Remember Lot’s wife

The story of Lot and his wife fleeing Sodom is well known. It is a classic story of “don’t look back” and, more specifically, it’s one of those stories that sticks with you when you’re caught between where you’re going and where you’ve been.

Literally, a real pillar of salt exists. It is found near the Dead Sea in Israel in Mount Sodom and it is popularly nicknamed “Lot’s wife.” Biblically, scripture tells us this story in Genesis 19. Geologically, the pillar’s existence is explained by natural erosion and tectonic pressure as Mount Sodom is said to be almost 80 percent rock salt. But while there are still people who believe that this story is just a myth, I would be one out of a good many who will tell you that faith and science match – they complement and not contradict each other. There are those who say that scripture never seems to admit that maybe there is a more realistic explanation for these events but, as we should know, Scripture is truth.

In the book of Genesis, angels told Lot to go to the mountain and not stay on the plain as what would happen next was going to cause a tsunami of biblical proportions. As the story goes, by the time the meteor struck, Lot and his wife were further down south but, since Lot’s wife was lagging behind, looking back at what her life had been, she was not in a high enough elevation and distance from the event. So, when the superheated water touched her relatively cold body, it consequently deposited a layer of salt and anhydrite all over everything it touched as it exploded into steam thus turning her body into a pillar of salt as it cooled.

But proving how real the story about Lot’s wife is, is not the point of my column but rather, what happens to us when God tells us not to look back. There is a time in our lives when God calls us to come to Him and by doing so, we are told to give up our old ways. Like Lot’s wife, we long for the way things are, hesitate to fully commit and worse, doubt God’s plan.

In our government today, some intentions may be good, intended for change and set up for good governance but sadly, there are people who long for the “old ways” in the system, hesitate to change for selfish interests and worse, doubt that good governance can actually make a difference. Take, for instance, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure or ICI investigations on the alleged multibillion-peso flood control corruption issue. While we understand that the body has already turned over its report to the ombudsman, people are left wondering what all this was instituted for, especially when reports have not been made public. Although the ICI says it has already finished its work and forwarded its findings to the proper authorities, people are left still wondering.

At most, Congresswoman Leila de Lima has stepped up to the plate and condemned the impending closure, describing it as having a narrow focus on the flood control issue and useless live-streaming and argued it was a waste of time, effort and money and called for a more independent and legislated body to handle infrastructure corruption.

I don’t agree with many things when it comes to Rep. De Lima. However, in this instance, I do. Her position on a narrow focus and failed investigations is a reflection of how people look back at losses and hesitate to move forward for change. There truly is a danger in living in the past when things are “too difficult” to change simply because it has become the norm. It makes one wonder what kind of meteor would actually be needed to make things right. At this point, looks like we are here for the long haul in terms of deep accountabilities on the issue and finding out the truth. It is obvious, however, that we need more people who are determined to set the records straight without holding or looking back.

Applying the story of Lot’s wife to bad governance is a sharp way of looking at leadership failure because when a leader “looks back” while the country is trying to move forward, it usually signals a refusal to adapt or a deep-seated attachment to a broken status quo. Just as Lot’s wife couldn’t let go of Sodom, bad governance and bad government officials often cling to corrupt systems. Why? Because that’s where their power and comfort reside.

The “Sodom of corruption” looks back at the old ways of doing things where backroom deals, nepotism and insufficient bureaucracy reside. Just like Lot’s wife, instead of fleeing the fire, bad government officials cling to a system that is collapsing even when exposed, because they remain to be professionally anchored to it even to the degree of becoming part of the debris. And like a pillar of salt, the administration becomes static and lifeless, unable to take the necessary steps toward progress because their gaze is focused on the rear view mirror.

Removing the “pillar of salt” in governance means breaking the paralysis of the past in order to dissolve the calcified structures that stop a society from moving forward. Once and for all, we need to melt the salt and restore fluid so that government can function. We must audit the past, open the data and create a new North Star where a leader who follows this star is, in all ways, a follower of Jesus determined to break the “look back” system because they realize they are stewards and not owners who want to be served by the system, as their power is loaned from the people and their accountability is to God.

When Jesus says “Remember Lot’s wife” in Luke 17:32, He uses her as a warning for a specific reason because in a crisis, looking back is a form of standing still and in Jesus’ teaching, staying still in a collapsing system results in becoming part of the ruin. To remember Lot’s wife is to remember that halfway obedience is just another form of staying behind.

A true steward doesn’t look back at what they are losing – be it power, wealth or prestige. If leaders want to lead right, they must be willing to follow the North Star of the kind of leadership that Jesus has shown us in his lifetime on Earth and be willing to let the old world burn behind you.