I have observed two impulses within Christianity: the urge to be just like everyone else so that we are not viewed as "strange", "bizarre", or "old-fashioned", and the desire to be set apart in a way that differentiates us from non-believers.
In most cases, the Bible supports the second aspiration. Jesus referred to His followers as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world," implying that there is to be a qualitative difference between their lives and everyone else's. In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed, "I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (John 17:14).
The thrust of Leviticus 18 is that God's people (the Israelites) are called to be different from both the people they left behind in Egypt and the people they are displacing in Canaan. "You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes" (vs. 3).
What follows is a list of sexual acts that the Lord detests. Incest, homosexuality, bestiality, etc. are all forbidden. It is for this reason, the practices that were considered abominations, that "the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants" (vs. 25).
The gift of the Promised Land is not absolute. It is contingent upon the people following God's covenant. "Otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you" (vs. 28). And, sure enough, many centuries later the people lost their nation.
What do you think? Should Christians strive to be different from others in our morals and practices, or try to fit in and be just like everybody else?
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