A couple of weeks back, a brother-in-Christ, Darren Ethier, wrote a great little post called “Strange Fire.”
(By the way, as a brief interruption to our program, he wrote a great WordPress plugin for Series posts that I use here at May He Increase. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.)
Darren had given a sermon on the topic of Nadab and Abihu from Leviticus 10. He presented these bullet-points as a conclusion:
- Salvation without the cross of Christ is strange fire.
- Attendance without worship is strange fire
- Service without the Spirit is strange fire
- Testimony without personal experience is strange fire
- Teaching without study is strange fire
- Prayer without practice is strange fire
He is spot-on on these.
As I was reading the Leviticus 10 passage, one thing stuck out to me. I had an episode recently where I was overhearing a loud conversation and several times the speaker said “Jesus Christ.” He was not witnessing to someone. No, the name of my Lord and Savior was being used as an expletive.
Here is the part of Leviticus 10 that rang in my ears. This is just after Nadab and Abihu had made their “strange fire” offering (probably while in a drunken stupor, no less):
Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. –Leviticus 10:3.
What we have lost in our culture is a healthy dose of respect and honor for those deserving of such. As surprising as it may be, we have even lost respect and honor and reverence from our pulpits! What seems lost on us is Who we are addressing or on Whose name we are swearing!
Now, should we expect this from a world that is hostile to Christianity? Should we expect this from a world whose ruler is Satan (John 12:31)? The answer, sadly, is no.
Have we, as Christians, not treated our Father as holy and with honor recently? Do we need to evaluate our hearts with regard to this and go to the cross with it?
May He Increase!
Strange Fire indeed. It is the kind of thing our society preaches – immediate satisfaction. Even Christians find themselves caught in this when they go to Church once a week as if it’s a thing to tick off. Then do nothing to honour God during the week – they neglect to put into practice the teaching or to life the life of a Christian with an honest relationship with Christ.
Well that is what I see as the Strange fire that Darren spoke of.
Philip, thanks for stopping by and your comments. Instant gratification surely is a huge problem in world today and I don’t really see it going away. Technology has played a large role.
And so it is with our relationship with God. We expect Him to act immediately and at our every whim. The “name it and claim it ” theology is so pervasive as well. It puts the onus on our power to command God. It is ludicrous and blasphemous.