CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WISDOM
Some Things Aren’t Worth Dying For
One of the telling marks of immaturity is a lack of perspective. Waiting is not an option. Compromise is a dirty word. Everything is equally important. There are no nuances. Everything is black and white. And the immediate consequences are the only consequences that matter.
I remember when my kids were young. If I gave them the option of a day at Disneyland or a day spent helping me clean out the garage, they’d choose Disneyland.
No surprise there.
But even if I changed the deal and offered them a free college education and the keys to a brand-new house after graduation in exchange for helping me clean out the garage, they’d still take Disneyland.
At that age they had no ability to see the big picture or to comprehend the long-range consequences of their decisions. No child does. It didn’t bother me in the least. But if they’re still thinking that way at thirty, forty, fifty years old, it will break my heart.
In the same way, it’s no big deal when new believers lack spiritual perspective.
It’s to be expected.
But when longtime Christians still lack the wisdom of perspective, something has gone terribly wrong. When they choose earthly treasures we can’t keep over heavenly treasures we can’t lose or judge God’s goodness by today’s problems instead of Good Friday’s sacrifice or respond to sinners with knee-jerk repulsion rather than the pursuing heart of Jesus, they’re stuck in spiritual immaturity. And it breaks God’s heart.
The Power of Perspective
One of the things that set Daniel apart was his great wisdom and the perspective that came with it. He never chose earthly security over heavenly treasures. He never judged God’s power and goodness by Babylon’s temporary success. And he consistently responded to the sinners around him with the redemptive heart of God rather than the resentment and bitterness of Jonah.
Even as a young man forcibly carted off to Babylon, he saw things clearly. He grasped the big picture and responded to his trials in light of it. His refusal to give in to a “woe is me” mind-set reminds me of a diary entry reportedly made by Matthew Henry the night after he was robbed.
Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.1
The Beginning of Wisdom
Daniel’s wisdom was rooted in the fear of the Lord. He knew that God was not to be messed with. Only a fool spits into the wind. Only a fool takes God’s commands lightly.2
That’s why Daniel and his friends always chose the path of obedience even if it seemed certain to cost them their lives. They feared God more than a fiery furnace, a lions’ den, or anything else their captors could throw at them.
Yet at the same time, Daniel knew that not everything was worth dying for. He knew the difference between sin and the things he found personally offensive and distasteful. And he never confused the two. He picked his battles wisely.
It’s here that many of us can miss the mark. We tend to confuse what we don’t like with what God forbids. So we get worked up and go to battle over things that would have caused Daniel to shrug his shoulders.
Call Me What You Want
For instance, as we’ve seen, when Nebuchadnezzar changed Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar, he sloughed it off. His friends did the same. They didn’t care what they were called as long as it wasn’t late to dinner.
That doesn’t mean they liked their new names. Belteshazzar means “Bel’s prince.” It had to grate on him every time he heard it. It would be like calling a modern-day believer named Christian, Mohammad.
Yet despite the offensive nature of his new name, Daniel realized there was no direct biblical command that we be known by a God-honoring name. So he let it slide. It wasn’t a hill to die on.
Frankly, I think a modern-day Daniel would be criticized for passively accepting a demon-honoring name. Many would think he lacked courage. But it wasn’t a lack of courage (Daniel had plenty of that). It was an abundance of wisdom. He knew what was and wasn’t worth dying for.
Teach Me What You Want
Daniel showed the same calm sense of indifference when he was forced to study astrology and the occult for three years. If it had been an elective, he would have skipped the course. But he had no choice. It was the core curriculum.
While God forbids us to practice astrology or the occult, the Scriptures say nothing about what we can study. So rather than putting his foot down and refusing to participate (as he did with the king’s table and a nonkosher diet), he took the course. And he didn’t sit in the back rolling his eyes and subtly expressing his displeasure. He sat in the front, studied hard, and graduated at the top of his class.
Doing so gave him the platform and credibility he needed once he entered the king’s service to debunk Nebuchadnezzar’s trust in these things. It even gave him the opportunity to introduce the king to the God Most High.3
Daniel’s response was very different from the typical pattern of resistance and withdrawal so many advocate today. When forced to participate in workplace training that advocates New Age paradigms or so-called diversity, many of us are encouraged to opt out as if taking the course is the same as endorsing the course. But it’s not.
The same goes for our response to some of the godless content taught in our public schools and universities. When we boycott classes we don’t like, we unintentionally forfeit our right to speak to the issues raised. But when we follow Daniel’s lead and work hard, graduating at the top of the class, people have to listen. We’ve earned the right to be heard.
Do What You Please
Daniel also had the wisdom to understand that godless people live godless lives. He never forced his righteous lifestyle on others. Even as he rose to positions of power, he didn’t try to impose his walk with God on those who didn’t know God.
It’s a lesson many of us are slow to learn. I know. I flunked the test the first time I took it.
As a college and graduate student I worked night crew at a grocery store. It was an eye-opening experience. I thought I’d heard it all in the locker room. But the crass language and sexually charged conversations that took place each night in the aisles were far more deviant than anything I’d ever experienced before.
As a new Christian, I made the mistake of trying to shut it down. I told some of my coworkers that I was offended when they used the name of Jesus as a curse word. I let them know I was troubled by the constant degradation of women as sexual objects, and I despised the foul jokes and language that everyone else thought were funny.
I was sure God was pleased with me for taking a stand.
I was proud of my “godly influence.”
But in reality, I had no godly influence. All I did was ostracize myself. Some of them cleaned up their act around me, but they mocked me behind my back. I became “preacher boy” and a few other names I won’t put into print.
Taking a stand did nothing to draw them to Jesus. It simply confirmed their negative stereotype of Christians. They put me in their “Jesus freak” box and sealed the lid. We never had another serious conversation about life or Jesus again.
My problem was a lack of perspective. I thought their biggest issue was their garbage mouth and godless lifestyle. But their biggest issue was not knowing Jesus. By trying to enforce my Christian values and sensibilities upon them, I lost the chance to introduce them to the only One who could clean up their act and forgive their sins.
Tolerance
Finally, Daniel’s wisdom also made him a man of great forbearance. He put up with an astonishing amount of evil and decadence. He was amazingly tolerant in the biblical sense of the word.
Rightly understood, tolerance is a trait we should all excel in. If tolerance means granting people the right to be wrong, we of all people ought to be known for our tolerance.
Unfortunately, that’s not what tolerance means today. The word has been redefined. It no longer means granting others the right to be wrong. It now means that nobody is wrong. Those who dare to claim that some behaviors are actually morally wrong are written off as intolerant bigots. And ironically, they become the one group nobody is tolerant of.
While many of us bemoan the intolerance directed toward Bible-believing Christians today, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We’re getting what we gave.
Back when Christianity was the dominant cultural religion, we often used our power to shut down those who advocated opposing agendas. We’d raise a fuss and force a college to disinvite a commencement speaker who advocated a godless agenda. We’d pressure sponsors to stop advertising on television shows we didn’t like. We’d boycott non-Christian companies for making non-Christian decisions.
Now we’re on the receiving end. As I write this, a TV show has recently been canceled because of the evangelical leanings of the host. A pastor has been disinvited from praying at the presidential inauguration because he had the audacity to teach what the Bible says about sexuality. And a national chain is under fire because the owners have donated to ballot measures considered antigay.
I often wonder what would have happened if we’d had the wisdom of Daniel when we were in control. What if we’d been tolerant in the biblical sense of the word? What if, rather than trying to silence those we strongly disagreed with, we’d let them have their say, secure in the knowledge that truth has nothing to fear?
My bet is we’d still be out of favor. But we’d have a far more level playing field from which to speak to the sins and issues of our day.
It’s a mistake Daniel never made. Whether he was at the bottom of the food chain or near the top, he never tried to force his righteousness on others. He let pagans live like pagans, while living his own godly life in full view. Which is why when the time came for him to step forward and speak up, he’d already earned the right to be heard.
The wisdom to pick his battles prudently was one of the most important keys to Daniel’s success and eventual influence in Babylon. While he was resolute in his refusal to sin, he was just as resolute in his commitment to overlook those things that were merely uncomfortable, offensive, or demeaning.
He knew there was a big difference between what he didn’t like and what God forbade. He drew his lines in the sand where God drew the lines.
1 There are various versions of this quote. This one can be found at “Quotes and Notes,” Wholesome Words, www.wholesomewords.org/devotion1.html.
2 Proverbs 9:10
3 Daniel 2:46–49