Daniel can be a role model today
Daniel was my favourite book in the Old Testament when I was a child. I remember reading it during vacations when my family was in a small house on the beach side in January, the hottest month in the Brazilian summer. While the others would be on the beach, I would return earlier and read it in my small Bible. About twenty years later, this book of just twelve chapters has caught my attention for another reason: Work.
What I have never realised previously is how this book is related to challenges in our day-to-day life. At the 2019 Global Workplace Forum (GWF) hosted in the Philippines by the Lausanne Movement, the book of Daniel was read aloud and studied. Later, I read it again, applied it in my own life and used it as I was teaching in the church.
In his book, The Radical Disciple, John Stott says, “We are neither to seek to preserve our holiness by escaping from the world nor to sacrifice our holiness by conforming to the world.” In the workplace we can often encounter hostility, competitive colleagues, and difficult bosses. We need a thriving spiritual life to meet everything as God wants us to.
The book of Daniel begins with a demonstration of God's sovereignty: "The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his [Nebuchadnezzar's] hands.” (Dan 1:2) Despite the tragic situation because of Judah's disobedience and the Babylonians conquering, the book relates to the life of a person (or persons) who walks in a different direction than both societies. He does not conform to Babylon's antagonism to the lifestyle imposed by God or Judah's disobedience to God's call. We can draw great lessons from how Daniel lives and works in Babylon. He is in a constant relationship with God, which is expressed in a counter-culture lifestyle.
In the first chapter, Daniel and his friends pass a difficult selection process that they had not even applied for. The requirements were many. The candidates should be young, strong, healthy, and good-looking men of royal or noble families. They were invited to a program that should make them well versed in every branch of learning and gifted with knowledge and good judgement. They were to learn the language of Babylon and get insight in the kingdom's literature. The main aim of the program was to make them suited for work in the royal palace.
The first thing that happened, was that the names of the young men were changed. This is an effective way to detach people from their identities. Before getting married to my Croatian husband, we talked about the issue of my surnames. In Brazil, normally, the child receives the mother's last name plus the father's last name. When the woman marries, she adds the husband's last name. In Croatia, the child receives the father's last name. When the woman marries, she replaces the father's surname with the husband's last name. In short, we would live in Croatia, but the mere idea of removing my parents' surnames seemed to mess with my identity. It was as if I would no longer be Brazilian and belong to my family. When we went to the registry office, we found out that in a marriage between these two countries, the wife cannot remove her last names, only add her husband's. It may seem something small, but this happening made me relate better to Daniel's situation. Now, imagine if the CEO of your company could change your name. And imagine it would be related to his faith, not yours. This was the situation for Daniel and his friends.
In addition, they were to learn the language and culture of their new host nation. The three-year programme would go beyond instructing them on how to do things. It also aimed at changing their worldview and identity. Another point was the daily diet they were assigned: Royal food and wine. In the Old Testament, one of the features that distinguished God's people from other people, was the rules they followed about what they did and did not eat. For Daniel and his friends, food choices were not just a manifestation of their faith. Rather, it was an outward result of their deep convictions about what it means to belong to God. For Daniel, to relinquish control of his diet was to go against his conscience and compromise his identity as a follower of the one true God. He and his companions thus imposed daily boundaries so they would not defile themselves.
It was not easy for them to stay true to their conviction. In the Babylonian hierarchy, many officials were serving under the king. The program Daniel and his friends were taking part in, was assigned by the king, and officials further down in the system were told to run it. God does however know who to deal with when needed: "Now God had caused the official to show favour and sympathy to Daniel" (v 9). Have you ever experienced a situation at your work where there is no solution and where the hierarchy makes it difficult to know where to turn to find a solution? God can take care of such situations.
In Daniel’s story we see a notable example of discernment and wisdom. Discernment because he and his friends realised that their supervisor could face difficult consequences based on their choices. Thus, Daniel proposes a ten-day test. This reduces the risk for the official. Daniel and his friends could have conformed to the program assigned by the king, or they could have responded aggressively and refused to follow the rules. They do however choose a third way that secures the official and allows them to stay true to God.
Two verses in the New Testament can help us to understand further why conforming or acting in isolation are not for Jesus’ followers. In Romans 12:2 the apostle Paul wrote “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. Even though we often hear that we should “go with the flow,” we are called to live according to the biblical standards and counter the culture when needed. At the same time, to withdraw ourselves from the people around us, is not God's intention. Rather, we should shine the light of Christ in the societies we live in. This is clear in 1 Peter 2:12 " Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
As I mentioned before, Daniel and his friends proposed a solution in wisdom, and they trusted God for the results “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” After this, they left the results to God.
In chapter three of Daniel, you see Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah being threatened if they do not follow the rules imposed. Even at that point they knew God could save them, but even if he did not, they would still do the right thing. Our responsibility is to do what is right and trust God for the results.
It is challenging for many of us to practice this in our daily lives. I worked for more than five years in a big company in Brazil. It was common that colleagues would go out and get drunk. I had good relationships with my co-workers, ate lunch with them, and went to their weddings and to celebrate birthdays in their families. However, I decided not to engage in “happy hours” when I knew this would be alcohol-centric events. I got several invitations until people started realising that I was not open for such events. I was well known for taking initiative among colleagues to go out for dinners! I also brought tasty food to work to share with others. In my first year at this workplace, once I was in the kitchen, a colleague told me in front of others, “Sabrina, I want to go out and get drunk with you! You are so happy sober. Imagine you drunk.” This gave me a good chance to answer why I did not need alcohol to be happy, but that my happiness comes from a deeper source.
Not “going with the flow” requires us to have discernment and wisdom. God grants us this when we grow deeper in our relationship with him. In James 1:5 we are reminded that we can ask God in confidence for wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” We can use this as a reminder in the morning before going to work or if we get to work early to have time to read the Bible and pray.
When I started going to my office early to pray, this turned out to provide wonderful opportunities for conversations with my colleagues. Many times, my Bible, or other books I was reading, would be by the window next to my purse. Often someone would walk by and ask me about these books, which gave me an opportunity to share. The impact can be tremendous. A few months ago, I received news from a former colleague that she was going to be baptized. She texted me to thank me for being one of the people who introduced her to Jesus. I remember my talk with her as if it were today. She was leafing through one of my books written by a Swedish missionary who went to Brazil, and she asked me why I was reading it.
God desires to be in our workplace in diverse ways and to be glorified there. At the end of chapter one of Daniel, we are reminded once again that God cares about our work. “As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” They were evaluated by the king of Babylon himself, and they passe the test with good margin: “And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.”
We can turn to God as our first resort, not our last. We can consecrate our work to Him, and witness to Christ wherever we are. Something I heard in my first GO Equipped course has been in my heart wherever I go ever since. "Live a life that demands explanations". Imagine how much Daniel and his companions were asked to explain to their colleagues, to the officials and even to the king himself.
In the remaining chapters of the book of Daniel we can learn much more about this and how to deal with bosses who are enemies of God and colleagues who plot against us. We get good models for how to remain faithful in our relationship with God and we see good examples of how we can glorify Him in everything we do.
Many other books in the Bible can teach us about why God created work and how beautifully Jesus related his parables to the work life of the people he spoke to. I encourage you to go deep in the Bible and highlight verses that speak about this. Just like the whole Bible, the book of Daniel is still current and helps us a lot in our daily lives.
Written by Sabrina Barroso
