Sodom Had Really Great Food...

Not long ago i was on a business trip for the company i work for, Fastenal. at this event there was some socializing going on downstairs, and being that it was all adults, there was much alchohol being consumed. Thus, i decided to retreat back to my room to watch the Duke v. UNC game, and read my bible for a little. I'm not even sure what i was reading inparticular that sprung this thought in my head, but i began to think about the rebuilding of New Orleans, and all the efforts people are making to do so, and how helping rebuild the same old bars and music joints and places is being deemed a noble cause by society today.
New Orleans has such unique culture and architecture, the food is incredible, the people are amazing, the city is histpric, there are literally hundreds of reasons to rebuild New Orleans. On the contrary, based on my own trip there in 2001 when i was 18 years old, i could tell you a few hundred reasons why we should have left it how it was. Voodoo and Black Magic, strip clubs, underage drinking, debauchery, etc. This post is not about why we shouldn't rebuild New Orleans because God knows, there are people down there that need Love, Hope, and above all, Help, and we as the church should be leading the charge, but here is the thought that captured my mind: I am amazed at the excuses we allow ourslves to make ,to justify allowing sin into our lives. After all, its true that many people go to New Orleans for teh strip clubs, teh bars, drinking, voodoo, and general sin, BUT the food is amazing, the city is historic, and the people are great.
I wonder if the same could be said for Sodom and Gomorrah. The bible really paints a harsh pictures of a town of sexual deviants, a city of registered sex offenders. Yet i wonder if by today's standards they would have been teh bad people that the Bible makes them out to be. I bet they had culture, maybe a professional sports team, i bet on some level these deviants were "good people", and oh man, i bet the food was a delight, but none of that mattered to God, the sin was glaring and open, and for teh sake of his people, had to be judged.
What do you think the surrounding cities did after the sister cities were destroyed? Do you think they began to remenisc about the good times they had in Sodom or teh restaurants of Gomorrah? The bible doesn't indictae it, but i would be willing to bet that on some level, some peopel did.
When i was in high school i finally got a TV in my room, i would fall asleep watching Sportscenter every night, it ws fantastic. Unfortuanatly i discovered that after 12a.m., the programming on some channels turned into very adult programming. soon i was watching things i wouldn't ever want any of our RCers to watch, and watching it in my own room. Weeks went by, then months, and finally i realized that i was serious about studying my bible in my room and becoming all that God wanted me to be, i had to take it out. Thats when the conflict began, i began to justify, "but what about all teh quality shows i watch on it", "what about sportscenter?", "what about the christian shows i watch on it". And that went on for a few days, until finally i wouldn't make jjustifications for my sin any longer and took it outta there.
Is it really worth buying teh TiVo package when your getting 45 adult channels for free on your T.V., in your house? Not to me. Is it really worth having a computer in your room because of all the "homework you'll get done, and research you can do", when really the facebook comments and AIM conversations you have after 1"30 a.m. aren't beneficial for either party? Not to mention teh instant acess the internet offers you to anything that you could want? Not to me. The computer and T.V. have their benefits, but i'm alredy paying to much cash for them a month, why pay with impuroty in my life? That's a price we shouldn't be willing to pay for convienice, or luxury. Neworleans may have great food, which it does, but it's a place peopel go to be corrupted, whether they know it our not. sodom may have had fantastic arcitecture, but they sin inside the city outweighed teh benefits. just like a T.V. in my room did when i was 17. BTW, if your in RC and reading from teh computer in your room...think it over. Just some thoughts from a hotel room, just a meditation.