We have to be very careful that our church cultures haven’t morphed into being about us instead of God.
From how we dress…
To what’s on our minds during worship…
If we aren’t careful, we can make our time at church about getting others to notice us instead of God.
If we aren’t careful, we can focus on convincing God to respond to our pain, desires, troubles, healing… our temporal concerns, rather than focusing on giving Him the worship He desires and deserves.
Psalm 115:1 (NKJV)
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.
One of the most disturbing and confusing accounts in the bible is that of when Uzzah reached out to prevent the Ark of the Covenant from falling and God struck him dead.
2 Samuel 6:6-8 (NKJV)
6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out hishand to the ark of God and [a]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his[b]error; and he died there by the ark of God. 8 And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place [c]Perez Uzzah to this day.
Wow! That seemed so unfair. Uzzah obviously meant well and was paid with death.
Remember this…the Old Testament gives us numerous extreme examples of how God reacts to our behavior. These reactions teach and and leave examples of not only what He loves and what He hates, but also to what extreme. For example, when we totally forsake His day of rest every seven days, even under grace, to do work we could have easily done another day…God considers it worthy of death (Numbers 15:32-36). Yes, Yeshua said it’s okay to remove an ox from a ditch, but too many people have ‘oxen’ that fall in the ditch during the middle of the week and wait until The Lord’s Day to remove them.
Notice what God teaches through Paul about Old Testament examples…
1 Corinthians 10:1-10 (NKJV)
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us [a]tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
So, what about Uzzah?
God said very clearly that no one was to ever touch the Ark of the Convenant, period. God said DON’T TOUCH IT.
When God says NO, He means NO!
Even though Uzzah was doing it for the right reason…NO still meant NO!. God left behind an example that we can never do something He told us never to do for what we judge to be the right reason.
Is it confusing? Yes. Even if it doesn’t make sense to us, it’s God’s word and remember what He told us through Isaiah…
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
One contemporary example of people doing the wrong thing for the right reason is when a parent gives their adolescent daughter birth control because they don’t want them to get pregnant, or gives their son condoms so they won’t get a sexually transmitted disease. If God commands no fornication, parents must as well. If the child choses to be disobedient, then that’s between them and God.
Can you think of when you many have done the wrong thing for the right reason?
If you’ve read several of my blog posts, you will find I’m intentionally redundant with this message…
I’m VERY concerned with not just the character of America, but also those who call themselves Christians.
I’m concerned with how much the sin of PRIDE has been validated, justified and excused.
PRIDE IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED BY GOD AN ABOMINATION!
Proverbs 16:5
5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join[a]forces, none will go unpunished.
Remember, that even though sin is sin, some sins make God more angry. That’s not hard to understand because some sins make us more angry. It would make you angry if someone mistreats you, but it make you more angry if they try to kill you.
So, PRIDE makes God more angry than some sins we may consider greater sins.
And, pride leads to the idolatry of worshipping (giving too much priority in our hearts) that which we are proud of…
Our country…
Our race…
Our heritage…
Our family…
Our children…
Our accomplishments…
Our education…
Our flag…
God has not given us permission to be proud of any of these things.
If your mind is immediately trying to find reasons to justify it, then you may be trying to impose your will over God’s word. That’s dangerous.
So, how should you feel about what you are PROUD OF?
It’s simple. From now on, anytime when you want to say…
People get upset when you insult their father, mother or favorite politician. I get upset when you insult my God!
“Hallowed be your Name” means “May your Name be KEPT holy”. Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, taught us in the Model prayer that referencing God should always be kept HOLY and never taken lightly.
For those of us who believe in God through His only Son and take the Word of God seriously, blasphemy is a big deal.
To make it simple, blasphemy is…
Elevating humans to God’s level…
Reducing God to human level…
Making God equal to man…
Making idol gods equal to the Lord God of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting…
Attributing the works of God to the devil…
And, just plain making jokes about or belittling the sovereign God of our creation.
This is why the religious leaders continued to accuse Jesus, the Son of God, of blasphemy…
Luke 5:21 (NIV)
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”(A)
This is why Jesus warned them when they accused Him of having an unclean spirit…
Mark 3:28-30 (NKJV)
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
So when people like the popular radio/television/social media personality Lenard McKelvey calls himself by the name Charlemagne Tha God (it bothers me to even type that)…it is just as offensive as insulting one’s father or mother.
It’s an insult to God’s holiness, reverence and Oneness.
It’s foolishness.
Especially because he chose that moniker it because he was quoted as saying “IT SOUNDED COOL”. I’ve read was raised in a Christian home and now claims to be a Muslim. However, they consider it blasphemy too.
He even has a talk show called THE GOD’S HONEST TRUTH, referring to himself.
So, if he wants to foolishly blaspheme, that’s his business. But, he is provoking others to blaspheme just to address or refer to him.
Call no man or woman god…
Not seriously…
Not for fun…
It may be marketable, but it’s not cool.
No matter how much ego, notoriety, money, influence, intelligence, wisdom or perceived power one may have…
BE BLESSTIFIED! 