The Problem With Communities

Fitting In: When I was a kid, I remember the intense pressure I would feel to be like other people. I don’t really care about sports, but I briefly became a baseball fan because there was so much pressure to be into sports (Although no matter how much effort I expended, I just couldn’t get into hockey). I remember changing the way I dressed and the way I cut (or didn’t) my hair so that I would fit in.

Humans are meant to belong to communities, and being like others is often the price of belonging.

In an ideal world, this isn’t a problem. Communities can reinforce positive virtues and values, so we can become the best version of ourselves.

but in a world, where communities, like everything else, are infected with brokenness and sin, the pressures to belong can and often do become toxic.

In a broken world, communities become exclusive – we tend to ‘other’ a group of outsiders, convincing ourselves they are not fully human, and not deserving of respect

Respecting God’s image: Remember that immigrants, liberals, conservatives, men, women, gay, straight all bear the image of their creator. The implication is that we cannot pick and choose people deserving of respect, because disrespecting an image bearer is an act of disrespect against God.

Another way community pressures can be toxic is when they disempower the weak, and give more power to those who are already powerful.

Communities are at the heart of our problem, but they’re also at the heart of God’s solution.The Blessing of Communities

God’s rescue involves creating a community of people whose group dynamics are supposed to be different.

It all starts when he takes an extended family of slaves out of bondage in Egypt as his special possession, a community he can shape into a proof of concept to demonstrate his wisdom to the world.

He enters into a covenant relationship with them: He will be their God and they will be his people.

To this end, he gives them his instructions (Torah) and he takes up residence with them, pitching his tent with them (The Tabernacle).

At Sinai, God is creating a wholly new people with a new culture based on his wisdom.

The plan is that their new culture will take root when they enter into a land the is supposed to be devoid of inhabitants, after driving out the inhabitants of the promised land.

The community is called to be different for the sake of the nations: Their life together is supposed to illustrate God’s wisdom, drawing people to God

That’s the idea, but in practice things go badly.

Right off the bat, the people worship a godlen calf

When they arrive in the Promised Land, they leave many of the inhabitants in place.

The Canaanites’ culture shapes this fragile new culture God was constructing.

Like a pack of teenagers overcome by peer pressure, they surrender the values that had never fully internalized and become just like the people around them.

Just as God drove out the original inhabitants of the land for their sin, so God drives the Israelites out of the land too.

The Jews end up in Babylon as exiles. And there they must figure out what it means to be God’s people while being surrounded by people with no interest in being God’s people.

In this context, we read a story about 4 young men who try to be faithful to God while living in a place hostile to GodDaniel 1NIV

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Daniel, and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, don’t choose this life, it is thrust upon them. Yet they try to live faithfully to God.

Their story gives us an example of what it means to live set apart for God in a hostile place.

From their example we can see that even in a culture that opposes our beliefs, we are called to live distinctly for God, trusting his faithfulness and provision.

The point is that by doing so, the people around us, can see God’s wisdom, and come to God. So we are called to live differently for the sake of the World.Cultivating Dependency

Daniel and his friends, raised in the Jewish nobility, are picked to serve the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar.

Because they will be given positions of importance, we can fail to see the ways they are actually powerless.

Their training will teach them about divination and astrology, things that are taboo for Jews.

Their captors want their abilities, but they want to break their connection these four young men have with their former life.

Despite the offensiveness of what they will be forced to learn, they really aren’t in a position to say no.

Their situation is little better than a person who is the victim of human trafficking who is forced to participate in things that are totally opposed to their values.

But even though they are in a weak position, Daniel and his friends resolve to do whatever is in their power to remain faithful to God.

In their case, they find a place to assert their loyalty to God in the food they are served.

We’re not told the specifics about what kind of provisions they are given, so it’s hard to know exactly why they object.

Some scholars point out that the meat served to them would have first been offered in sacrifice to pagan Gods.

This is probably true, but the same could be said for the vegetables they ate.

Others say the foods wouldn’t have adhered to Jewish dietary laws

Also, probably true, but this doesn’t explain why they would specifically refuse the king’s wine.

Jewish dietary law only prohibits alcohol for those who have taken a Nazarite vow of dedication to God, and there is nothing in the text to suggest they have done this.

The best reason I’ve seen for why the refuse the kings provision is that they wish to place themselves in a relationship of dependence on God.

If they are healthy and strong while eating the king’s food, it would be easy to say their good health comes from the king’s provision.

But if they are healthy and strong despite their meagre rations, then it’s clear that their health is attributable to God, rather than the king.

The Hebrew literally says they were ‘fatter in flesh’ than the others.

Yep, I have the physique of a vegetarian.

Even if their diet was only known to the guard (what do you bet he literally ate like a king for those three years?) every time they looked at more steamed eggplant, they would be reminded that God was sustaining them.

Otherwise, being so amply supplied and being surrounded by the ‘wisdom’ of another culture, it might have been easy for them to forget their dependence on God.

There are times when we experience circumstances that remind us that we are dependent on God.

In times of hardship its easy to look to God.

Boom/Bust: Last month Peter Panabaker passed 20 years of ministry at the Baptist Church in Kirkland Lake. Having been here through the boom/bust cycle, he once observed to me that when the price of Gold is high and the local economy is booming, people aren’t very receptive to the church’s message, but when the price of Gold drops, and the local economy is bad, people suddenly rediscover their need for God.

So sometimes God ordains that we walk though difficulty because it is in difficulty that his sustaining power is most obvious to us.

When we are aware of how dependent we are on God, it’s easier to stay faithful to his commands when social pressures push us in a different direction.

We’re all going to encounter times when there is pressure to do the wrong thing.

Maybe it’s to participate in racist or sexist jokes around the office water cooler

Maybe it’s cheating on your taxes in ways you think you can get away with

When we remember that we are blessed by God’s loving provision, its easier for us to stay focused on what pleases him and less focused on what pleases others.

So being dependent on God is not necessarily a bad thing.

Despite the discomfort it creates, it keeps us focused on him. Without it, we quickly lose that focus and can find ourselves compromising.

In fact, we’re always dependent on God

As Paul tells the Athenians at the Areopogas, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

God sustains us at all times.

The question isn’t whether whether we’re dependent on God, but whether we’re aware of that dependence. When things are going well, it’s easy to forget.

If I don’t pray thanking God for the food on my table, chances are pretty good, God’s not going to be so offended, that he makes that food vanish.

Because God is so faithful, it can be easy to forget we are dependent.

When we are living in adversity, we likely don’t need to be reminded of this reality but when we live in ease, we may profit from cultivating an awareness of our dependence on God.

This is what Daniel and his friends are doing. And this is something we should also do, at least occasionally.

Fasting is an example of a short-term reliance on God.

Lent is a longer version of fasting, although it means giving up something we can actually live without for six straight weeks.

So I should ask myself: In my daily life, are there places where I am reminded of my dependence on God?

Not having cash – I remember once choosing not to get any money out of the bank (I was going to school in Costa Rica and there were not debit card transactions. It’s not that I didn’t have money in the bank, but not having cash forced me to allow God to bless me. Suddenly I was more aware of how God was blessing me.

If we don’t experience our dependence on God, it can be a blessing to do the discipline of dependence

That might be resolving to be more generous with time or money to helping others.

It might mean stepping out in obedience to God to do something for which i feel inadequate.

When I depend on God, I learn to trust his faithfulness. Only when I trust his faithfulness, will I be able to live in a distinct way.Maintaining A Distinctive Identity

Just as Daniel and his friends maintained a distinctive identity while surrounded by a hostile culture, Christians are called to live in a countercultural Godly way.

God’s law—further clarified by Jesus’ teaching—directs the community to embody a set of unusual values.

The community is supposed to be set apart in its

devotion to God,

advocacy for the powerless

Commitment to reconciliation

and faithfulness to one another.

It’s not enough for the church to be distinctive—the way it is distinctive is what matters

When the church becomes distinctive without embodying a new set of God-given values, its countercultural witness is confused. Its differentness can become meaningless or even counterproductive.

It’s not uncommon to see people who mark themselves out as Christian, while embodying values antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.

I remember an uncomfortable bus ride in Budapest when a couple were making out on a crowded bus. The girl was wearing a WWJD bracelet. I’m not so sure that’s how Jesus would do it.

Or maybe you get cut off in traffic by an aggressive driver sporting a Jesus Fish on their trunk.

Or maybe it’s self-identified Christians whose language about migrants shows that they believe them to be unworthy of human dignity.

The distinctiveness of God’s people is meant to draw people in, not put them off. As Jesus tells us.Matthew 5:14–16NIV

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

For Daniel and his friends, the strange diet was distinctive, but it was their distinct God-given wisdom that set them apart from the crowd.

Because they rely on God, they are given greater wisdom then their peers. It says the king found them 10 times better.

Their wisdom reveals God’s power.

In Daniel 2, Daniel is called upon to interpret a dream for Nebuchadnezzar (or else he and all the rest of the wise men will be executed).

He confesses that no one can do it, but that God has given the ability to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so that everyone can benefit.

Daniel’s wisdom, then, is given for the sake of the nations.

Our distinctiveness is likewise meant to show off God’s wisdom to the world.

We must ask ourselves, does the world see something attractive in the way that we’re different?

Late Night Pastoral Care: One night about 3:30 in the morning, I awoke to the sound of my doorbell. I went to the door and found a man I had never seen before. He told me my neighbour across the street had told him I was a pastor. He asked to come in. As we sat he began to talk about emotional problems and loneliness he was experiencing.

Important note: if you need pastoral care, unless it’s an emergency, I would appreciate it if you could avoid showing up on my doorstep in the wee hours.

Yet, I was struck by how this man came to a stranger in his time of need because he knew I was a Christian.

He came to me because he expected a Christian would be more willing to help him than someone who wasn’t. And that’s encouraging.

Those outside the church will have disagreements with us (or they wouldn’t be outside the church).

Yet, despite those differences, do those who are honest with themselves see in us uncommon mercy, generosity, kindness, safety or insight?

This is how we are meant to be different, for God’s glory.Conclusion

God’s has brought a people—the Church—into existence so we can showcase his wisdom

As God’s people in a pluralistic society, being his people means depending on God and maintaining a distinct way of being that demonstrates that wisdom.

We see this in the life of Daniel and his friends, who make a choice to live as faithful servants of God, even as they seek the good of the country that has taken them captive.

As Christians in a pluralistic society, we share some of the same struggles as the Jewish exiles in Babylon.

But like Daniel and his friends, God wants us to be different for the sake of those around us.

So we need to be willing to stand apart from our culture, not as a rejection of the world around us, but so that God’s power may work through us to bless them

If we live God’s way, many will see God’s love and wisdom, and be reconciled to him.

So let’s remember to be distinct, but also the reason for us being distinct. For God has sent us to the world.