A reader from Australia, where Mammon and greed reign supreme as they do all around the world, suggests how Abraham dealt with an urban crisis in his day:
A Life Lesson from the Bible regarding Politics:
And the LORD appeared unto [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day" Genesis 18:1.
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" Genesis 19:1.
Abraham and Lot were seated in radically different places, which revealed their differing attitudes to this life. The pilgrim Abraham sat in a tent door, a portable, impermanent dwelling of someone looking for a better country (Hebrews 11:16).
His kinsman Lot sat in the city gate, the place of government for one whose efforts concentrated on this present world.
Through prayer, Abraham influenced Sodom's destiny; while Lot failed even to influence his own wife and sons-in-law." - K.R. Keyser
Which gate are you sitting in? Many Christians think that doing something to petition or lobby the government will make a difference in their society. They forget the power of prayer and the God who rules over all the governments of this world.