When Peter was writing his second epistle, he mentions Lot who lived among the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah and Peter calls him a just man. He was vexed by how they were living, and yet he chose to remain there. Why would a just person continue to live in and raise his children in such a wicked environment?
When we look back in Genesis at the story of Lot, we see that Lot chose to live there. He chose to live towards Sodom because of how wonderful the possibility of life could be even though he knew the state of the men of Sodom. Why? He was a righteous man who made a choice.
Each Christian gets to choose to go along with the world or separate from the world. We get to chose our friends and our occupation. We are allowed to follow our desires if he want to because we have a free will. The compromising Christian chooses to be a compromising Christian; a backslidden Christian chooses to be a backslidden Christian. You have your free will to choose to live where you don't belong, just as Lot had his choice. His conscience was vexing him (really weighing heavily on him), but he decided to live with it.
Was he embarrassed by godly things? Most of us when we are out of the will of the Lord don't want to hear anything about God or Spiritual things. Was he ashamed of his position out of the Lord's will? Or was he more embarrassed by how the people of Sodom would view him if they saw him associating with godly men?
No matter if he was embarrassed or ashamed, he was definitely hiding something. Perhaps it was his righteous past, or maybe he was trying to keep the angels from seeing the wickedness of the city in which he lived. A compromiser always has to hide something to keep face. But, the problem is that those things can't be hidden forever; it will eventually come out.
When these things come out, then we are scrambling around to maintain our reputation. Lot knew the wickedness that the Sodomites came to execute, and yet, he called them "Brothers". He was trying to get along with the heathen like they were part of his family. We aren't suppose to be rubbing elbows! We're suppose to win them to Christ. We don't have to drink in a barroom to witness to a drunkard! But, the compromising Christian will find any means to justify his actions and his relationships in the world.
Trying to keep his friends in the world will encourage the compromising Christian to make unwise decisions. This Christian isn't going to ask God what His will is. He will try to find a worldly way to keep his selfish choice. If it's contrary to God's will, then you shouldn't do it! If you have questions about it then you should consult God. But, Lot thinks he can solve this problem with his own wisdom.
And now, Lot has lost his testimony with everyone. The city he lived in wouldn't accept him because his vexed soul wouldn't allow him to fully join them. His family laughed at him when he came to warn them, because his voice no longer carried any credibility. The daughters that left with him were ready to commit incest with him because they didn't think there was any better option (if Lot had said there was, they wouldn't have believed him). Once he started compromising, his credibility, reputation, and testimony were broken beyond belief, and it led to the loss of all his family except two daughters.
Why would Lot end up in this position? Because, Lot loved the world more than God! He lingered in Sodom so much that the angels had to drag him from the city. A compromising Christian loves what they see and desire in the world more than what they perceive to be in Christ. Lot lost everything; and in the end a compromising Christian will lose everything they worked so hard to acquire if they decide to hold onto the world instead of letting it go.
Lot lived, but his wife didn't. Lot held on so tightly that when he was finally forced to run from it, his wife couldn't let go. She became a pillar of salt because she just couldn't leave the world behind. The sad part of this story is that Lot probably lived the rest of his life in despair from the scars he brought onto his life from chasing his worldly desires.
