Set Apart

There is something unique about the nomadic life and the way it seperates a people group from the settled people around them. Many of the words we have to describe this concept have a negative conotation; isolation, segregation, seclusion, reclusive, they all have a negative meaning that sways attention from the way nomads are set apart from their neighbours. Nomads don’t mix well with those around them, but its not because they are superior or inferior to them. The nomadic life doesn’t mix well with school the way we have it set up or church either for that matter. Their non-conformity is not rebellion though it is sometimes interpreted that way. It is just a side-affect of being constantly ready to move and their commitment to their herds.

The nation of Israel was also set apart by God. They were not to intermingle with surrounding tribes so that their identity would be preserved and through that their witness to all nations of the character of God. God used nomadism to accomplish this distinction. God chose to build a nomadic nation to represent himself to the world. As a nomadic people they did not become dependant on cities and the political power struggles that go with them. They remained independant of nation states or empires that rose and fell around them. Nomadism was the tool that God used to keep Israel independant and at the same time dependant on him. It is hard for a nomad to forget that someone bigger than themselves directs the seasons, the weather, and success in hunting and gathering.

This calling to a distinct and different life is for us too. As Christians we are not called to remove ourselves from society and yet we are meant to be discernable from the unbelievers we live among. Throughout Christian history there have been many attempts to get this balance right and it can be one of the difficulites of the Christian life. How should we accomplish the task of being “in the world, yet not of the world”? Perhaps the lessons of nomadism can help us here as well. What if we were also constantly ready to move and committed to our herds (disciples)? Maybe the set-apart-ness would be a side-affect.

Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The nomads are distinct from the settled majority around them. But, it isn’t their aim nessisarily, it happens to them while they are getting about their business. In the same way we won’t accomplish our uniqueness by focusing on it, and policing our actions or what makes us different. Instead let God change you from the inside, by first changing the way you see yourself and those around you.

How does your practice of following Jesus in your everyday life affect your place in this world?

The nomads are distinct from the settled majority around them. But, it isn’t their aim nessisarily, it happens to them while they are getting about their business.