Leviticus 18:1-5: a reflection

As God gives his people instructions for living, he sets their conduct apart from the cultures around them: You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall do my ordinances. God's people were not to simply absorb and follow the customs of the surrounding cultures, whether the Egypt they had left or the Canaan they were entering; they were to follow God's ways instead, distinct from the practices around them. Their conduct was to be shaped not by the culture they lived among, but by the God they belonged to.

Notice the call to be distinct: not to do as the surrounding cultures did, but to follow God's ways. The people were surrounded by cultures with their own customs, Egypt behind them, Canaan ahead; and the pull would be to simply follow along, to do as those around them did. But God called them to be distinct, to follow his ordinances rather than the practices of the cultures around them. Their conduct was to be shaped by God, not by the culture; they were not to conform to the ways of those among whom they lived, but to walk in God's ways. The call was to nonconformity, to be shaped by God rather than absorbed into the surrounding culture's practices.

That is worth taking to heart, for we too are called not to conform to the ways of the surrounding culture, but to follow God's ways. We are surrounded by a culture with its own customs and practices, and the pull is strong to simply do as those around us do, to absorb the culture's ways without question; but God calls his people to be distinct, shaped by his ways rather than conformed to the culture. Our conduct is to be formed by God, not merely absorbed from the world around us. Do not simply conform to the ways of the surrounding culture, doing as those around you do; be distinct, following God's ways, as he called his people not to do as Egypt or Canaan did. Follow God's ways rather than simply conforming to the customs of the surrounding culture, being shaped by him rather than absorbed into the world's practices, as God called his people not to do as Egypt or Canaan did but to keep his ordinances; for we belong to God, and our conduct is to be shaped by him, distinct from the ways of the culture we live among.