Stranger Things: The Sobriety of Faith

 

My wife and I just finished watching the fourth season of Stranger Things. This blog may be a spoiler reveal, but I want to posit an element of the season as a biblical illustration. 

In the show, the villain -- a demonic character named Vecna -- is able to open portals between what's called the "upsidedown" (i.e. the underworld or Hell) and this world. To open a portal, Vecna requires a despondent soul or the weak mind of someone who is anxious or mentally troubled. These people die and as such create a gateway between the worlds to allow Vecna through. Their dispositions led to their destruction.

In Leviticus 10, Aaron -- the brother of Moses and the high priest of Israel -- and his sons (also priests) drink too much and his sons make an unauthorized offering of incense in the Tabernacle. The two sons are killed because they approached God's holiness in their sin or impropriety. Because of alcohol/drunkenness, it seems Aaron's sons were not in the right repentant or attentive state to enter before God's presence. It was their haphazardness in approaching what was holy without due reverence and a contrite heart that killed them. I do not think it was a pissed off God that reacted to annihilate them per se, but rather a holy God, whose energies and purifying fire could do nothing more than consume what was not holy or prepared. It was too much for them in their mental state. So, from that point on, priests were not allowed to drink before practicing the liturgy in the holy place. 

This reminds me of the Stranger Things 4 scenario. The dispositions of Aaron's sons led to their destruction in the same way Vecna's victims' mental state led to theirs. It's no wonder Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong." In worship, we simply must come with our "A" game. We must be intentional and disciplined. We need sobriety in worship.

I am reminded of an Assemblies of God church I attended in Cheyenne, Wyoming called Destiny Church. I had attended the church for about a month upon moving to Wyoming. I liked the atmosphere and the music. The music was sort of droning and deeply contemplative at times, which gave me goosebumps. That sense of depth could easily be mistaken for the presence of God, but as I often say, I get the same goosebumps listening to Rush or Tool or other passionate rock band. 

Anyway, I attended the church one day in July of 2014 (my wife's first visit there... she did not like it). During that week, Cheyenne was hosting its annual Frontier Days celebration, which is the city's/state's largest event. It is the largest outdoor rodeo in the country, with a fair and concert series attached. It draws visitors from all over the nation. Present at church that day were several out-of-towners. Being a Pentecostal church (my wife an I were part of that denomination), things like speaking in tongues could be expected, but this church eisegetically (reading into the text of Scripture what is not there) over-interpreted verses of tongues, prophecy, and "being slain in the spirit." The Pentecostal "gifts" as they were applied [inappropriately] was a bit of a turn off to me, though I recognized that God's gifts of the Spirit could occur. Here, these were forced and made to look foolish and a bit "drunken." 

John MacArthur, who decries Pentecostalism, even had a seminar series and a book called "Strange Fire" about a decade ago, which took its name from the incense offering of Aaron's sons in Leviticus 10. While I was not and am not a cessationist like MacArthur, in this case, I agree -- this church practiced strange fire, because their offering was undisciplined and it twisted actual biblical attestations to the point that people just dove into the extremes. Things like falling over randomly or offering a message in tongues with self-interpretation (why not just give the interpretation?) were rampant. 

Anyway, when all these "manifestations" began, several of the visitors headed for the doors. Why would God allow such gifts if the only freak people out... People who initially wanted to be there? This church lacked sobriety, self-control, spiritual discipline, and discernment. We never returned to this church. 

In the end, I am still not a cessationist. I still believe God can move however he wants to. But, I am no longer a Pentecostal. Paul once said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1). Greater than all the other manifestations of God, love is the greatest, because "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16). Christians need to put love at the center of all they do. To truly love, one must bring their "A" games and a sober/repentant heart. We must approach God and ministry and worship with wisdom and a tempered soul, or we risk portals of destruction devouring us and our churches. ;)