Holding Fast to Our Christian Convictions

This is an excerpt from Daniel by J.D. Greear.

In 605 BC, God had handed Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar, who besieged Jerusalem and took Daniel, his friends, and other Jewish nobility back to Babylon in exile. This would have been traumatic and painful for these young Jewish men. Only teenagers, they found themselves in a foreign land with foreign gods and an idolatrous culture. Yet even though the culture compromised, Daniel and his friends did not. Daniel saw what Babylon valued and determined to live by a different set of values. Daniel did not eat from the king’s table because the food did not meet the standards God set in His law. In other words, the food was unclean. Because of Christ, we are not held to the same dietary standards. But that doesn’t mean our culture won’t expect us to compromise.

The second way Christian men show we’re different is by refusing to compromise our integrity. The four Hebrew men in this passage were likely teenagers, yet they were guided by the strength of their convictions, even when setting them aside would’ve been “easier” and refusing to do so threatened to cost them greatly. When they made the request to the king’s chief eunuch, he could’ve had them killed. After all, he was afraid of the king and disregarding or dismissing Daniel’s request would’ve been easier and safer than trying to accommodate it. But Daniel met the man’s concern with Christlike compassion. Christians should always hold our convictions with compassion, treating those with different convictions with the same kindness God has extended to us. Holding his convictions gave Daniel favor with the official, but that won’t always be the case. This passage is not a promise of a magic formula but an example that points forward to Jesus, who sought peace even with those who reviled Him. He is the One we emulate, and He is the One we pursue. For the follower of Jesus, convictions can’t be set aside, because everything we do is done first and foremost as an offering to Jesus, even when it costs us.

Maybe you’ve heard the story of Eric Liddell, whose story was featured in the movie Chariots of Fire (maybe you can hear the theme music now). Eric was an incredible runner who was also a committed Christian, and he was recruited for the 1924 Olympic team for Great Britain. But he soon learned that the hundred-meter qualifying heat was to be held on Sunday, and he wouldn’t run on Sunday. His convictions were that Sunday was the Lord’s Day and that it would dishonor God for him to run on Sunday. The British team appealed to the Olympic Committee to change the date of the heat, but the Olympic Committee wouldn’t budge. It became a big scandal and the British papers skewered him. He became a worldwide laughing stock. His team switched him to the four hundred-meter race, but it was a totally different race that required completely different training. Against all odds, he won. After he won, he said, “Those who honor God, He will honor.” Again, this is not a promise or magic formula. Sometimes you do the right thing and suffer. God often uses our refusal to compromise to show off His power and glorify His name.