In Genesis chapter 19, we see a detailed account of Lot. It would be tempting for many people to feel superior to him because of his obvious compromises with the world around him, yet Peter describes him as a righteous man three times in 2 Peter 2:7-8! How can we account for this? He certainly doesn't deserve to be considered righteous, but that is the point; he was righteous by faith, he did not earn it by his actions, so he is righteous in the same way that we are considered righteous because of our trust in Christ. He is an object lesson in the difficulty experienced by those who want to have what the world offers and have God as well - he barely escaped God's wrath and lost everything he had accumulated in Sodom. We are warned by his errors and compromises to live as a sojourner in this world, not too attached to the positions, prestige and possessions of our culture, looking instead to the eternal city that our Lord is building for us, and serving Him with a whole heart.