Principles mistaken for weakness
When the Persians defeated the Babylonians, they made use of some of the leaders that were already in place. Among these were Daniel was a rising star who king Darius was about to appoint over the kingdom.
The other administrators, driven by their own ambitions and jealousies wanted to block him, but couldn't find any "dirt" to discredit him.
Instead, they found that Daniel was a man of real integrity:
"He was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent."
There was a fourth aspect to Daniel's integrity: It was obvious to them that Daniel was completely loyal to obeying God.
It's ironic: They saw this loyalty to God as a potential leverage point. If Daniel's loyalty was to something dead and lifeless, they may have succeeded but these men would experience a different reality in the lion's den!
People think that holding onto integrity and devotion to God is a sign of weakness. They think that Christians are weak and that faith is a crutch. They think that strength lies in living as though I am law unto myself.
Daniel had anchors and foundations in his life. His enemies could see that and they thought they could exploit it. They learned differently.
Integrity is coming back into fashion in the business world. Trustworthiness, a lack of corruption and a hard-work-ethic - are a good start, but it's all still self-referencing.
The perceived weakness of Daniel's integrity was that he was not self-referencing, but that his moral compass was set on the True North of his faith in God. This turned out to be his greatest strength.
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Can people see that you live according to the Law of your God?
I pray that your devotion to God would be clear and winsomely attractive!
I pray that your devotion to God would be clear and winsomely attractive!
| Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." (Daniel6:3-5) |
