God's Thoughts, Not Ours (Leviticus 6:8-10:20)
As I write this the Christian subculture is in a bit of a panic because several of our “celebrity leaders” are turning away from the faith. The problem is not that popular teachers and singers are turning their back on orthodoxy (as many of them were arguably never orthodox) but rather that we look to these celebrities as leaders and trend-setters for the faith.
Leviticus shows us the serious nature, not only of sin, but of the need to deal with sin in God’s way. Sacrifices, and the ritual surrounding them, were holy things because they related to God. And God is holy. We do not relate to God in a flippant way. We relate to Him as He wants. This is shown in a stark way in chapter 10, when Moses’ sons try to riff on the system. They die.
The Bible is the story of humanity’s sin and God’s mission to save us. We are all sinners. We all worship idols. But the biggest sin in the Old Testament is always when the people who should belong to God try to worship Him in their own way. When they want to do things their way, not God’s.
My faith tradition likes to talk about the “priesthood of the believer.” This is the idea that all followers of Jesus have a priestly role to play. We represent God to people, and we are representatives of our people to God. But mostly people like to think that it means that every believer gets to interpret Scripture. That is a dangerous idea. It is the sort of thing that Moses’ sons did. It is what gets people killed, and worse, damned.
We don’t get to decide what God means. We need to hear what God is saying. Most of the popular “teachers” who are turning away from the faith missed that. Look to God’s Word, not the culture, not the celebrity teacher.
Leviticus shows us the serious nature, not only of sin, but of the need to deal with sin in God’s way. Sacrifices, and the ritual surrounding them, were holy things because they related to God. And God is holy. We do not relate to God in a flippant way. We relate to Him as He wants. This is shown in a stark way in chapter 10, when Moses’ sons try to riff on the system. They die.
The Bible is the story of humanity’s sin and God’s mission to save us. We are all sinners. We all worship idols. But the biggest sin in the Old Testament is always when the people who should belong to God try to worship Him in their own way. When they want to do things their way, not God’s.
My faith tradition likes to talk about the “priesthood of the believer.” This is the idea that all followers of Jesus have a priestly role to play. We represent God to people, and we are representatives of our people to God. But mostly people like to think that it means that every believer gets to interpret Scripture. That is a dangerous idea. It is the sort of thing that Moses’ sons did. It is what gets people killed, and worse, damned.
We don’t get to decide what God means. We need to hear what God is saying. Most of the popular “teachers” who are turning away from the faith missed that. Look to God’s Word, not the culture, not the celebrity teacher.
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