Leviticus 8 - 10
Aaron's sons, took their censers, put hot coals and incense in them, and offered "strange" fire to God—something God had not commanded. Fire blazed out from God and consumed them—they died in God's presence.
Moses said to Aaron, "This is what God meant when he said,
To the one who comes near me, I will show myself holy;
Before all the people, I will show my glory."
Aaron was silent. Leviticus 10:1-2
Distinguish between the holy and the common . . . Leviticus 10: 10
I know others may read this passage and draw other conclusions or thoughts about its meaning; but, because of the events that have recently occurred in my life this is what stuck out at me.
Something has bothered me greatly at the church where I was attending. It is the frequent use of common slang words from the pulpit. I discussed my concerns with the pastor via several emails sent back and forth. Ultimately, we are agreed to disagree. My teenage daughter was also having great difficulty with it that she felt led to speak with him in person. She was very brave and lovingly shared her thoughts and feelings on the matter. I am grateful that she is being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and followed her convictions.
My concern for his use of language is about protecting the Bride of Christ. God is a Holy God. I'm afraid in our attempt to be "seeker-sensitive" that we are making the things of God common and ordinary. Have we gotten so casual in our approach that we think we can use any words for the cause of Christ? Can we have a casual relationship with a Holy God? God help us!
The irony is that the message given was on grace. It is not my heart's desire to be legalistic but to remember that God IS Holy! How do we "distinguish between the holy and the common?"
Lord, help me not to approach You casually in my attitudes and spirit. I love You, Lord.
--michele
Michele, I wonder where that balance is too. Certainly there is no compromise for God. So, as Paul said, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
ReplyDeleteGod forbid." Careless words or lack of attention to detail in obedience obviously matters. Not to be legalistic, but to be holy.. I think your daughter's nudging by the Holy Spirit was courageous and very appropriate to act on. Sometimes our churches try too hard to throw out traditions referring to them as legalistic,but we must be careful.
I love reading your thoughts on the readings. Would you post a link on String of Pearls to your posts?
Let us know how this works out. Love, Annette
It's a difficult place you are in. I admire your daughter saying something about it, and not just holding it inside. I hope the minister was kind and thoughtful about the problem in response.
I think it's awesome that your daughter stood up and spoke to the pastor. That touches me. I think we should be able to talk in our relationships about what bothers us and the other person should listen. We should push through things like this and I respect you for dealing with it. I'm not sure what was said, but I think sometimes some Christians try too hard to relate to this world. We are not "of this world." We're just in it. I think a few try too hard to be relevant. I don't know if that is the case in this situation. But I do think you are beautiful for sharing from your heart. Wonder what the pastor did with what your daughter shared?
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