The Old Testament historic and prophetic account of Daniel is one that has captured our attention. It is a book that contains narratives of three men surviving being thrown in a fire, an invisible hand interrupting a palace party by writing warnings on a wall, foreign servants who had been won as tribute getting audiences and authority from Kings, as well as the greatest lion taming act you could ever imagine.
But it’s not just the mere fact that these dramatic stories happened, but rather that they still happen today. We are as convinced as ever that the God that enabled Daniel and his fellow Jewish exiles while they were in the idol-worshiping Babylon to not merely survive but to thrive, is the same God who wants you and I as “aliens and strangers” in this world to be used in even more powerful and dramatic ways.
Just like Daniel, we as Christian’s are presented with a few options of how we are to approach and engage with our here and now (our Babylon) before we return to our true home with Christ in heaven:
1. ABANDON THE CULTURE
This is when we see the church as if it were a bomb-shelter, a place to hide from the world, and from which we can throw angry jibes and retorts criticizing the culture (often in the form of facebook and twitter statuses!) and majors in “us” and “them” type language. The motto (if not in word it’s in deed) is “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” as we sing “kumbaya” and wait for the end. This often leads to a Pharisaical grading of sin, which ends in the quagmire of hypocrisy. Although Daniel and his faithful friends made bold stands for righteousness (many times at personal cost and radical discomfort) they did not disengage or attempt to hide from the Babylonian culture.
2. ASSIMILATE TO THE CULTURE
This is when we view the church as if it were a mirror, engaging with the pervading culture but not doing anything to change it. If the culture is for an issue, the church then compromises and mirrors what is in the culture. No attempt is made to redeem the culture, stopping short at just reflecting it. We end up watching the same shows, laughing at the same jokes, going to the same places, and not having any noticeable difference at all, negating the ability to make an impact. Learning again from Daniel’s example, although he learnt and embraced the language, customs and names of his new homeland, he never once compromised on who God had called him to be.
3. AFFECT THE CULTURE
This is when we see the church as Jesus did, as a “city on a hill”, “a city within a city”, distinct but not distant, a people not just enduring culture and the world but rather living to influence it. When we get this right, we start to see our Monday to Friday realities not as something to just get through, or as something to make as much money as possible from no matter how we do it, but rather as opportunities to represent Christ as “salt” (involved, adding flavour and life) and “light” (not compromising on truth, showing a different and better way to live, work and play) in a world and culture that so desperately needs it. Like Daniel, we are exile-missionaries, the elect-exiles, ambassadors and missionaries in our “foreign” culture.
When we get this proper perspective of who we are called to be as God’s people here in our lives today, and how we are to have a faith that stands firm without bolting from or bowing to the culture, we will:
A. Love our cities and nations, even though those cities and nations do not love God.
B. Do all we can, short of sin, to serve the common good. We will love all of God’s image-bearers, not just Christians. As we serve all people, some of them become curious as to why we do. The answer – God loves his enemies, and we used to be one!
C. Worship God through our respective vocations. Not all of us are called to the “vocational ministry,” but all of us are called to be ministers within our vocations. Our occupations become gospel opportunities.
D. Be persecuted for our faithfulness. Jesus has much to say about this in the Gospels. But let the persecution come because of our faithfulness, and not because of our poor work ethic, bad attitudes and lazy habits. As Daniel was commended as having an “excellent spirit”, we pick up that desire to be known as people who work hard and “seek the peace and prosperity of the city we live in”
Daniel was not primarily a prophet, priest, or king, but was a man who had a “secular” vocation working for godless leaders over many years. His response in not abandoning nor assimilating, but rather affecting the culture is one we can pick up as Christ-followers here and now.