Respect & Contempt

Leviticus 22:9 The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

There is often a way that we look at people that places them in groups. Tall people, for example, are one of the groups that I see almost immediately. I am not a tall person. And I think that many parents have fed their children Miracle Grow and part of their diet. People seem to be much taller than my generation of people.

And studies have found that height makes a difference when it comes to picking leaders. We like taller people to lead us. Israel’s first king, Saul, was chosen partly because he was taller than everyone else. But look how that turned out!

We offer respect to those we deem worthy of respect, and we each have ways of sifting through people and experiences to determine if respect is warranted. Many people love Disney parks and they show their respect for what the experience provided is worth by paying a high price for that experience. But I don’t find much value in the experience, so I won’t pay the price.

Our text gives the Israelites instructions about who may eat the meat of Tabernacle sacrifices. There are people who get excluded from the food for becoming “unclean” in some way. The term “unclean” indicates that they are out of fellowship with the LORD and his people due to something they have done or experienced.

You might say that it isn’t fair. Not everything that excludes from the food is because a person chose that exposure. You can’t always choose if you come in contact with something that makes you unclean. Sometimes you have to have contact, like the dead body of a relative. They have to be buried.

If I, as a retired military officer, begin to lead a group of people for the overthrow of the government that sends me a retirement paycheck every month, they maybe I don’t deserve that paycheck! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Biting the hand that feeds you!

So what do you do? Well, the LORD provided a way to be cleansed. He provides a way back into community. And this is important for the recipients of the food because those sacrifices were the source of the majority of their food. Without access to the sacrifice food, they would go hungry.

So if someone purposely disregards the rules, they are showing contempt for the One who gave the rules. And if they are showing contempt as a leader, then they shouldn’t be a leader and get the benefits of being that kind of leader.