Cultural relevancy or not?

Leviticus 18:2-5 ESV
(2)  "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God.
(3)  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 walk in their statutes.
(4)  You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.
(5)  You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 12:29-31 ESV
(29)  "When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
(30)  take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods?--that I also may do the same.'
(31)  You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

It never ceases to amaze me, when something in the bible is about as crystal clear as it can be, how some people think they can get away with disobeying that part of Scripture and not have any consequences.

What is clear from the above texts and the clear teaching of Scripture in general is that we are not to take the practices of other religions and incorporate them into our worship. Most Christians skim over this with a relieved sigh and tell themselves “I’m so thankful I don’t worship idols.”

Just what were some of these ancient civilizations doing that caused God to vomit them out of their land?  Leviticus 18 tells us:

• They were marrying or having sexual relationships with relatives.  Today we call that incest.
• They were sacrificing their children to Molech.  Today we call that abortion.
• They were unfaithful to their wives – it was and still is called adultery.
• They were engaged in same sex relationships i.e. homosexuality.
• They were having sex with animals i.e. bestiality.

To this list we can also add any practice having its origins in another religion such as yoga (Hinduism), mind-emptying meditation (as opposed to biblical meditation), martial arts (rooted in Buddhism), and Freemasonry (based in Lucifer worship).

God says “Don’t do it!”  Will you agree with Him?