In I Samuel 8:5 the people of Israel told Samuel: “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” A king in and of himself was not not necessarily a bad thing; in fact a godly king of Israel would be a type of the Messiah. But we do read here that Israel’s motivation for wanting a king was a poor one: they wanted a king so that they could be “like all the nations.”

Doing things so that we can be just like others we see in the world is one of the poorest possible motivations for God’s people. The children of God are NOT to be “like all the nations.” Romans 12:2 says we are NOT to be conformed to this world – though that is exactly what we too often are. We see churches and church leaders imitating pop culture and the business world: pastors become CEO’s instead of servant leaders; logos and mission statements and flow charts make our churches look just like successful corporations. It is not hard to predict what the next youth ministry emphasis is going to be: merely observe the most recent “hit” movie or reality show and you can be certain that the youth series will involve some clever “spin-off” of that theme. There seems to be no question that in many, if not most, churches today it is desirable to be as much like the world as they can be.

But this passage reminds us that this is just what got Israel in trouble. They wanted a king “like all the nations,” and this estranged them from God, and was a source of trouble for them for years to come. Like Israel we lose the favor and blessing of God when we seek to imitate the world. Being “like all the nations” seems to be high on a lot of Christians’ lists these days – but it is nowhere on God’s programme for His people!