This week, we have been discovering how we are to live out
Biblical convictions in a world that is hostile to those convictions. In other
words, how should we live out the convictions that we
have as followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that may not believe, buy,
or share those convictions? How should we live out our convictions as
followers of Jesus when those convictions are mocked and minimized?
And to do that, we have been looking at an event from history that
has been preserved and recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of the
Bible called the book of Daniel. So far this week, we have seen Daniel
introduced to a
three-year process of reeducation and indoctrination of the language, culture,
and religious practices of the Babylonian Empire. The goal for Daniel and the
others who were taken was that they were to be immersed and enculturated in the
culture of the Babylonian Empire.
However, Daniel, from
the core of his being, Daniel had a conviction that he would not defile himself
by eating the king’s choice food or drinking the king’s wine which would have
violated a clear command from God. Yet Daniel did not object to the name given
to him, because he knew who he was. And Daniel
did not object to the Babylonian education, because he knew what he believed.
Daniel did not object to the Babylonian education, because he knew how to
distinguish truth from error.
Daniel had developed
convictions that were based solely on the truth of God and the commands of God.
Daniel recognized that there were beliefs that may or may not change as a
result of being exposed to truths that they were not exposed to before. And
Daniel recognized and developed convictions that were based on truth that would
drive his behavior in a way that was obedient and uncompromising to those
truth.
In addition, Daniel
opposed by making a polite request, showing discretion and wise discernment.
Daniel did not picket or boycott. Daniel did not scream in protest. Daniel
respectfully requested to not violate his convictions by eating from the king’s
table. And as a result of his convictions, and the posture by which he
expressed his convictions, instead of immediately punishing Daniel and his
friends, the commander of the officials expressed his concern that the exercise
of their convictions would result in a negative result in his life, namely
losing his life.
Instead of objecting,
protesting, yelling, or screaming about the overseer’s concerns, Daniel saw the
situation through the overseer’ eyes and addressed his legitimate concerns. You
see, Daniel wouldn’t let the overseer pay the price for his convictions. Instead,
Daniel was willing to put himself and his convictions, based on his faith in
God, to the test.
In addition, did you
notice Daniels approach? Did you notice that there is something so reasonable
about Daniel’s approach? I mean Daniel could have gone on a hunger strike or
made some other kind of protest. Instead he made a polite request, he made it
to the right person and said, “Put us to the test.” And that test was to go on a vegetarian diet.
Daniel and his friends
chose a vegetarian diet because it would be available and accessible to the overseer
in a way that would not violate his convictions, as the meat at the king’s
table was not prepared in a kosher manner and was sacrificed to idols. As a
result of Daniel’s response and approach, the overseer granted their request to
be tested for ten days. We see what happened at the end of the ten days in Daniel
1:15-16:
At the end of ten days their appearance seemed
better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice
food. 16 So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and
the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
Daniel explained that
at the end of ten days, their appearance seemed better and they were fatter
than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food. Now, there was
no biological reason why a vegetarian diet should make them appear better and
fatter. Perhaps their diet would make them appear the same as the other Jewish
young men who ate the king’s food, but not better and fatter.
You see, this was the
hand of God at work. God moved upon the overseer to allow Daniel and his
friends to follow their convictions, and God was at work as a result of Daniel
and his friends following their convictions in a way that honored God when it
came to how they expressed their convictions.
As a result, the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and
the wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables. We see how God
continued to be at work in Daniel and his friends lives as they continued to
hold to their convictions in a way that honored God with their approach to
their convictions in verse 17-21:
As for these four youths, God gave them
knowledge and intelligence in every branch
of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. 18
Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them,
the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. 19
The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service. 20
As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. 21
And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.
As Daniel and his
friends continued to hold to their convictions in a way that honored God with
their approach to their convictions, God continued to be actively at work in
their lives. God was actively at work in their lives to give them knowledge and
skill. As a result of having convictions about God that were expressed in a way
that honored God, Daniel had a long, successful career under the worst of
circumstances. Daniel worked for tyrants who thought nothing of killing their
staff and advisors, much less of firing them.
Eventually, Daniel’s
employer, the Babylonian Empire, suffered the worst kind of hostile takeover
when the Medio-Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C. However,
instead of being killed, Daniel was folded into the leadership of the Medio-Persian
Emperor and became one of its most trusted advisors. Throughout his life,
Daniel was used by God in a way that made much of God.
And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we discover a timeless
truth when it comes to convictions. And that timeless truth is this: God
honoring convictions exercised in a God honoring way will produce God honoring
results.
You see, when it comes
to living out the
convictions that we have as followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that
may not believe, buy, or share those convictions, simply having convictions
that honor God may not produce God honoring results. Instead, God honoring
results are all about having God
honoring convictions that are exercised in a God honoring way.
Just because we may be
right, if we express our rightness in a wrong way, we end up being wrong. We
end up being wrong because we express our convictions in a way that dishonors
God. When it comes to living out the
convictions that we have as followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that mocks
and minimizes those convictions, how we express our convictions is just as
important as our convictions.
Daniel consistently
lived a life that embraced God honoring convictions. Daniel consistently lived
a life that exercised his convictions in a way that engaged the concerns of
those who did not share his convictions in a reasonable way that honored God.
And as a result of living a life that exercised his God honoring convictions in
a God honoring way, he was used powerfully by God to advance His kingdom
mission in the world.
So here is a
question to consider: Do you have beliefs or do you have convictions? And how
do you exercise your convictions? And how do you respond when your convictions
are opposed?
Do you boycott, picket
and scream in protest when your convictions are opposed? Or do you exercise
your convictions in a way that is respectfully made to the right person and
that says “Put our convictions to the test.”?
Because the timeless
reality is that God honoring convictions exercised in a God honoring way will
produce God honoring results.
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