Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Christians are supposed to uphold the vision of swimming upstream of culture, of swimming upstream of the pressure of the world. But so many Christians are floating downstream on a yacht. And when the chips are down, integrity and biblical principles will get sold, not the yacht.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, celebrating more than three decades of passionately proclaiming the uncompromising truth of the Gospel across six continents in 28 languages and growing. We all understand how decisions of today can lead to misery tomorrow. Next on Leading the Way, a biblical example of the path from disobedience to destruction. You'll look at the life choices of Lot, Abraham's nephew, and through it, be encouraged to live a life of obedience and faith. Here's Dr. Michael Youssef beginning this episode of Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: It was about two years after I had committed my life to the Lord that I went through what theologians call a backsliding experience. I really like the word backsliding because truly, if you're not going up, you're going down. It's that simple. There is no standing still in the Christian life. I hate to say it; I had to learn it the very hard way, the very difficult way. But through that experience, God taught me a lot of things. During that time, I kept going to church, but my heart was cold toward God. My heart was cold toward God's Word. My heart was cold toward other Christians. My heart was cold toward a spiritual walk of any type.

And that is why I know there are many Christians who backslide right in the pews in the church. For a period of 18 months, I sought to do my own thing. I got angry with God when my mother died, and so I blamed God for all kinds of things. Oh, I've never despised God. No, I've never done that. But I had a cold love toward Him. Some of you are going through that experience right now for whatever reason. Backsliding never happens overnight. It begins with taking baby steps. Slowly but surely, my body was going to the church, but my heart was far from the Lord. My heart was firmly established in the world, and eventually, of course, I was in the deep waters of the world.

And that, of course, until my boat hit the rock and I woke up at God's mourner's bench. Early in my life, the Lord taught me some very powerful lessons during my time in the wilderness. First, that all of us, every one of us—I don't care how much you claim to love God—everyone of us is susceptible to the subtle temptation of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Everyone of us. And the second lesson is this: that the temptation does not come at once. It is a constant thing. It is extremely slow. I am convinced from the language of the scripture that the serpent did not come and tempt Eve and Eve immediately fell for it, but it was day in and day out, day in and day out: Look at this, and putting that shiny one in front of her face.

And the third thing is this: every true Christian, every born-again believer, every person who is saved from eternal hell to eternal heaven, must be daily on their guard regarding the little bit of sin. Oh yes, there's so many little bits of sins that are respectable in our society that we don't take notice of them. Let me give you a warning: the little bit of sin does not stay a little bit of sin for very long. It's soon going to become a little bit of big sin. Lot was a man who began with a little bit of sin, and he ended up in a whole lot of trouble. He ended up in a whole lot of big sins. Lot was a man who began with taking baby steps toward sin, and he ended up swimming in it.

I want you to listen carefully, please, because Lot is an example of a Christian who became worldly. He is an example of a Christian who became half-hearted about his faith, a Christian who used all of the right words and yet rationalized covetousness as good, a Christian who puts a Christian spin on a blatant sin, a Christian who is drunk with covetousness and yet claims the sobriety of serving God. Let me tell you a couple of things about Lot before I get to tell you more about where he was. Number one, he was Abraham's nephew. Abraham, that man of faith, the man that the Bible spoke of, that he looked forward to the day of Jesus 2,000 years before Christ. That man of faith who trusted God with all his heart, he had a nephew named Lot. He traveled with his uncle. They went to Egypt together. They wandered away from the Lord together, and they came back together. And he saw the dealings of God in the life of his uncle and in his own life.

And the second thing you need to know about Lot is that he took some baby steps toward greed and selfishness, and he ended up in a disaster. Please follow these steps with me closely. I'm going to show them to you from the scripture. I am not making them up; they are in chronological order and they are in the Word of God. So the first step is this: the Bible said Lot looked toward Sodom. Turn in your Bibles and mark in your Bibles, Genesis 13:10. He looked toward Sodom. And Sodom, of course, has become to be a symbol of godlessness, a symbol of perversion, a symbol of all things that are worldly. With that understanding, I want you to concentrate with me. The first step was that he looked toward Sodom.

Listen, Lot, obviously a man who knew how to use sanctimonious drivel, he really did. And if he looked toward Sodom but he didn't go in there, and as if to say, "Wait a minute, a man like me would not live among these people. I know better than this. I cannot be in that place. This is not a place for a believer to be. This is not a situation for a believer to be. I wouldn't go there. I just wouldn't settle there. I'm too classy for these people. Oh, but I'm just going to take a look. I'm just going to take a peek." He probably said to himself, "I won't stay for very long. I'll look from a distance. I will not be part of this; I will just look. I won't do anything wrong. I will keep my distance; I want to see what's going on." You know, once you look for too long, the second step is imminent. It is absolutely imminent.

And the second step the Bible said was in Genesis 13:12: that he pitched his tent toward Sodom. Some of your translations say near Sodom. It's imminent. I want to say, Lot, my buddy, why don't you just go into Sodom? Why don't you just go all the way? Why don't you make it easy on yourself and just move in? "Oh no, no, no, Brother Youssef, don't you understand? I'm not going to be part of this culture. I want to live for the Lord." Here's the sanctimonious drivel. "Brother Youssef, you don't understand. Sodom is a very wicked place; I'm a classy guy. Brother Youssef, you don't understand. I know what the scripture said about being unequally yoked with unbelievers. I'm not going to do that. Brother Youssef, look, I know what the Bible said, and I don't want to live there. Oh, you know, I don't want to be like them. I'm just going to be there on business, and I'm going to get out."

The reason I know this is because the devil took me there. And let me tell you something else: that the moment you pitch your tent toward Sodom or near Sodom, there is 99.99% of a chance for you to be within the city in a very short period of time. My beloved friends, I pray the Spirit of God will take those words, inadequate as they may be, and just translate them into your heart and print them onto your hearts. Because I believe genuinely this is a word from the Lord, of a warning to some of you. I don't know who, but the Lord clearly made that clear to me in my prayer. And the warning is this: whatever fire you're playing with, whether it is that business deal that stinks up to high heaven, whether it is that addiction to pornography, whether it's that addiction to alcoholism, whether it's that addiction to drugs—don't fool yourself by thinking that you only can get near Sodom but not stay there. Don't fool yourself by thinking that like the moth, you're going to fly close to the flame, but you're not going to get burned.

For as surely as the devil is real, and it doesn't matter how long it takes, I can tell you that the third step will be living inside of Sodom. Look at step number three, Genesis 14:12. Where do you find Lot? In the very heart of the city. Now, the Bible doesn't tell us how he got there. The Bible doesn't tell us when the movers and the moving vans came in and shipped his furniture and took him inside from nearby into the city itself. The Bible doesn't tell us what an incredible real estate deal that he found in Sodom that made him move in there. The Bible doesn't tell us all of this. I believe with all my heart that the Bible is telling us that if and when you pitch your tent near Sodom, it is as good as moving into Sodom.

And the fourth and the final step was that Lot became part of the furniture in Sodom. How do I know that? Genesis 19:1. Step number four. The Bible said he was sitting at the gateway of Sodom. The gateway in the Bible, in the Old Testament particularly, those who sit at the gateway—not anybody can go and sit at the gateway. Only the city council members would sit at the gateway. Only the ruling elders can sit at the gateway. He gained such prominence in this new place. He greased palms. He knew how to get along with people. He was a clever businessman. And before long, he was elected to the city council. That's where he's sitting, at the gate of Sodom.

But wait a minute. Isn't that great? Isn't that good news? Now God has His witness inside the wicked city. What are you talking about, Michael? God has a missionary to this corrupt place. Isn't that good? What are you talking about? God has His man to lead others to Himself. Isn't that good? Yeah, the problem is Lot was nothing of a sort. I want to tell you something: Lot had already abandoned his high calling way before he got into Sodom. Someone once said, "It's a lot easier to make a buck than to make a difference," and I couldn't agree more.

Christians are supposed to uphold the vision of swimming upstream of culture, of swimming upstream of the pressure of the world. But so many Christians are floating downstream on a yacht. And when the chips are down, integrity and biblical principles will get sold, not the yacht. And when that happened, my beloved friends, let me tell you as a warning from the Word of God, history tells us that it's just a matter of a short time before the yacht hits the rocks. The four steps probably took years to complete. There is no telling. I don't know; the scripture doesn't spell it out. But it's a period of time. Those four steps started with baby steps, then they got accelerated.

What's Lot's problem? Are you telling us that God's people can't live in the city of man? Please don't misunderstand me; that's not what I'm saying at all. Was it that Christians should not rise to a position of leadership in the secular culture and secular society? Absolutely not; that's not what I'm saying. I want you to listen very carefully: the problem was inside Lot. The problem was Lot's heart. The problem was Lot's motives. The problem was Lot's real intentions. You see, Sodom was inside Lot way before Lot was inside Sodom. I want you to look at the conclusion. God is not looking for perfection. I'm the first one to say, "But for the grace of God, there go I." But God is looking not for rationalization; He's looking for repentance. That's what God is looking for. He's looking for men and women who know how to confess and how to repent and how to turn.

Don't think I'm preaching legalism. Not at all. I am preaching the grace of God. I get so overwhelmed by the grace of God; I can't talk sometimes because but for His grace, I wouldn't be standing here. Lot, who has gone down these four steps, was offering his daughters to be raped by the homosexuals. And it is of the goodness of God that the homosexuals refused to rape his daughters. How can you get rebuked as a believer by the non-believers? In fact, I can tell you right now—and you know it from the Word of God—that if it was not for his uncle Abraham up there in the mountains, interceding, crying his heart out, crying his eyes out to God, pleading with God, pleading mercy from God, absolutely literally forcing God's hand—I don't mean that in a negative sense—in his intercession before God, if it wasn't for Uncle Abraham's intercession, Lot and his family would have been destroyed in Sodom.

My friends, somebody's praying for you. Somebody's praying for you. Don't keep on tempting God. Don't keep on tempting God. But the Bible said that the angels, they literally had to yank him and his wife and his daughters. They had to yank them. That's what the word really means. They had to yank them by the arms and get them out of there. And even when he got there, he did not want to go to the mountain; he wanted to go to another little city. And he was bargaining with the angels. He said, "Man, I don't want to be up there where nobody knows me. I want to go over there and do another business deal. Let me go to this little town." The angel said, "Get up to the mountain!" And again, but for the intercession of his uncle, he said, "Okay, you go there because of the grace of God that's going to be extended to you because of Abraham."

Now Christian, listen to me, please. You cannot escape the payments of your choices. It's not that you're going to lose your salvation; you know I don't teach that. But you cannot escape the payments for your choices. Though the checks may be late in the mail, the payments will always get there. Christian, please listen: if you are not winning Sodom and Sodom is winning you, for God's sake, for your sake, for your family's sake, get out. Christian, please listen: if your possessions are possessing you, for God's sake, for your sake, and for your family's sake, get out.

Probably some of you are saying, "Well, how do I know that I have pitched my tent toward Sodom?" And I'm glad you asked because I'm anxious to tell you. There are four indicators. Write them down if you have a pen. Four indicators that would tell you that you have moved close to Sodom, whatever Sodom is to you. Because Sodom to you might not be Sodom to somebody else, might not be Sodom to me. Whatever Sodom to you is, you know it and God knows it, and you in the secrecy between you and God know what it is. Number one: you develop a preoccupation with possessions and things and accumulation. Not just a matter of having things—don't misunderstand me, please; that's not what I'm saying—but being obsessed with them. This has nothing to do with how much you have. You could have a million or you could have a dollar; it makes no difference. The issue is not the amount; the issue is this: it has everything to do with your attitude toward things.

Second indicator: when you are worrying about your possessions rather than managing them, your tent has been pitched close to Sodom. Third indicator: envying others or comparing yourself with others is a dangerous signal you are pitching your tent close to Sodom. Fourth indication: ingratitude in your heart, first ingratitude to God, ingratitude to others, focusing on what you don't have. When you have lost your joy in giving, all these are indicators that your tent has been pitched very close to Sodom. Get out before you get sucked in. May those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying.

Guest (Male): What about you? What are your decisions leading to destruction like Lot? And what should you do about it? Thank you for being a part of today's Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. One thing we encourage you to do is take time to speak with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor. They can offer you practical, personal, and most importantly, biblical direction. And the place to connect is ltw.org/jesus.

Alex Paquette: Hello, my name is Alex Paquette, and I just wanted to share an encouragement that I'm currently on a drive. I was leaving a software conference out of Nashville, Tennessee, getting ready to drive home to Atlanta, Georgia. I was frustrated with the traffic in Atlanta, scanning for radio stations, and then I heard on one of the radio channels a message from Dr. Youssef through Leading the Way. What a powerful message from the Word of God. Thank you, Dr. Youssef. Thank you for sharing.

It just spurred me, encouraged me to call into Leading the Way. When Dr. Youssef in that radio message shared the difference of witnessing and the gift of evangelism, it was a great encouragement that all of us have a witness, all of us have a story in what God is doing. I aim to bring my faith into every aspect of my life. I didn't grow up in a believing home, and the fact that God surrounded me by loving Christian friends and families really had an impact and planted seeds, and then I came to faith in my mid-20s.

That sort of impact that I've now had the fruit and blessing of seeing and walking with the Lord, Leading the Way is allowing that opportunity for people in all walks of life. And that's something that's important to me. Leading the Way uses Dr. Youssef's message to be a witness in our community in Atlanta, in the states surrounding, like what I got to experience on my drive home from Nashville, and then to the ends of the earth. It really is an encouragement, the truly international reach that the ministry has, from the open door initiatives and campaigns to the navigators to Kingdom Sat, the Wake America rallies.

Leading the Way is a witness. It's taking a Gospel message that I'm blessed with most Sundays and sharing that to people that maybe haven't heard what the true Gospel looks like. So the idea of Leading the Way creating My Faith Assistant responsibly to share the Gospel and allow people to come to faith is amazing. I've actually been a personal user of it and seen the benefits of it. I recognize that the open door initiative continues to use technology to share the Gospel, which is an encouragement for me, somebody that works in technology, to see how Leading the Way leverages social media, leverages TV and broadcast and radio to reach people in the Western world, in the Middle East and other places.

So Leading the Way is strategically reaching people where they are with the Gospel message. Leading the Way can reach people truly anywhere in the world, even in our local communities, through these open doors that technology allows. And hearing these encouraging testimonies and stories is a witness to how God is using Leading the Way. I want to be part of something what ministries like Leading the Way are doing to advance the Kingdom. I want to be part of that.

Guest (Male): Join Dr. Youssef in the Open Door campaign when you call 866-626-4356 or visit ltw.org with your computer or your mobile device. ltw.org. And the number again: 866-626-4356. Now, before I say goodbye, this quick invitation to join Dr. Michael Youssef right here next time for another episode of Leading the Way Audio. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.