Many say, “Our world has never been more divided. It has never been this hard to follow Jesus. Our culture has never been so evil or opposed to God.”

While these feel true because of the world we inhabit and like a fish in water, this is the only world we know, it is hard to see anything else. History and Scripture tell a different story.

Is our world divided? Yes.

Is it hard to follow Jesus? Yes.

Is our culture opposed to God and spiraling out of control? Yes.

Is this the worst it has ever been? No.

Enter what I think is one of the most relevant books in the Bible and stories about the life of Daniel.

Daniel doesn’t just tell us the story of a culture opposed to God, but how to also live and thrive in that culture and how we can hold on to our faith in that culture.

I hear more and more of the idea that Christians must fight the culture with the same weapons. If the culture protests, we should. If the culture enacts laws or lobbies politicians, we should. If the culture yells and screams names at us, we should also.

But does that work?

Depends on our goal. If our goal is to do what the culture around us is doing and what they are accomplishing, then we should use their weapon. But if we have a different goal (and Scripture does for followers of Jesus), then that should influence how we live, act and react.

 

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Daniel shows us how not to give in but gain influence and survive and thrive in a culture that is opposed to God.

But in doing that, we have to know when to stand up, what to hold fast, and when to let things go.

In Daniel 1, after Daniel and his friends are taken into exile, they are fed the food of the king (food and wine that was sacrificed to idols), they were made into Eunuchs, educated in the occult and values of the Babolynian culture (the evilest culture in the history of the world), their names were changed and more.

Yet, the thing that Daniel and his friends stood against was the food.

To me, this is fascinating and a little head-scratching. You would think the food would be the lowest on the list. Why not fight about the culture, the values, and the education they were getting? That is where many Christians spend their time fighting in our culture. I’m not saying we shouldn’t stand against things in the school system, but I think it’s interesting that Daniel and his friends don’t.

When they stand against the food, they ask the Chief Eunuch to feed them water and vegetables (Daniel 1:8). He also tells him to decide after ten days if the test is worth it. Now, what’s interesting about this whole exchange is that Chief Eunuch doesn’t have to grant Daniel’s request and doesn’t have to give him ten days. Daniel asks; Daniel is humble and shows his willingness to be under the Chief Eunuch, no matter what is decided.

One of the themes in Daniel that Larry Osborne points out, which is vital for our cultural moment, is “God is in control of who is in control.”

So, in light of God’s power over all the authorities (parents, schools, teachers, government officials, etc.), how do we engage the world around us? How do we know when to stand up and stand against and when to keep our mouths shut?

The answer is not as universal as I think we might think.

What is a conviction for you may not be for others.

We see this in the New Testament around food sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8). Paul tells us that there are things that matter of conscience and conviction.

In light of that, as you look at the world around you, here are a few words to keep in mind:

• Conviction
• Disagreement
• Discomfort

First is conviction. These are the firmly held beliefs you have according to Scripture. The beliefs that shape your life and doctrine. The hills that you will die on and not budge on. As we’ll see, not everything is a conviction, but in our culture, most Christians put everything into this category. Again, your convictions may not be held by every other Christian.

The second is disagreement. The word disagreement shows us that this can be a debated topic. These are things you believe, but others hold different opinions on. These can be what Paul refers to in Romans as “disputed matters” (Romans 14:1).

The last is discomfort. These ideas, beliefs, values, and practices make you uncomfortable. They might be connected to a conviction, or they might be things you don’t like. Again, many Christians put their discomforts into convictions, and when we do, I think we cut off some influence we have.

Again, the things you put in conviction, disagreement, and discomfort are important to understand because they might not be the same for everyone. But it is also essential to think through what we face in our culture, and the values that are given to us and ask, where do I put each of those things? Knowing that helps us to move forward with wisdom and humility, to know when to stand up and when not to, what is worth losing something over, and what might be a battle we skip for another day.