Will You Dare to Be Different? Daniel 1 and the Risk of Obedience

Introduction

New year, new series. For the next three or four months, Home Church will be walking through the book of Daniel under a title that's also a question: Will You Dare to Be Different? We'll talk about influence, the different influences you're under, and about a man who will face rejection and conflict, again and again going against the grain of what everyone else thinks, and maybe even against what he feels inside himself.

Behind the question of influence lies the question of conformity. A definition the pastor found: "the act of adapting your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to a group's norms, politics, or shared opinions." It's a subject that comes up often with the young people in the church. A recent survey found that 74% of 14-to-18-year-olds think it's a good thing to try to stand out from others. But 63% of them also believe you have to fit the mold to find your place in society, and 49% go so far as to say it's dangerous to be different. Contradictory, and very human.

The pastor shared a cartoon he'd found online: a flock of sheep, one saying "sometimes I wonder where we're headed," and another answering "don't start getting smart on us." Is what we've always done necessarily a good thing? Am I willing to go against what others want? Against my own desires, since maybe some of the desires inside me aren't good ones? And even, sometimes, against what I believe God wants: I know what God wants, but am I willing to actually live it out differently? Daniel is going to give us some keys for working through these big questions.

Outline of the Message

1. The context: an uprooted people, an identity someone wants erased

• Around 600 BC. The people of Israel, the very people God chose to reveal himself to through Abraham, Moses, and a line of kings, had gradually abandoned God, adopted other beliefs, and neglected their covenant. God had warned them: "come back to me," or else you'll be invaded. The people don't listen to the prophets, and that's exactly what happens at the start of the book: Jerusalem is besieged.
• The strategy of assimilation. Babylon doesn't deport everyone. It keeps the territory and takes the young, the strong, the intelligent back home, to teach them its culture and uproot them from their beliefs so they'll become like Babylonians. That's what happens to four young men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
• Three characters in chapter 1. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the one who invades Judah; Ashpenaz, chief of the eunuchs, his second-in-command; and Daniel. The pastor read the entire chapter with the congregation, which doesn't happen often, to properly set the context.
• Three questions to ask while reading Daniel. What do I learn about myself? What do I learn about God? What do I learn about faith, real faith? Keep these close at hand if you keep reading the book this week.

2. They change his name: who are you, really?

• The goal isn't just to educate them, but to make them serve the enemy king. "He wanted to train them for three years, after which they would enter his service." They change their identity without asking their opinion.
• A name isn't a small thing. It's what shapes our identity, what people call us by every day. Daniel means "God is my judge." He's given the name Belteshazzar, a name that invokes a Babylonian god, Bel ("may Bel protect his life"). Both belief and identity are being targeted. Daniel goes along with this new name, but he himself won't forget who he is.
• The enemy attacks identity first. It's as if the real enemy starts there, so that afterward we begin doubting God and feeling bad about ourselves. Hence the real question put to the congregation: who are you, really? When there are many opposing forces and conflicting opinions, you have to choose whom you'll listen to about who you are.
• Three ways to define yourself. By yourself (your career, your attractions, your feelings); by what the world says (your background, your context, the trends you follow); or in relation to your Creator. The problem the Bible points out with the first two is instability. If you define yourself by what you feel, you'll keep changing, because none of us is 100% reliable. If you adapt your identity to the world's trends, you'll have to keep changing endlessly, in a kind of unhealthy dependence. Building your identity on what God says means grounding it on something stable: trusting the one who made you.
• The camera illustration. When the first cameras appeared, everyone wondered how they worked, and you had to ask the one who designed them. A human being is far more complex. What if we asked our Creator the question of our identity? We sometimes feel lost; do we take the time to ask him?
• Daniel has already walked a spiritual road. Chapter 1 doesn't say whether he doubted. He had a family, a home, a whole life before, and it's all been destroyed. He could have wondered: am I operating with a model that's no longer in fashion, or should I adapt? But in chapter 9, he'll say what he believes about God: "the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and shows loving devotion to those who love him," then: a just God, "full of compassion and forgiveness," who brought his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Daniel is aware that his identity was defined by God. That's why he's going to resist.
• The John Piper quote. "At the heart of what it means to be a Christian is receiving a new identity in Jesus. We don't lose our true self, we become our true self, only in him." When we draw close to God, we rediscover who we really are. God doesn't just come to tell us what to do: he comes to transform our being, to give us back our true self. It's as if we'd been broken, and he's putting us back together.
• What Jesus offers as identity. To be chosen and loved. To be a child of God. To be God's new creation. To be the temple of God's Spirit, the place where God wants to live and create communion. To be forgiven and declared righteous, not by our own efforts but because he has wiped away our wrongs. To be a citizen of heaven, to belong where God lives. Identity is a bit like our engine: we often believe our problems are external when really we need to come back to who we are. Jesus offers this identity to his disciples, those who recognize him as their master. That's exactly what Daniel does: he recognizes God as his master and knows it's better to obey God than men.

3. Daniel stands by his faith, and doesn't judge his enemies

• A firm decision about a small detail. Daniel makes up his mind "not to defile himself with the royal food and wine." Israel had a dietary rule: no pork, no certain insects or birds of prey, a whole list found in Leviticus. God had said these were unclean for that people. Later, Jesus and others would say that it isn't what goes in that makes a person unclean, and this law would no longer apply to the Church: Christians don't have to avoid pork. But for Daniel, it mattered, and it mattered to God that he keep this command.
• Courage is proven in small things. We can make courageous decisions about big issues, where it's obvious something is wrong. Here, Daniel's first challenge is about animals. He could clearly see that those who ate this meat weren't struck down on the spot. It's a small detail, and that's exactly where he had to stand by his faith and take responsibility.
• He negotiates gently. In essence: "I'd rather not hurt my God, because I love my God. Would you let me try just a vegetable diet?" He proposes a ten-day trial, vegetables and water, and lets the official judge by the results. The chief is uneasy (he risks his life if the young men look unhealthy), but he agrees.
• At no point does Daniel judge his enemies. He wants what's good for them. He doesn't tell the Babylonians, "what you're doing is really wrong." He first takes care of his own responsibilities, he stands by his faith, and he holds back from judging those who live differently than he does. Later in the book, he'll even want to save and help his rulers. He was taken captive, it's not his country or his culture, and yet he's kind toward his enemies.
• Why? Because he reflects the God who loves his enemies. It's not because Daniel is a hero, it's because he's shaped by the God of the Bible, the one who loves the sinner, who loves the one who spits in his face. That's what Jesus did on the cross: "Father, forgive them." He says the same to us when we sin: "I still want to forgive you, even if you don't care about me."
• The question that comes back to us. As believers, do we hold back from judging? Do we already take care of our own business? We're tempted to say, "you know, I know what you're doing is wrong," while in secret, when no one's watching, we're not honest enough about what we ourselves do. Does my life reflect the God who loves his enemies? That's hard.

4. God is good and shows grace: he gives favor and skill

• Undeserved grace. Grace is a gift you don't earn. The text doesn't say Daniel wins the official's favor: "God caused the chief official to show favor and compassion to Daniel." It's like a miracle. Daniel didn't know how things would turn out, but God remains good and gives grace.
• God makes them excellent in their work. "God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning." The king finds them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom. It's an encouragement for those with a secular job: God wants us to be good at our work and to reflect something beautiful through it.
• Three truths Daniel places his trust in. God is awesome: Daniel has a fear of God. God is good: his laws are good even when they inconvenience me. God is powerful: he'll provide for my needs.
• The sticking point today. We live in a society built around freedom: we want to do as we please, and the fact that there are laws, that God is a master, bothers us. We'd rather be our own master. But if God is good, then his laws are good. They may be unpleasant, but they bear fruit.
• It applies to every area of life. If you're short on money: is God really the one I want to please? Do I have faith that God is good, that his laws are good, enough to keep obeying him no matter what? Am I aware that he's powerful and will provide? Same thing for raising kids or making disciples: it's my mission, sometimes I feel powerless, incapable of loving, and I can put my trust in the fact that God is good and powerful enough to provide.

5. An active faith: the risk of obedience

• Daniel has an active faith. He wants above all to please God, he takes action, he negotiates so as not to cause unnecessary trouble, and he takes risks.
• What risk is Jesus asking you to take today in order to follow him? That's the question this text raises. God calls us to follow him and serve him. Are there areas where you know you need to take a risk, where it will cost you something?
• What the text teaches us. Despite the difficulty and chaos of our lives, God calls us to take the risk of obedience, because he is awesome, good, and powerful. Daniel took a serious risk, and later in the book the risks will grow even bigger. He'll cling to these same truths.
• The pastor's testimony. The church started four years ago with friends, and one of the first challenges was financial. The family was living in subsidized housing in Saint-Priest that cost almost nothing, a real gift. To move to Lyon, first to Vieux Lyon and then to Caluire, the most expensive neighborhood, meant multiplying their rent by three or four. The same questions came up: is God really good? Is making disciples really worth this price? Is he powerful enough to provide? He provided beyond anything they imagined, an apartment and finances that turned out to be a real blessing.

Key Takeaways

• Conformity affects everyone, even young people who say they value being different. The real question isn't being different for its own sake, but knowing whose word your identity rests on.
• The enemy often starts with identity. Changing Daniel's name is an attempt to change who he is. Daniel goes along with the name, but doesn't forget who he is.
• Defining yourself by yourself or by the world is unstable. Defining yourself by your Creator means resting on something stable: chosen, a child of God, a new creation, a temple of the Spirit, forgiven, a citizen of heaven.
• The courage of faith is proven first in the small details. Daniel stands by his faith over a matter of food, without judging those who live differently.
• Daniel reflects the God who loves his enemies. His kindness toward the Babylonians isn't heroism, it's the reflection of the God who said, "Father, forgive them."
• Favor comes from God, not from Daniel. "God caused the official to show favor" to Daniel. God gives grace and makes his servants skilled, even in secular work.
• Three truths for daring to be different: God is awesome, God is good, God is powerful. It's on these that the risk of obedience is taken.

Personal Application

1. In your view, how much should we do what our heart desires? Is the phrase "follow your heart" legitimate? How far should we let that kind of influence guide us?
2. What would change in your week if you were certain that God is awesome, good, and powerful? What makes you doubt these three truths?
3. If you're a Christian, what kind of risk is the mission of making disciples of Jesus pushing you to take today? Name one concrete challenge you want to put into practice.
4. Who are you, really? Which of the three sources (yourself, the world, your Creator) has your identity actually been built on these past few months? Take some time this week to ask God the question.
5. Is there someone you're tempted to judge because they don't live like you? What would the "Daniel" way look like, taking care of your own responsibilities first while still wanting their good?

Scriptures Cited

• Daniel 1 · the whole chapter read aloud: the siege of Jerusalem, the deportation, the new names, Daniel's firm decision, the ten-day trial, and the favor and wisdom given by God.
• Daniel 9:4 · "the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him."
• Daniel 9:9-15 · a just God, full of compassion and forgiveness, who brought his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
• Leviticus 11 · the list of clean and unclean animals mentioned by the pastor.
• Mark 7:14-19 · Jesus declares that it isn't what goes into a person that makes them unclean (implicit reference in the message).
• Luke 23:34 · "Father, forgive them," Jesus's prayer on the cross.
• Acts 5:29 · obeying God rather than men (allusion).
• Ephesians 1:4-5, John 1:12, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Romans 5:1, Philippians 3:20 · the identity Jesus offers: chosen and loved, a child of God, a new creation, a temple of the Spirit, declared righteous, a citizen of heaven (underlying texts, not explicitly quoted).

FAQ

Why does Daniel refuse the king of Babylon's food?

The people of Israel had received a dietary rule from God: don't eat just any animal (pork, certain insects, certain birds of prey, a whole list found in Leviticus). Daniel doesn't want to defile himself with the meat served at the king's table, because God had declared these foods unclean. Later, Jesus would say that it isn't what goes into a person that makes them unclean, and this law no longer applies to the Church. But for Daniel, keeping this command was a concrete way of standing by his faith.

Why do the Babylonians change Daniel's name and the names of his friends?

Babylon's strategy was assimilation: deport strong, intelligent young men, teach them Babylonian culture, and uproot them from their beliefs so they would become like the Babylonians. A name shapes identity. Daniel means "God is my judge"; he's given the name Belteshazzar, a name tied to a Babylonian god. Changing a name is an attack on identity, often meant to plant seeds of doubt about God. Daniel goes along with the new name, but he doesn't forget who he is.

What truths does Daniel rely on to dare to be different?

Three truths he confesses himself in Daniel 9: God is awesome (Daniel has a fear of God), God is good (his laws are good even when they're inconvenient), and God is powerful (he provides for my needs). It's on these truths that Daniel takes the risk of obedience, and he'll cling to them in the chapters that follow, when the risks grow even greater.