Leviticus 10:1
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
God is very much interested in us doing things how He tells us to do it. The greater good does not matter to God as much as obeying what He tells us to do and how He tells us to do it. The greater good may seem to reach more people, but God is more interested in us obeying His commands exactly the way He gives them.
Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to the LORD, and that strange fire cost them their lives. I can guarantee that Aaron and his remaining sons learned the importance of doing things the way God told them to do it. The greater good did not matter to Aaron and his sons because their lives depended on them doing things exactly the way that God told them to do it.
Too many believers want to use the greater good as their excuse for not obeying the Scriptures. God is more interested in obedience because obedience always shows God’s power to reach the lost, whereas compromising for the greater good to reach the lost never does. Let me give three areas where many offer strange fire in our modern churches.
First, strange fire is any other Gospel than Christ’s Gospel. I know some may think this is not being done, but I have watched believers and preachers so complicate the Gospel that it is a wonder that any could be saved. The strange fire of complicating the Gospel has come in the form of people saying that nobody can get saved in a short presentation of the Gospel. Let me ask, what is so complicated about understanding that we are sinners, and Jesus Christ died to pay for our sins, and all we must do is receive His payment as a gift to be saved? If you add anything to this, you are offering strange fire and are guilty of sending people to Hell. It is critical not to make the Gospel more complicated than what Jesus did on the cross when He led the thief to Himself.
Second, strange fire is doing anything different from how God tells you to do it. Throwing out personal and ecclesiastical separation for the greater good is strange fire. God still expects His children to live a separated life. My friend, the last time I checked in God’s Word, the Lord still says the believer is to come out from among them and to be separate. Why we think it is okay to copy those who are not like us is beyond my imagination. The strange fire of worldly music, perverted bibles, and not practicing separation will destroy future generations. It does not matter that we might be able to reach more if we compromise; God expects us to do things His way even if His way doesn't seem to be reaching the lost or building our churches.
Third, strange fire is trying to get fire from any source other than the Holy Ghost of God. God’s power is still critical to reaching the lost. Of course, you will not get God’s power when you compromise the truth for the greater good. When compromise is not an option to reach the lost is when God’s power is needed and when it will come. Get God’s power on your life and ministry by yielding to the Holy Spirit of God and doing His works His way instead of trying to conjure a spirit in the church to feel good. The power of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit is still available today IF we do things God’s way and yield to the Holy Spirit as we do His works.
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