[Image: Solar Flare, 2013, JA Van Devender]
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Daniel 6:3–5 (NKJV)
3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
Wouldn't it be something if this was the universal testimony of our Christian lives?
Daniel understood that Christian ethics demands not only a striving for "moral" purity (as in the common use of the term) but also "moral" zeal for excellence... in everything. There was not, in his mind nor in the mind of our Savior, a difference between how we conduct ourselves in ordinary conversation and moral choices and how we interact with and react to the world as it is providentially presented to us.
Jesus understood His earthly walk in terms of being guided by the Holy Spirit into various situations, encounters, opportunities, etc. The scripture proclaim over and over again that He saw things happening so that God may be glorified in how He dealt with them (see John's account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead as just one). Now what has to be emphasized is that Jesus saw this as particular guidance and not just random encounters. It was not that He saw the people He healed in terms of someone "happening to be" there... no... each instance was a divine encounter which God had, from all eternity, set in motion. He did not heal everyone... He did not speak to everyone... He did not forgive every sin in Israel... His actions were specific... detailed... precise... and always oriented toward bringing honor to His Father in heaven.
Daniel, like Joseph before him, followed this exact same path. There is an ethical dimension to our Christian vocational lives that is just as great an imperative as "Thou shall not kill..." The fourth commandment directs us to rest on the Sabbath but it also states, clearly, "six days shalt thou work..." That statement is not directed toward our "income producing" activity per se. To think of "work" as restricted in such a manner is a modern idea. No, what this command requires is that for six days we should be busy... in the ordinary conduct of all our life... doing those things that God has set before us to do... across the full spectrum of our human activity and requirements... and that, in each of these, we are to do them to the very best of our ability in such a manner as to "do all things well."
We should see our homes, our studies, our hospitality to neighbors, our service on the school board, our reading, our political awareness, etc. as callings to excellence and pathways by which God may be glorified in and through us. Nothing in human life is purely random and nothing is neutral as far as God is concerned. Not every opportunity is directly and immediately prone to overt witness and sometimes, when dealing with secular people, it may not be appropriate to call them to repentance. However, every opportunity is directly and immediately prone to winning the world's respect, whether grudging or otherwise.
We are called to general service to God as well as specific service. Our talents in any one area may be lesser or greater than in others, but that doesn't mean that our strivings for excellence in those areas where we are not as naturally gifted should be any less. We too often fall into the modern "specialist" way of thinking which is far removed from the historical progress in human thought and from Biblical thinking. A "specialist" discounts all other aspects of his or her life. "I'm not good at that" becomes an excuse for not doing our best at it. All too often we live as if human society should resemble a bee hive with highly coordinated specialists doing their thing and only their thing to the benefit of the whole. But not so the Christian view of society.
Christians should see their lives as being directed into opportunities in which witness is initiated by our heart orientation toward those opportunities. "God has given me this kid... this spouse... this neighbor... this task... this challenge... this social issue which needs to be addressed... this government .... this church... this etc. A "God directed life" view starts here. Then "obedience" to God becomes specific and situational. How am I best to deal with this opportunity in such a way as to honor God in it.
Once that paradigm shift is in place a lot of things follow. One of them is a sense of purpose for our lives and a growing appreciation for the wisdom of God as it is revealed in all things.
Let it be said of us as it was of Daniel... “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” If we have something to do... let's do it with flair.
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