves important members of the community. Lot was “sitting in the gateway”, which pretty much meant he was one of the towns elders. He had gone from living near Sodom to being a major part of Sodom.

Why’d they do it? Who knows. Maybe it was military pressure. Maybe Lot wanted his kids to go to better schools. Maybe it was the commute. If You hate commuting to work in your air conditioned Honda, how do you think Lot felt about his stinky camel? Whatever the reason, Lot found himself in the middle of an evil city, and it all started with living near Sodom.

What are you living near?

P.S. Jon over at Stuff Christians Like has been writing about the same topic for a few posts. You’ll probably find his thoughts much more drôle than mine, so check them out here.