Today I want to reflect on Meshach, Shadrack, and Abednego.
The prior reflection offered a thought that all of us, whether we consciously know it or not, have put “someone on top”. I offered three possibilities: the world, God, or you/me.
Said another way, as that great philosopher Bob Dylan wrote, “You gotta serve somebody.” And I would add, even if it is yourself!
These three gents chose to serve God.
Whoever you choose to serve, there will always be a moment where you will have to ask yourself, “Where do I draw the line?”
We read about one such dramatic moment in chapter 3.
Look, all of us live in a world where at multiple points in our day we come face-to-face with ideas and people we don’t simply disagree with, no, we strongly disagree with them.
Their words and actions clash with ours. (And ours are shaped by who/what we are serving.)
To pitch-a-fit at every instance, to be outraged and offended ten times a day, in the end doesn’t advance our society, our cause, our person. It simply raises our blood pressure.
And yet, I feel like the world I am living in is exactly that sort of world. People are outraged at any sort of comment that is, in the most miniscule way, out of alignment with their views.
This “outrage” is at times a bullying tactic to silence others from attempting civil discourse. At other times it is because people are truly in bondage to those they are serving.
Regardless of the reason behind the outrage, the question is not only, “Where do I draw the line?”, but “How do I draw the line?”
The three fellas in the episode we read today had lives. Maybe even families. The king was demanding they bow down and worship an idol. I can hear their friends saying, “Look, it is just an inanimate object. We all know it isn’t really a god. So bow down and live. You three can have a much larger impact for God if you stay alive….”
Can you imagine this conversation?
They lived in a world just as we live in a world. A world swirling with ideas. A world always facing the inevitability of change.
People who choose to follow God, and His unchanging Word, must deal with these winds of change.
Today, for me, this ancient world feels even more like our world in another way. Their world, their king was demanding complete submission.
The “outrage” that I mentioned above seeks to shout us down, to silence us into submission.
It is weird to think that in the United States today, many people are feeling as never before, that they have to submit to views they don’t believe in.
So, where and how do we draw the line?
The early followers of Jesus were Jews. The Jews had really serious and tough food laws. (Think back to Daniel chapter one). Yes, they were Christians, but they did not see themselves as not-Jews.
They were faced with making decisions around what to eat and drink. Where would they draw their line?
Though eating and drinking are not now, generally, such a big deal, for Daniel they were. There are nevertheless always things that defile us.
How do we decide?
The purpose of the life, death, and teaching of Jesus is to cleanse us and liberate us from the ways the corrupt individual us—morally and spiritually—ways that pollute us.
We, like Daniel and his friends, must identify those ways which are seeking to corrupt us. Then we must invite God into those situations, for only he has the power to cleanse and liberate.
Once we have identified them, then our how is first to prayer, and then by looking at the example we see in the Bible.
What are those ways in my life? In yours?