912: Values in Babylon

We are well on our way in my latest series titled "Success in Babylon," which examines how you can survive in a spiritually-hostile environment, just like Daniel and his friends did. This is important because modern societies, at least in the West, are becoming increasingly antagonistic to believers and Christians values, yet Jesus prayed, 

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (John 17:15-19).

God is not interested in removing His saints from the world, but wants them to thrive and prosper there, providing a witness for Him to all those who will pay attention. In a sense, Daniel was one of the first missionaries in history, sent to another culture where God expected him too serve. The same may be true for you, so let's look at another lesson we can all learn from Daniel's sojourn in Babylon.

TRUE TO HIS VALUES

We learned last week that Daniel was subjected to a total makeover in Babylon that included a new name, education, and identity as a man. Any plans of marriage were out of the question. His family was probably dead, and he found himself far away from his homeland. Keep in mind that Daniel was undoubtedly a teenager while all this was going on. If I was in Daniel's situation, I would have been tempted to abandon my people's values after all I had been through, but that was not who Daniel was. We read,

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you" (Daniel 1:8-10).

What can we learn from those verses?

1. Daniel did not rebel but kept a good attitude. He did not refuse to eat the king's food, he asked permission not to do so. We can speculate what would have happened if his caretaker had refused his request, but the good news is that he did not and gave Daniel permission to abstain.
2. God was intimately involved with Daniel in Babylon. Note that He gave Daniel favor with his guard. That means that God was up to something according to His own purposes in Daniel's life, and He often is doing the same in yours.
3. Daniel's supervisor feared the king; Daniel feared God.
4. The chief feared what would happen if Daniel did not eat the king's food; Daniel was concerned what would happen if he did. Yet Daniel realized what the guard was after, and helped him obtain it.
5. Daniel cooperated with the king's plan and the supervisor's objective, but he had a better way to achieve the same purpose.

Daniel did not boycott the king's food; he did not go on a hunger strike. He did not withhold the best of who he was from people who had misused and abused him. Daniel had confidence that if he obeyed God, then God would work on his behalf and God's role would benefit all involved: Daniel, his friends, the supervisor, and the pagan king. Daniel stayed true to his values and God strayed true to him, and this set Daniel on a path that would lead to promotion and success in Babylon.

LESSONS

It has been said that your character is revealed when you are alone and no one is forcing you to do anything, and you respond according to what's in your heart. Daniel's values were deeply embedded in his character, and he stayed true to them, even when he was suffering and under pressure. Can the same be said of you? Tribulation reveals character, and Daniel could have easily totally assimilated into Babylonian culture, but he did not cross the line into disobedience.

Do you live two lives, one a church life and one a non-church life, or do you have and follow the same values in both worlds? Do you count on God's favor in your own Babylon? Are you even recognizing His favor, thanking Him for it, and taking advantage of it? Is your attitude godly, even when you are mistreated or misunderstood? If you are going to succeed in your Babylon, you must take Daniel's example seriously and look to model your own after his. If you do, God can use and even promote you in Babylon. if you don't, you may survive but you won't thrive, and your days will be much more difficult than they should be if you cooperated and did it God's way. Have a blessed week!