2 Peter 2:7-9, says that Lot was a righteous man, who was “distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard).” I like the Revised Standard Version which says he was "vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds."
When God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, Lot's uncle Abraham was able to barter with God and garner a commitment that if ten righteous people could be found in the cities they would be spared. Because Lot was not able to mobilize even ten people in Sodom and Gomorrah to live godly lives, their entire cities were destroyed. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah have been remembered, not only for their sexual deviance and ungodliness, but because they “were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Eze. 16:49)
Today we don’t have leadership books written about Lot. On the other hand, on the day I am writing this, there are more than thirty-five books listed on Amazon about the life and leadership of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah, when he saw that his city was in trouble, garnered resources from the government, conducted a recognizance mission to scope out the problem and mobilized a movement of people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When he heard the outcry of the poor, he became angry and "called together a large meeting", and told their oppressors, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of God?" (Nehemiah 5:6-9). Nehemiah and his people have become known as "Repairers of Broken Walls, Restorers of Streets with Dwellings", just as Isaiah promised in Isaiah 58.
Just being vexed in our righteous souls over wickedness will not save our cities. Like Nehemiah, we need to organize a kingdom movement and help people find their places at the walls, hammer in one hand and sword in the other, prepared for battle, but staying on task til the job is done.
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