What Does Courageous Leadership Look Like Today?

Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked man. His royal court was filled with godless pagans who practiced the dark arts of astrology and the occult. Yet in every conversation with his captors, Daniel and his friends were amazingly cordial, respectful and humble.

That’s a lesson we desperately need to relearn today.

Too often our rhetoric has been disrespectful and vitriolic toward those who oppose us. We may think we are only talking to ourselves, but the word gets out. And when people think we don’t like or respect them, they won’t listen to what we have to say.

Today, many Christians seem to think that showing respect to sinful people is akin to selling out—or that humbly serving a godless boss or political leader from the wrong side of the aisle is a spiritual compromise unworthy of a committed Jesus follower.

But that’s hogwash.

Worse, it’s an evangelism killer.

Daniel served his pagan bosses so well that he kept getting promoted. That doesn’t happen when we’re disrespectful, sabotage the boss’s agenda or cop an attitude of superiority. And eventually, because of those promotions, Daniel got to proclaim the glory of our Lord to three different kings and to influence an entire nation for the good of God’s people.

Think of your own spiritual journey. I’m certain that you were not brought to Jesus by someone who looked down on you or someone who held you in disdain. That’s not the way life works. We listen to those whom we believe have our best interests at heart. We shut off those who project an air of superiority, arrogance or disrespect.

That’s why restoring a spirit of humility and respect (even for our perceived enemies) is so important. Humble respect is the key that opens a man or woman’s heart to the gospel.

Wisdom Picks the Right Battles

The third thing about Daniel’s life that stands out to me is his wisdom in knowing which battles to fight and which ones to walk away from. He understood the difference between the things that he didn’t like and the things God forbade.

That’s something many of our people still need to learn.

We tend to take offense too quickly. We expect non-Christians to live like Christians, and don’t understand when they have no interest in doing so. We think they should show honor to our God. And when they don’t, we get upset.

But Daniel and his friends approached these things differently. When it came to sin, they drew a hard line in the sand. They didn’t care how others lived. But there was no way they were going to violate God’s law. They made it clear to their captors that they’d rather die than break God’s dietary laws, cease praying or bow down and worship an idol.

But when it came to a host of other things, they refused to fuss or fight. When they were assigned new names honoring the demon gods of Babylon, they let it slide. When they were forcefully enrolled in a three-year course to study astrology and the occult, they not only finished the course, they sat in the front row and graduated at the top of their class. And when they were placed into the service of the godless king who had attacked Jerusalem and desecrated the temple, they served him well.

Try that today and see what happens. Odds are you will be pilloried in pulpits and blogs as a compromiser. Instead of being praised for wisely picking your battles, you’ll be denigrated for running from the battle.

I can’t imagine for a moment that Daniel liked being called Bel’s Prince. I can’t imagine he enjoyed studying the occult or serving a godless king. But he understood the difference between the things that God expressly forbade and those that merely made him spiritually uncomfortable.

It’s a difference that many in my church fail to grasp. I often hear folks complain about the coarse language used in the cubicle next door, especially if it involves using our Lord’s name in vain. Others are in a tizzy because their workplace forces them to attend a “diversity” workshop or some form of New Age gobbledygook disguised as a team-building exercise. Some are deeply offended when their company donates to or sponsors a godless cause.

In each of these cases, I understand their discomfort. But none of these situations is worth fighting over. They may force us to be around sin. But they don’t force us to sin. The difference is significant.

If we hope to eventually talk to our neighbors and co-workers about Jesus, we’ll have to let some stuff go. Feisty and thin-skinned Christians don’t win a lot of people to the Lord. Never have. Never will.

Even when the pressure was great and the cost of obedience was high, Daniel refused to sin. He stood his ground. But at the same time, he also did a lot of standing around while others sinned. It’s an unfortunate and unavoidable byproduct of living in Babylon. It’s something many of us will have to get used to.

Staying On Mission

The fact is our mission remains the same no matter how godless our culture may become (and according to my reading of Romans 1:21-32 it may get a lot worse). The Great Commission remains our great assignment. Nothing has changed.

But to successfully pull it off in this increasingly hostile environment, we’ll have to ditch the path of anger and despair that so many have taken. Instead, we need to take a new path, one laid down for us long ago by a man named Daniel. It’s the path of hope, humility and wisdom. And it’s a path of great influence. Even in Babylon.

Larry Osborne
Larry Osbornehttp://LarryOsborneLive.com

Larry Osborne, an Outreach magazine consulting editor, is one of the senior pastors at North Coast Church in Vista, California, where he has served since 1980. He is the author of several books, most recently, Lead Like a Shepherd: The Secret to Leading Well (Thomas Nelson).

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