We live in a culture that is becoming every day more hostile to us. It is becoming more obvious just how different we are as Christ’s followers. Yet God instructs us how to live in such a culture: build, plant, marry, have families, pray for our cities (Jeremiah 29:5-7). We are to do a lot of things that the non-Christian people are doing as well, but we’re not supposed to carry these things out in exactly the same way because we belong to God and we are to be faithful to God – not the culture in which we live. God’s Kingdom is our cultural origination. 

Let’s look at the prophet Daniel as an example. In Daniel chapter 1, we see that he was exiled as a young man and taken into King Nebuchadnezzar’s service. He was to be inculcated into Babylonian culture. They changed his Hebrew name, Daniel, (meaning “God is my judge”) to a Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, which means “Bel protects.” Bel was the head Babylonian god. They schooled him in the language of Babylon and in the literature. Finally, they gave him Babylonian food – and not just any Babylonian food but the King’s food, so the best food Babylon had to offer. They were hitting all of the cultural hot spots in an attempt to bring Daniel to their side: common names, shared language, art, and food. And yet Daniel remained faithful to God. He worked in the King’s service but he continued to worship the true King. What did Daniel do to separate himself from Babylonian culture and remain faithful to God? He abstained, he prayed, and he proclaimed. 

When told to partake of the King’s food, Daniel and his friends chose to abstain. In chapter 1 verse 8 it explains that Daniel didn’t want to defile himself. So, he asked if he and his friends could have a diet of vegetables and water and after 10 days the guard of the chief official would give them a check up and see if they were looking better than all the other men eating the King’s cuisine. And after 10 days “they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food”. (1:15). They may have abstained from the food because it violated Jewish law, or maybe it had been sacrificed to idols or maybe there was another reason, but whatever the reason Daniel and his friends chose not to partake and the Lord blessed them. Now, I don’t mean to say that we ought to be abstaining from certain cultural foods per say, as we have freedom in Christ – but what I am saying is that there are cultural practices and beliefs for which we as Christians would be wise to abstain from.  We should not participate in cultural traditions or norms that would prevent us from living godly lives in Christ Jesus. We must learn to abstain even under cultural pressure. 

In Daniel chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which really disturbed him. He couldn’t find anyone who could both tell him what the dream was as well as interpret it. So in absolute fury, the king called for the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. When Daniel found out he boldly asked the king for more time “so that he might interpret the dream” (2:16). And then, Daniel did what we ought to do – he prayed. But he didn’t just pray himself, he also asked his friends to pray with him that God would spare them by helping him to interpret the dream. And then, when God did help him, he prayed again and praised God. This is what we also need to be doing. Praying! We are living in more and more dangerous times. I saw a video just today about the threat American churches are under because Islamist extremists have called for their people to attack Christians in our country. It is time to pray – pray for our churches, pray for our families, pray for our nation and let’s not pray alone. Let’s pray collectively for perseverance, wisdom, and strength to love our enemies. We stand opposed to the culture when we pray to our Father. And by the way, our Father is the one with all the power. 

Daniel finally has an audience with Nebuchadnezzar about the dream. Let’s look at the conversation between Daniel and the king. In Chapter 2 verse 26 to 28, the king asked, “‘Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?’ Daniel replied, ‘No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.’” Daniel proclaimed God before the King of Babylon. Daniel was bold to speak openly in a hostile culture (before a hostile king!) about the reality of God, because God was real to Daniel. We must do the same and proclaim our very real God to this very hostile culture. We cannot allow fear of mockery or violence stop us from boldly proclaiming the reality of Christ and the gospel message: that God has made a way for sinful people to know Him – Jesus is the only way for sinful men to be justified before God. Our culture is crying out to hear the truth. For too long the cultural mantra has been that truth is relative – No.  There is one truth and that truth is Jesus Christ. Let’s proclaim it! 

Until we go to our real home we have to live in a culture that is not our own. But we do not have to embrace the culture. Let’s take a page from Daniel’s playbook and live faithfully for God and God’s kingdom, our true culture.