LEVITICUS 20
There is a clear connection between wandering away from God and losing your individuality: "You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. But I said to you, 'You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.' I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations." (vs 23-24)
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The heathen nations surrounding the Israelites practiced adultery, sorcery, idolatry, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice. And what God was telling them in Leviticus 20 is that the further they went from Him, the more they would become like the nations around them. Instead of standing out, instead of being set apart, they would simply blend into the depraved background of the rest of the world.
I think there could be a very valuable message in this for us. Growing up in America, there is a high value placed on individuality. Most people in our society are striving to find their "authentic self" and stand out from the crowd. We are a nation of superstar wannabes. Everyone wants to be a celebrity. Nobody wants to be ordinary. Nobody wants to be just like everyone else.
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We weren’t created to be like everyone else. We were created to be individuals. But that individuality is a birthright of our creatureliness. It is only in acknowledging God as our Creator that we begin to discover our true uniqueness. If we try to deny our creatureliness, we will also begin to lose our individuality. As we seek to find meaning and purpose in the culture around us, we will attempt to assimilate more and more in an effort to find acceptance. After a while, our efforts to conform will erode our true, God-given beauty.
There must be something in our sinful nature that wants to conform. We may say we want individuality, but submitting ourselves to God, the one who "makes us holy," doesn’t come naturally. Far beyond the Israelites and Leviticus, all the way down the line in Romans 12, Paul was still pleading with his audience to "not be conformed to this world." God wants to transform us back into the beautiful, unique creatures He had in mind when He designed us. He is the only cure for conformity!