A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a student ministry training session with one of my heroes in ministry, Greg Stier.  While at the training, I also had the opportunity to meet Greg and thank him for the impact his ministry has had on mine.  Greg Stier is the founder and president of Dare 2 Share Ministries, which has trained hundreds of thousands of students in evangelism throughout the United States.  I was thankful for the opportunity to learn from such an anointed minister.

But the truth is that I usually do not want to meet my ministry heroes.  To be honest, I’m terrified that, upon meeting a preacher I admire, he will turn out to be a jerk and thereby ruin his credibility in my eyes.  There are many men that I admire in ministry: great preachers like Matt Chandler, John Piper, David Platt, and J. D. Greear; excellent theologians like J. I. Packer, R. C. Sproul, and others; and phenomenal worship leaders like Charlie Hall and Shane & Shane.  While I’d love to meet all of these men (and several I have met), I fear being disappointed.  And I’ve learned that this is a thoroughly un-biblical attitude that needs adjusting.

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I finished Leviticus the other day.  Leviticus is tedious and many consider it boring, but there is value in the book.  Through Leviticus, God teaches us (via Moses) that He is holy above all things and that to worship Him is a privilege far beyond comparison.  We will never be worthy to come before His throne, even if we are bringing sacrifices. Worship is to be taken seriously.  It is not lighthearted.  It is not casual.  And it is not optional.  God brings these realities to light in Leviticus 10.

In the beginning of Leviticus, God calls Aaron’s family out to be the priestly line.  They are to protect the Tent of Meeting, where God’s glory dwelled, and to facilitate offerings and worship.  Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, however, forgot the power of this glory and approached the throne of God casually.  We are not told specifically what the two priests did, other than that they “offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them” (v. 1).  But God’s response was anything but casual.

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