WILL YOU SWEEP AWAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED?

      Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? (Gen. 18:21) When Abraham was visiting with the three visitors who encountered him beneath the oaks of Mamre (Gen. 18:23), they discussed Sarah's impending pregnancy (Gen. 18:10ff) and they also talked about Sodom and Gomorrah's impending doom. They were looking down toward Sodom... and the Lord decided to share his plans to destroy the city with Abraham. He told Abraham that he was going down to Sodom himself, to see if it was as evil as he had heard. Then, the three men began their journey, but Abraham approached the Lord... and asked, "Will you sweep away the righteous with wicked?" If there are 50 righteous people in the city, will you destroy it? How about 45? 30? 20? 10? Would you save the city if there is only 10 righteous people... and the Lord said that he would save the city if he found 10 righteous people! Abraham, if seems, won his argument with the Lord, who said that, he would NOT destroy the righteous with the wicked. I confess that this question was not on my original list of the Bible's great questions, but in light of the recent uproar about (radical) Islam, I am persuaded to include it.
      In Biblical times, Abraham's question was very bold for two reasons. In the first place, it was (and still is) bold to question and/or challenge God! Most people are still afraid to speak their mind to God, but in Abraham's time, it was also bold to worry about individuals. Individual freedoms were unheard of, and certainly secondary to the mores and behaviors of the entire community. Of course, Abraham was most likely lobbying for his nephew's life (Lot), but in our time, his question is quite profound, Would you label an entire people on the basis of what you've seen- or just heard about- from a few? There are no-good, manipulative, greedy, and murderous people within every racial, ethnic, religious, and political group... but does that justify labeling, attacking, or destroying all of the group members? Would you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? My wife is Swedish- will you hold her responsible for the savagery of the Vikings? My people are German- would you hold me responsible for the holocaust? It's important that we discern who the righteous and the evil are... and judge them accordingly. I, for one, am increasingly concerned that we are unwilling to name and call-out evil when we see it. We make excuses for it's perpetrators and we turn a blind eye to those people who mean to kill us.  In my view, this is a dangerous position to take. However, it is NOT acceptable to sweep away the righteous with the wicked! Labels dehumanize people & sweeping condemnations are always wrong! There were evil people in Sodom, but there were also righteous people, who deserved a better fate.
      I am reminded of a story I read about a wealthy rancher who had tens of thousands of acres. His ranch went for miles in all directions... and he named it, "The winding river, double-bend, triple R and dynamic Z" ranch." One of his friends was impressed. "Wow," he said, "how many cattle do you have?" "Not that many," the rancher replied, "Only a few survive the branding." Not that many survive the branding- may God keep my eyes on this great truth.