Let me just  quote what I read today on 1 Samuel 8.5, 19-20 (this is the narrative of Israel’s demand to Samuel for a king,   -

Our Aversion to Holiness:

By our “aversion to holiness” I simply mean that we do not like to be different for God’s sake.  We do not like to be distinct; we would rather blend.  So with Israel.  I noted above that in itself Israel’s desire for a  king, even a king “like all the nations,” was permissible according to Deuteronomy 17.14ff… However,  for Israel “like all the nations” is more than an expression; it becomes a passion.

After Samuel had solemnly warned Israel about what life under a king would be like, Israel refused to budge: “No, but a king must be over us, and we – we too – shall be like the nations…”  With a king, Israel says, we will fit, we will belong, we will, at last, get up to speed.  After all, this is the Iron Age, and we must have structures compatible with the demands of the new era.

Yet Israel was unique by definition. Read Deuteronomy 4. 32-40.  When since the beginning of time had any nation ever heard God speaking real verbs and adjectives and imperatives out of the middle of fire and still come away alive?  Has there ever been a god who took his own nation out of the clutches of another nation by bludgeoning its hard-headed, hard-hearted oppressors into submission by raw power and sheer terror?  Israel could not escape being different. But they could try.  “And we – we too – shall be like all the nations.”

True, we are a people under command.  “You shall be different because I, Yahweh you God, am different” (Lev. 19.2; the usual translation uses “holy” rather than “different,” but you get the point).  But Israel and the rest of us prefer to keep in step with our culture and fit into the molds of our society.  Who wants to stand out in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation?  Why should the church of Christians individually have a different definition of success?  Why should there be a certain detachment in our outlook (a la Heb. 11.13-16)?  Why a winsome purity in our conversation?  Why faithfulness in marriage?  Or chastity before it?  Why a seeking of justice for the helpless or a flowing of compassion to the neglected?  Why a passion for worship over entertainment?  Why prefer to enjoy God than to wallow after fulfillment?

Alexander Maclaren has put it well: “One of the first lessons which we have to learn… is a wholesome disregard of other people’s ways.”

Dale Ralph Davis is pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  Previously he was Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary. So you don’t have to worry too much about his credentials!   It is nice finding a commentator who has not only taught in a good Seminary but also pastors currently!