Strange Fire

This past month or so, I have seen a lot of parent/child relationships hit the fan. It was inevitable that I would write about it. The state of the family is just not in a good state in Westchester County, New York or elsewhere. Take my friend Amy* from Chappaqua. She is truly a blessing of a friend. She is a godly, loving woman who often serves others. 

Amy has been a strong Christian presence in my life and when I need her help in any way, she is always there. It has always amazed me to think that it was Amy’s daughter who brought her mother to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Emily* started to study the Bible with a church group in college. She chose to get baptized and shared the Good News of Jesus when she was home between semesters. It is hard to believe that it is the same Emily when I see the way she treats her mother now. 

Does Emily think that her mother will be around forever, or does she just hate her that much? I have asked myself that question a lot. Don’t get me wrong, Amy isn’t perfect but Emily is also far from perfect.The stuff that Emily may be holding against her mom is mostly petty. Except that there is a divide as regards Amy’s born again beliefs. Emily has veered away from the faith and now attends a church that allows gay marriage and transgender naming days. She stopped reading the children’s Bible that Amy sent to her grandsons a few Christmas’s ago because she thought it was too violent. All of a sudden she is triggered by her mother’s biblical statements on life, love and war. Strange fire, strange fire!

Then there is Lawrence*. Lawrence has spent a lifetime working in the Youth Ministry of a well-known church in Westchester County. He has been passionate about teaching and equipping the next generation of young people to know Jesus and to content for their faith. He has had many challenges along the way, including financial and health issues. Yet, he has truly been gifted by God for this ministry and has earnestly sought to follow the Lord.

So, that is why it broke my heart to hear the news that his beloved daughter has decided to become a cloistered Catholic nun whose order makes chocolate fudge. It is not common knowledge at the church yet, but a family member needed to confide in me during this crisis. As you can imagine, Lawrence is feeling like a complete failure within his own house because his own daughter has turned her back on her  former bible centered, spirit filled relationship with Jesus Christ. Strange fire, strange fire!

Dee’s* problem with her daughter Chloe* feels almost like her daughter has joined a woke cult. She thinks she is a Conservative Christian but, she could only pass for one in her new state of California. In the rest of America except for the bi-coastal regions of the United States, she would be called a triggered, flaky, woke, neurotic, woman. Typical of that group is that she treats her pets far better than her parents. In her Gaia faith, it is all the same. Yet, in the Holy Bible there is a difference. Strange fire, strange fire!

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. 

And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified, and Aaron held his peace.”-Leviticus 10:1-3

Within each of the above stories, I see the theme of strange fire played out. There is arrogance and a state of righteousness that all of these women feel as they go before the Lord. They feel certain that,”they have this” or that,”it is all good.” But, God knows the difference between the truth and a lie. He has imparted certain standards within a family setting, including the way we are to treat our parents. 

There seems to be an entitlement among these young girls that is mirrored in the story of Nadab and Anihu. Each of these girls claims they are a Christians or a follower of Jesus Christ. They are sure of it, so sure that just like Nadab and Abihu, they boldly go before the throne with their unorthodox offerings. Their social activist constituents obedience to God as far as they are concerned.

We seemed to be living in a kind of Nadab and Abihu world these days. Orthodoxy seems to have gone by the wayside and with it the clarity of the truth. The truth has been compromised and with that, some strange fire is being offered up to the Lord. 

* The names and some events have been changed to ensure privacy.