Daniel 3 and Christian Conscience

I’ve always thought that the Book of Daniel is the single greatest work that deals with the subject of state/culture vs. religion.

In chapter 3, the Babylonian government creates a new law requiring all officials in the government to fall down and worship a new state idol. To not do so would be against the law and perceived as disloyalty to the state. Jewish exiles who are a part of the Babylonian government - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – choose not to fall down and worship this idol, instead choose to follow their consciences and the commands of God regarding the worship of idols.

Now Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had several choices in front of them. They could have chosen to fall down and worship the idol in earnest. They could have chosen to fall down and only pretend to worship the idol. They may or may not have had the option of stepping down from their positions in the Babylonian government, but they could have run away. Instead, the three public officials chose to publicly ignore the law and follow their conscience. Really, why should they cower before the state? Let the state try and make them go against their conscience. Naturally, they were arrested and thrown in prison.

All well and good. Great story. Five stars. The feel good chapter of the summer. How does it play out in real life?

We can all sit and read about the great consciences of individuals like Daniel, Paul, Thomas Beckett, Martin Luther, Sir Thomas More, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. We admire them and we hold them on a pedestal. We do that.

Yet, in all practicality, the vast majority of most Christians are cowards. They talk a big game, but, when the rubber meets the road, they will bend to the will of the state like limbo champions.

Peer pressure will get most of them … and the fear of being associated with THOSE Christians. Others are conditioned by the artificial structures of power and authority that make up society and cannot conceive of going against them. Still others might exercise their right to sue and proceed along the avenues of the judicial system until they exhausted all legal remedies. Yet, when they lose, they choose to kowtow to the holy cow. In the end, almost all of them fear losing reputation, possessions, status, and their physical freedom. Yep, Olympic gold medals for Christians on the balance beam.

But when they aren’t bending it like Beckham, they are talking a good game, aren’t they? They are morally outraged by the thing that they must be morally outraged about today. I know because I saw it on Facebook. Yet how often do we see Christians in our own churches cower at the first sign of intimidation. If they break when they have nothing to lose, do you think they will refuse submission when they could lose almost everything?

And, yet, there is a sublime simplicity in alternative: “No.” “Make me.” The words are pure though their consequences are ugly. Yes, you could lose everything – even go to jail – but Christians are supposed to give up everything anyway. Besides, the freedom of one’s conscience is more important than the freedom of one’s body. I’d rather have a free conscience than a mind imprisoned by an unwillingness to embrace the truth. Indeed, Christians have done some of their best work in prison (Paul, Luther, Bonhoeffer, King).

Talk is cheap. Moral outrage is unpersuasive in the calming patience of God’s victory. We’re about to enter a very interesting era of history. Let’s see who bends towards the idol and who remains standing.