I was talking with a friend the other day and he mentioned that he had recently gone to see a new movie that had just come out. I asked him if it was any good. He said he enjoyed it but there were a few scenes that showed unmarried people in bed with one another and that there was some cursing, but “it wasn't that bad.” Those last words are what caught my attention. This was a movie that portrayed fornication, brief nudity, foul language (including use of God’s name in vain) and other promotions of sinful activity and my friend’s comment that it was “not that bad” really made me stop and think. What really bothered me is that I have said those same words in the past with little regard to what I was really communicating.
We live in an age of relativism. We compare just about everything to societal norms and make determinations on their acceptability by what is common. Good is based upon comparisons to what society calls good and bad is compared to what society views as evil. Over my own lifetime I have seen the evolution (or devolution) of morality in our world. What was once considered aberrant and abhorrent is now considered normal and acceptable. What was once considered good and honorable is now considered intolerant and divisive. Determinations of right and wrong are based upon comparison to the worse possible cases known to society. For example, we all think ourselves to be rather good when compared to Stalin, Hitler and Charles Manson, but we call something evil only if it violates a social norm.
We have lost the sense that there are absolutes of right and wrong. We have made our standards of morality fluid so that they can change with the times and the circumstances around us. There is no singular basis of what is right or wrong. We have forsaken any thought of that which God has called holy and of that which He has called sinful. This is a dangerous road we have found ourselves upon and it is time to stop and carefully study the map and reorient ourselves and get back on the right road.
There is an Old Testament story that I think really illustrates the point of how man can take what God has deemed holy and decides that “it’s really no big deal.” The story takes place in Leviticus chapter 10. The two sons of Aaron—Nadab and Abihu—go to the Tabernacle to perform their priestly duties and offer what is called “strange fire” to the Lord. They are instantly incinerated with fire from above for violating God’s holy standard. No one is really sure what the strange fire is, but I believe it has something to do with the altar of incense (see Exodus 30:9). There was no warning, no chance to repent, no trial or any opportunity to discuss the fault, but in a single instant God judged them, found them guilty and punished them for their crime.
We read that account and the natural response we have is; “that’s not fair.” We say things like; “it wasn’t that bad!” or “what’s the big deal? It was only a minor infraction!” God does not see things that way. He gave very implicit instructions for the Levitical priesthood and He declared what was to be holy and what was unholy, or sinful. His holiness extended to even the most minute detail of tools and clothing and the compounding of incense. God is concerned about holiness in even the smallest details of our lives.
As we go about our daily lives we encounter many things that our culture has deemed to be normative—teen sexuality, mild cursing, using God’s name in vain, and entertainment that floods us with scenes of sinful activity in positive light, situational ethics and “white” lies. As the body of Christ we have slowly drifted to believe that the things we once held as sinful are really “not that bad.”. We have become comfortable with cultural norms and moral relativism. We have played with strange fire and have done so with little regard for the consequences.
The Bible must once again become our standard for right and wrong—for what is holy and what is profane. God’s standards are the only standards by which we should judge ourselves. It does not matter what society says is acceptable, but it does matter what God says is acceptable. In His grace He has withheld judgment for the time being. Far too often we take His grace to be an indication of approval or tolerance. We assume that because our lives seem happy and successful by the world’s terms that we must be doing something right. This is really a false sense of security. The Bible warns us of coming judgment and clearly lays out for us the standards of right behavior in thought, word, and deed. Second Peter 3:11, in speaking of that coming judgment, says; “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness.”
When those “little” sins arise or when we are exposed to things that our culture says are fine and acceptable and we tell ourselves; “it’s not that bad,” we need to stop and think. How bad does something have to be to be wrong? Does God call it sin? Is this thing really “no big deal” or has God declared it to be either holy or profane. Do we trifle with the holy things of God and play with fire?
Nadab and Abihu experienced the wrath of God for something we might be tempted to think was trivial. God does not trivialize that which He has deemed holy. Moses had to remind Aaron of this in Leviticus 10:3 when he said; “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’”
Playing with fire is a serious thing. It takes but a single match to set a forest ablaze. Let’s make it our aim to honor what He honors and abstain from what He has called unclean. What may be small in the eyes of our world is really a big deal to the Sovereign God who made heaven and earth.
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