To Read
But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”
Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.” The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.
God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.
(Daniel 1:8-17)
Daniel 1 – Serving God in an Alien Culture
Being an exile in the world does not mean being a recluse from the world. Daniel and his friends worked in the alien culture of Babylon but they were very successful – none were equal to them. Nevertheless, they did have to take their stand in order not to be conformed to the Babylonian culture. Their story teaches us how to relate to our culture which often feels alien and are sometimes even hostile to Christianity. It teaches us that we do not have to be against the world, but we are called to be different from the world.
Daniel and his friends did not oppose the Babylonian culture. Jeremiah had told his people to seek the welfare of Babylon (Jer.29:7). They learned its culture, respected its authorities and earned the respect of those they worked for. We are able to enjoy the good things in God’s good world, and we are called to be a blessing to the world. God loves the world (of people) but he tells us not to love the things of the world (its ways and values). It is because of that second sense that we have to draw lines, without building walls. We have to take a stand on some things, or we end up being conformed to the pattern of this world.
Daniel and his friends took their stand on not eating food offered to idols. It reminds us that we are always in danger of being sustained and nourished by the idols of our heart and the idols of our age, instead of God. Idols are often good things that become god things. Instead of being experienced as gifts from God, they become replacements for God. Like Paul, we should be distressed by the idols of our age (Acts 17:16) – such as money, power, individualism, false ideas of freedom. But more important is to start with the idols of our own hearts. It is not just about taking a position on the moral and social issues of our age but dealing with our own heart and attitudes.
We need strength to take our stands and the story shows us two things we need – what we eat and what we see. We need to nourish ourselves daily on God’s word. Just as junk food damages the body, so filling our hearts and minds with rubbish from the world damages the soul. And Daniel was a seer, a man who set his sights on the God of heaven. It was knowing his God that made Daniel strong (11:32b). So, we set our sights, our hearts and minds, on things above and not on earthly things (Col.3:1-2). These are crucial to living as exiles in this world.
To Discuss:
- How can we enjoy the world and be a blessing to the world while still being different from the world?
- Where are the areas we need to take our stand and draw some lines? How do we draw lines without building walls?
- What are the idols of our age and what are typical idols of the heart?
- What are you eating – what are you nourishing your soul with? And how does what you see of the heavenly and eternal keep you strong?
To Do:
Read Romans 12:1-2 in The Message (see below). We are either being conformed from the outside or transformed from the inside. Meditate on this passage over the next few days and think about what it might mean for you in practice.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
(Romans 12:1-2, The Message)
There is a PDF version of this Study here.