Unauthorised (Strange) Fire 不可献上的凡火
Author: Ps Andrew Xu
“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “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.’” And Aaron held his peace.”
Christianity today is in a dangerous state. While we want to stay contemporary with the times, we have compromised in many of God’s ways. Yet, at the same time, we are closing the doors to the world on many issues that truly matters. As we talked less about sin on the pulpit, as we start to integrate EDM (Electronic Dance Music) into our musical worship, we draw ourselves away from the needy, disadvantaged, lonely and sinking. We worship God by what we deem is right, we believe in a God that fits our own desire rather than finding out what He really wants and who He really is.
We worship the God who is holy and glorified. We are not sure of the exact nature of the fire that Nadab and Abihu offered unto the Lord but what we know is that the fire is not what God intended. The flippant manner of how Nadab and Abihu approaches the holy God, offering to God a kind of fire (worship) that is unauthorised and strange to the Lord. This caused their very lives. We don’t need to worship a physical false idol to participate in idolatry. Worshipping the right God the wrong way is also a form of idol worship. Could it be that we are not worshipping the God of the bible but the God of our own desires and imagination of how God “should” be and “could” be? Could we also have a flippant attitude towards God that we think He will and should accept whatever strange fire that we offer up? Don’t be fooled my dear, He isn’t the God whom we can be careless with.
Do not follow without discernment. By doing what everyone is doing may not be what is right. Go to the Bible personally and discern as a community whether what we are doing is what God wants us to do. Pray and ask God for guidance as we follow Him and worship Him. We only want to worship Him the way He wants to be worshipped. Be sober minded, follow God and not just trends. Do the right thing even when it means that we might pay a heavy price for doing it.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us strive to be a church that is right with God and it starts with Christians who are right with God personally. Offer God the worship He deserves and not the worship we desire.
文/许燕杰传道
“亚伦的儿子拿答和亚比户各拿着自己的香炉，盛上火，加上香，在耶和华面前献上平常的火，是耶和华没有命令他们献的。那时有火从耶和华面前出来，把他们烧灭，他们就死在耶和华面前。于是摩西对亚伦说：“这就是耶和华曾经告诉我们的，他说：‘在亲近我的人中，我要显为圣，在众人面前，我要得荣耀。’”亚伦就默然无语。”
现今的基督教信仰正处于危险的状态中。我们在渴望跟上时代的过程中向世界妥协了。同时，也在许多重要的世界课题上向给世界吃了闭门羹。我们的讲台也越来越少谈到罪，而且将电子舞厅音乐引入敬拜中。当我们正追求符合时代的时候，却远离了那些有需要的、受欺压的、孤独的和正在沉沦的人。我们用自己觉得正确的方式敬拜神，甚至宁愿相信自己心中所渴望的神，也不愿去认识祂与了解祂对我们的要求是什么。
我们所敬拜的神是圣洁的，是荣耀的。我们不清楚拿答和亚比户所用的火究竟是怎样的一种火，但肯定不是神所指示的那一种。他们以轻慢的态度去到神的面前，献上了祂所不喜悦的凡火。他们也因此赔上了自己的生命。我们不需要敬拜看得到、摸得着的偶像才算是拜偶像。当我们以错误的方式敬拜真神时也是偶像敬拜，因为我们敬拜的不是真神，而是我们自己的欲望所投射的“偶像”。难怪我们觉得这位神应该也会接受我们献上的任何东西。千万不要被蒙蔽了，因为我们的神是轻慢不得的。
不要盲目的跟从，世人以为美的事总要留心去做。自己去了解圣经神的话，不要单单听别人说圣经讲什么、神要我们做什么。在信心的群体中一起谦卑的寻求神的心意，祷告寻求神的带领。我们只要按着祂要的方式敬拜祂。要清醒、跟随神，而不是跟随世界的潮流。我们就算需要付出很大的代价，都应该做正确的事。
亲爱的弟兄姐妹，让我们竭力成为一个神所喜悦的教会。神喜悦的教会是从讨神喜悦的基督徒开始。将神所要的、所配得的敬拜献上给祂。