Dare to be Daniel
How to Draw the Line

When the Babylonians took the best and brightest of Judah back to Babylon, it was not so they would be disgruntled captives or slaves. They decided to assimilate them into Babylonian culture by giving them an thoroughly liberal Chaldean University education. Kind of like what the dominant culture in this country does to our youngsters when they leave their homes and head off to State U. Daniel and his buddies were going to be indoctrinated into the ways of the Chaldeans.

These Judeans were uprooted from their homes, taught about things Babylonian, had their names changed and were given a new diet…the king’s food and drink. Note what Daniel and his buds DO NOT do. They do not organize protests walking around with placards saying “Hey, hey, ho, ho, I won’t go”. They do not boycott classes saying “we don’t want to b taught your junk”. They do not go on a hunger strike until they get the food they want. They did not refuse to be called by their new Babylonian names because it was an “insult to their native heritage”. There was not demand that they be granted the universal human rights inherent to all men. To be what they want.

No these 21st century tactics were not evident in Daniel. He accepted what was happening, but drew the line, with God’s grace, at eating the king’s food. He proposes in his heart to not define himself. He goes along with the whole assimilation project except the eating part. Why? Theories abound. Sure the food was not kosher but how about the vegetables he did eat, we cannot know they were either. Also, refusal to drink the wine was not associated with ceremonial cleanliness. The point is, Daniel took his first stand for his God in what seemed to be an insignificant matter. Faithfulness begins with the seeming insignificant matters. But, it begins…early in living life for our God. We must begin establishing a difference between ourselves and the world early on in our Christian walk so that we do not become so entangled that there is no difference between “us” and “them”.

Again, notice how Daniel draws the line. He requested not to eat the food and asked for a test. He made no demands. He was not seeking to be a spokesperson, champion for the good guys or a martyr for the cause of God. No, he took his stand with modesty and humility. After all, this was about his God not him. His resolve was about God’s holiness and glory. He wanted to be personally obedient not to be a hero. His desire was that his God would be glorified. Daniel was not the focal point of Daniel’s obedience. At an early stage and age of his captivity, Daniel established that he would live for his God in captivity. By beginning with obedience in little things, the stage was set for obedience later in bigger things.

We receive two wonderful life lessons from Daniel in this line drawing. Always take the first opportunity to show yourself to be a committed Christian. It is not always an easy thing, but you can be assured that it will never be easier to stand for Christ. If you refuse the first time to stand for Him, it is no easier the second. The world will be relentless in, as JB Phillips paraphrases Rom 12:1, 2, in “squeezing you into its mold.” Satan knows he cannot have God’s children, so he works overtime in neutralizing God’s own. Your flesh wants you to stand for you, not Christ. The sooner a Christian shows resolve for his God, the better able he is to glorify God with his obedience throughout his/her life.

Second, as we know from reading Scripture and observing the lives of Christians we know, trials and tribulations are constant companions. They help to gage our progress as a Christ follower. We want to see them as deviations and estrangements from the Christian life rather than part of what God uses to build character and strength in us. But that is not the case. James, Paul and Peter all agree that we should treat trials and tests of our faith as “maturity makers”. Sinclair Ferguson calls them “important and connected punctuation marks in the biography of grace His is writing in our lives”. So, there is no little test of our obedience to Christ. God uses what seems to be a minor matter to build up His faithful servants preparing us for bigger trials in which we can glorify Him.

Faithful Christians draw the line and stand for their Lord and Savior early and often in their Christian walk. Little trials, big trials, they are all treated as opportunities to grow in grace and serve God. They do so not to be applauded for their obedience but as a witness to their God. It is obedience to their God for the glory of their God alone.