08/27/2026
Sit through the average worship service this Sunday and ask one question.
Where did God command any of this?
Not "does it work."
Not "is it sincere."
Not "did it move me."
Where did God command it?
Because there were two men in the Bible who never asked that question.
Nadab and Abihu. Priests. Sons of Aaron.
Ordained, robed, standing in the tabernacle. And they "offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not" (Leviticus 10:1).
Notice the phrase. “Which he commanded them not.”
God had not forbidden it. He had simply never asked for it.
And that was enough.
"And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them" (Leviticus 10:2).
Then God gave the reason…
"I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified" (Leviticus 10:3).
In them that come nigh me.
Not by the crowd.
Not by the atmosphere.
Not by whatever moves people this year.
Look at Cain. He was sincere too.
He worked for his offering. He brought the best of what he had grown. And "unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect" (Genesis 4:5).
Rejected. Not for lack of effort, but for changing the terms.
How about Uzzah? He reached out and steadied the ark.
His motive was good. The ark was tipping.
And God "smote him there for his error" (2 Samuel 6:7), because God had already said how that ark was to be carried.
So why does none of this frighten the modern church?
Because we decided sincerity was the standard.
It never was. Obedience is.
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9).
In vain.
Sung with tears. Meant with all of their heart.
But counted as nothing.
Strange fire never looks strange to the man carrying it.
It looks like worship.
In my book, The Leaven of CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), we document where this fire came from, how it got into our churches, and where it is headed.
