This week’s message was an extremely relevant passage for most of us here at ICF, especially those who find themselves to be foreigners in a strange land. Like Daniel, we also are meant to be resident aliens in our culture as well. God used Daniel in a mighty way to transform the Babylonian culture. Daniel serves as a fantastic model for how God uses faithful and obedient people to change the world. If we study Daniel’s behavior we will see how God intends for each of us to be transformative agents in our culture as well; Daniel: 1) resolved not to become defiled by his culture; 2) Established authentic relationships; 3) Strove for excellence in all things as God gifted him. As a result, over the course of time God used Daniel to transform culture. But above all, Daniel (el = God, dani = my judge) held himself accountable to God has his final judge, lord, and king! We too then, can learn from Daniel’s behavior but above all we must see ourselves as accountable to Christ first before any worldly power.
