Standing against ungodliness

My oldest son is a champion for justice. No, he is not a policeman or politician, but when he sees someone abusing another person, he steps up to take the victim’s side. When he was a teen, he often came home with a few bruises because he told some stranger to stop mouthing off his girlfriend (also a stranger), and the fellow didn’t like it. Even today, if someone is using foul language in a public place, he will stand up and speak to them about it.

Because I did the same thing at a soccer game this week, we talked about the need for courage in our dark world. At first he said most people are so afraid of the “politically correct police” that they will not speak up. Then he said people are also afraid that someone will pull a knife or a gun on them. Public pressure used to be behind anyone who defended goodness. Now we are supposed to look the other way.

In the book of Daniel, God’s people faced similar pressures. The Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar decided to build a gold image. He decreed that whenever anyone heard the sound of music, they must drop everything and fall down and worship that image. Whoever failed to do so would “be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

March to the drum. Do what is expected. Pavlov’s dogs. Hear the tune. Don’t think for yourself. Never mind what is right or wrong. Just be a good citizen and don’t make waves.

Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were considered rebels in their time. Even as they were held captive in a foreign country, they never forgot their upbringing. Made of the same stuff as Daniel (whose faith later was tested in a lion’s den), they considered the right and wrong of what “everyone else was doing” and decided they would not worship this image. For them, the only object of worship was the Lord, their God.

Of course someone ratted on them, and the king challenged them. He said he was going to throw them in the furnace, and asked, “Who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

I love their response. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

They refused to worship his idol and thereby break the first commandment God gave, “You shall have no other gods before Me” and the second, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image . . . you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. . . .”

Yet even more incredible, they were willing to put their lives on the line in order to obey the Lord their God. When the king asked who would rescue them they said, “Our God is able . . . but if not . . .” Right was right, no matter the consequences.

What my son said about today’s fears is true. Where are the Shadrachs, Meshachs, and Abednegos who will stand firm for righteousness and for what God says? These men would rather die than disobey God. Where are the people who would rather get a boot in the head than see someone abused without challenging the abuser? Where are the people who will risk some lip, or a rude gesture, or even physical altercation rather than watch someone hurt someone else or violate goodness and righteousness?

I’m sure the same question goes through minds today: “Who will rescue you?” Most are more concerned by self-preservation than they are about doing the right thing. Who will rescue us? Do we underestimate the power of our God?

As my son and I talked, my question was, “Does it help? Does it work? Do they listen?” We agreed that speaking up still can make a difference. The drunken fan I spoke to on Thursday and the rough, tough people that my son speaks to in restaurants and other places can and do control their mouths. One word (and it has to be a polite word), and they stop "beaking off" or rudely cursing. All they need is someone to remind them that they should do the right thing.

But if not, then my prayer is that God would give the world a few more Shadrachs, Meshachs, and Abednegos who will stand up for God and for good anyway, without fear of the consequences. God did deliver these three, and even walked with them in the fire of that furnace, but even if He didn’t . . .