“Oh yeah, you blend.” In the movie “My Cousin Vinny” (IFC, Inappropriate for Christians, for sure) Vinny is a New Yorker claiming to blend in with the native population of a small Alabama town because he was wearing cowboy boots. His girlfriend’s sarcastic response was spot on because, with his leather pants, leather jacket and thick NY accent, he stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. That scene illustrates one of our biggest struggles; the desire to be ourselves while blending in with everyone else. As the scene shows we often fail at both.

That struggle shows up in every aspect of life. The news media all claim to be uniquely the best. Ponder that for a moment. Cowboys all wear a cowboy hat. Goth kids wear the same black clothes and listen to the same music. Corporate leaders all wear the same suits and ties. Entertainers copy each other. In our efforts to stand out we always find ourselves blending in with someone else.

Religion isn’t free from this struggle. The more effort religious groups put into being unique the more they blend in with all the other groups around them. In fact the only way to be truly unique in today’s world is to refuse to chase what the rest are chasing. The folks who reject the world’s trends and insist on remaining with the simple God ordained forms of worship are truly rare and unique. They’re also disliked by the masses who are chasing the current trends.

When Jeroboam set up his false systems of worship for Israel “he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places.” (1 Kings 13:33). Despite God’s strict instructions that only men from the family of Aaron, from the tribe of Levi, could serve as priests, Jeroboam opened it to anyone willing to join him in defying God’s will. Rather than being unique, they blended in with all the pagan nations around them.

Even worse, Jeroboam excluded the actual Levitical priests from serving as priests in his “new” religion. Under the Law of Moses they were scattered throughout the 12 tribes to live among the people and teach. Since Jeroboam prohibited them from serving as priests they had to leave the law of God and blend in with the new pagan system or leave their homes and livelihoods to remain faithful in Judah and Jerusalem – so they left for Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 11:14).

This is where life gets hard for those who would be faithful to God. The religious world offers many, seemingly unique, options for those who would serve the Lord. In reality most are just like Jeroboam’s religion – self-willed rebellion against God’s way. In their effort to be unique they all blend into the same God defying mix. We, that’s you and me, have to decide if we will stay and blend, or leave for the truly unique and blend in with God. With whom do you blend; God or man?