Daily Devotions
Evangelistic Marriage
Title: Evangelistic Marriage
Reading for January 5: Genesis 18-20
So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
Genesis 19:14
What is evangelistic marriage, you ask? It is a marriage where a Christian marries someone who is not a Christian with the hopes that they will become a Christian through positive influence (1 Pet 3:1-2). There are some glorious examples of this kind of evangelism. But there are also many examples of what I would call negative evangelism in marriage where the reverse happens. I want to share an example of this.
When we're introduced to Lot, he is a tent dweller like his uncle Abram. He left his comfortable home to dwell as a sojourner in a foreign land, trusting in the promises God made to his uncle.
But by the time we come to chapter 19 in Genesis, Lot is no longer a tent dweller. In chapter 13 he pitched his tent toward Sodom (not in Sodom). Why not buy a house in Sodom? We don't know, but it could be because Lot was a righteous man whose righteous soul was vexed by seeing and hearing the lawless deeds of the Sodomites (see 2 Pet 2:7-8). You can imagine him telling his wife and daughters to be careful whenever they go to that evil, wicked city. You can even imagine him telling them to not go there at all; that he would be the only one going to town for necessary supplies.
But by the time we come to chapter 19, Lot has packed away the tent. He's no longer living outside of Sodom. He's bought a house. He's living in Sodom. Now how was that decision made? Again, we don't know. But we must assume that it was surely made with some reservations. Lot is a righteous man. He doesn't want to lose his wife or daughters to a wicked place like that. But perhaps he had grown more comfortable with some of the things he had been exposed to. Perhaps he had been desensitized just like we can become desensitized to sin.
Whatever the case, not only was he living in Sodom, his daughters were betrothed in marriage to two of the men of Sodom! How did he justify that decision? His uncle Abram would never have allowed something like that to happen (see Genesis 24). How does a righteous man like Lot choose to allow his daughters to be given in marriage to men in Sodom? Perhaps he thought they were not such bad men. Perhaps, by Sodomite standards, they were pretty good. And maybe he even thought they could be influenced for good; converted to fear and worship the only true God (i.e. evangelistic marriage).
But if this was what he was thinking, he was wrong. He was wrong in the worst way. When the day of judgment finally arrived... when the time had come for him to leverage all of the positive, godly influence he had invested in these two young men by inviting them into his family... when he pleaded with them, "Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city..." what was their reaction?
They made light of his warnings. They thought he was joking. (Can you hear their laughter? Can you feel Lot's hopelessness when he realizes he can't save them; that he has no more pull on them than anyone else in the city of Sodom?) Those young men weren't saved by Lot. They weren't saved by his wife or his daughters. They perished along with the rest of the wicked city of Sodom.
But at least Lot was able to rescue his daughters, right? Even if he wasn't able to save his sons-in-law, at least he was able to save his own flesh and blood, wasn't he?
Nope.
Read the rest of Genesis 19. Not only did Lot lose his wife when she looked back at Sodom (contrary to the explicit warning to not do that by the angels), his daughters did an unspeakable thing and brought forth two children by their own father! Where did they learn that kind of behavior? Where did they possibly get the idea that sleeping with your father is okay? It wasn't from their uncle Abram. It wasn't from living as sojourners in tents. It seems Lot lost family because of the negative influence of Sodom. Whatever good intentions we might assume Lot had, the bottom line is this: he didn't save those young men who were to marry his daughters. Instead, Lot lost his daughters perhaps because of the direct, negative influence of his sons-in-law. What a tragedy!
Does evangelistic marriage sometimes work? Some of the best Christians I know were saved by their mates. But you need to consider the story of Lot's daughters before you make a decision to marry an unbeliever.
Father, help our children to find good godly mates who will help them to live as tent dwellers and sojourners in this world that is doomed to destruction!
