...each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1Cor 3,13-15)

Most of the New Testament epistles were written by the apostles in their later years. It is not surprising that their perspective does not focus on some short-term, near-term goals, but looks ever farther beyond the horizon of human life as a whole and its transcendence, toward eternity. Not that this was not the core of Christianity from the beginning; but a young Peter, Paul, or John would surely have written letters full of a dynamic message of faith and inspiration, yet different in some ways from the wide view later allowed by the wisdom that only a profound experience of life can give a person. The Holy Spirit, of course, uses man as a vessel, just as he is, but precisely in order to convey his message, man must be able to perceive it. To do this, he goes through a lifelong process of transformation; although once even a donkey could tell God's message, it was certainly not the epistle to the Corinthians. Unlike donkeys, the apostles also loved, sacrificed and struggled for those to whom they wrote. The communication of God's word is not just a dry communication of truth (information), but must be delivered by those who understand and love deeply.

We have only one direct reference to Lot in the New Testament in 2Pt 2:7, which we quoted last time. While Jesus does mention the people of his day in Luke's Gospel and warns us of the fate of his wife, the only other passage that directly refers to Lot is that of 1Cor 3. He is not named directly, but the man saved by fire, who lost everything in the process, clearly points to him.

Many today are satisfied with the gospel in the form of mere understanding the punishment of the Son of God for our sin. Understanding this information and accepting it in the life of a new believer is often the end of most efforts to follow Christ radically, even though it was intended to be the beginning of all. The mindset Paul shows here is not inherent to everyone, probably not even to most believers: namely, that one is to enter the kingdom of God with the riches of full reward, that the goal of the gospel is not the salvation of the poor ("naked") but of the rich in God! Contrary to Catholic theology, this passage also does not speak of purgatory - not man himself, but his work, his fruit, will be tested for eternal endurance. Only things of value, gold, silver, that which will stand the test of purity by fire, have the right to enter and remain. Everything else will burn irretrievably.

It is said that the fool must learn from his own mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. Lot's end is given to us as a warning - what will we see one day when we look back on our lives? To what do we want to dedicate it? What direction will we take? And to what heights?

Let us choose well.