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Daring to Be a Daniel

 

I am musing about....

Daring to Be a Daniel

How many of you remember that old Sunday School Song with this name that we sang with such  gusto as children? How many of your kids sang it when they were young? How many of you are still singing it with your kids or grandkids today?

We sang it the other evening during an evening singing for a dear elderly lady from church. When I mentioned how this song has been on my mind lately with all that is going on in the world today, a sweet friend looked at me and with a smile asked if I had been "musing about it lately". 

 And thus this post (thanks Sandy):)

And so. let's revisit the words from the chorus of this song:

    Dare to be a Daniel,

    Dare to stand alone,

    Dare to have a purpose firm,

    Dare to make it known.

The melody of the song is decisive and strong, like the lyrics. I have always loved this song and found strength in the firm conviction and dedication it portrays and promotes.

As Christians, from day one we need to take a stand. To be willing to be different. To stand out and sometimes alone. For a cause and a purpose.

In this Cancel Culture, where "anything goes" and those who stand on firm convictions are considered narrow minded, uncompassionate, old fashioned, self serving and even unloving, personal convictions have given way to "group think". For many in this "cultural moment" who are not Christ followers, it seems to have become difficult to admit or even know how to establish a personal conviction.

Yet, the Word of God is all about that. About convictions'. About right and wrong. About Truth.

How challenging this culture makes it to share Truth in a world where "truth" has become so relative, so personal, so.....untrue!!

I am going to quickly go down a side street to make a point. Please bear with me without getting too caught up in the initial theme.

The church I was raised in (which I am thankful for and still love and attend today) has a history of being...well, traditional. When we surrendered our lives to Christ, we stepped out of the world and into a completely new lifestyle that became very obvious to those around us. I realize that this statement, though true, could lend itself to a dissertation on God's grace and the sanctification process, yet this was my experience and I will maintain it for all practical purposes relative to the point I am making here:)

Looking back on that time, I realize that it was good practice for me in being okay with being different. For the sake of my Jesus!!

Being different is okay! It is good! It is necessary! To be a Christ follower is to forsake the world and those things that pull us down or away from Him. What that looks like will vary some, as we each search the Word and spend time with our Savior and look to Him for personal direction in all things.

But are we willing...to be different?

May we never shy away from all that means. May we not let the culture in any way dictate our responses to the issues surrounding us today.

May we seek God's grace as we respond. May we respond with Truth while exercising humility and kindness.

After all, is it not the kind thing, the loving thing....to spread Truth that saves? Truth that produces joy and meaning? Even when that Truth is rejected or when the proponent of said Truth is ostracized or maligned?

Ryan T. Anderson, Pres. of the Ethics and Public Policy Center put it well on a Breakpoint podcast (5/10/21)  when he said "We (Christians) may be called to carry a cross by bearing witness to a countercultural vision. The way that we love our neighbors is by bearing witness to the Truth. We (in the culture) have a definition of love which is relabeled affirmation, and that is not love. It is cruel to tell someone who is not okay, that they are."

"Then you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." John 8:31

So may we Christians, freed by the Truth, go forth in and with the love of God. May we, as commissioned by God's Word and advocated in that powerful song of our childhood, 

Dare to Be a Daniel. Dare to Stand Alone. Dare to have a purpose firm and......

DARE TO MAKE IT KNOWN!!


                                                

 Check out this video!!

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP5PemuGAjY


  

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