Focal Passage: 9:15
The redeeming work of Christ reminds us that separation from the world requires far more than lip service or a handful of moral disciplines. Separation from the world is marked by death. The sacrificial system of the Old Covenant required many tangible reminders of the cost of being set apart from the world. On this side of Calvary, it is easy for us to forget the price that Jesus paid for our redemption, and assume it requires little or no sacrifice on our part.
While many of the marks of holiness come without a financial price tag, some require us to count the cost. If you place Jesus at the center of your life, you will be excluded from some opportunities. There will be jobs you cannot take, social circles you cannot enter, and a wide variety of compromises you must avoid. If you are involved in these things when Jesus saves you, you have to say farewell to the baggage of carnal living.
A few years before my parents married my father worked as a bookkeeper for a lumber company. He was eventually pressured by a supervisor to intentionally miscalculate the cost of roofing tin in order to overcharge customers. When he refused to do so, he soon found himself without a job. When forced to choose between honoring the Lord and working for a company that was rumored to have two sets of record books, he paid the price but held on to the high calling of Christ.
In recent years we have read more headlines about Christians separating from each other than Christians separating from the world. Clearly some people claim to be Christians but fail to meet biblical qualifications for true disciples of Jesus. Furthermore, we are Southern Baptists by conviction, and should not compromise on those convictions.
However, we should also acknowledge that some Christians have a very critical spirit that is devoid of grace. They seem to be more concerned with being named the “real” conservative Christians than with offering grace, patience, or kindness to fellow believers whose actions and motives have been brought into question. They expect any denomination or ministry with whom they cooperate to be just like them. When that does not happen, they split.
Soon one split leads to another split, because no one is as honorable as them. Eventually that group resembles a piece of timber that has been split to its limit. Something that was once good for building becomes suitable for nothing more than match sticks. They are good for starting fires, but they can never sustain anything.
Leviticus 10 opens with the tragic story of Nadab and Abihu. We do not know exactly what they did, but Moses described them as offering unauthorized (KJV, “strange”) fire before the Lord. As a result, God sent fire from heaven that killed them. Their story reminds us that worship is not our playground to set up according to personal taste.
You may call it innovative, relevant, etc., but anything less than worship focused on the glory of God trivializes the purpose for which the church gathers and reflects the desires of the world. Spiritual separation creates a body of believers distinct from the world, not a religious repackaging of what the world already has. B&R


