You rule!

               I’m finishing up a two-week intensive course on the book of Daniel. One of the key goals of the course was to focus on the text of Daniel to understand the primary message that the original author intended to communicate to the original audience. There’s a lot of discussion about the book, but a close reading of the text surfaces one clear idea: God establishes and removes kings. You can substitute the idea of ‘political sovereignty’ for the idea of kingship. God determines who will rule a country and the people of God should look to Him even when under an unreasonable monarch. 

               The most important difference between the political situation in the book of Daniel and the modern political situation here in the United States is that of sovereignty. Who rules the country? While our political masters might exercise a lot of authority, they are ultimately accountable to the people. Every four years, the people express their will by voting for the politicians who best represent their desires. Ben Franklin has been attributed with this saying: “In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns.” So in the American system, political sovereignty comes from the people, who then elect representatives to carry out their desires and set the direction for the country. 

               The connection to the book of Daniel provides a warning to believers who are apathetic and uninvolved in the political system. You see, just as God gave sovereignty to the kings of Babylon, He also removed their kingdom and handed it over to the Medo-Persian empire, and then the Greek empire and then the Roman empire. And now political sovereignty in our country has been handed to us: the people. If we fail to exercise wisdom in ruling our country, we face the very real possibility of losing the right to govern ourselves. This isn’t an endorsement of any political candidate, but a reminder of two things: God gives and removes political sovereignty and that responsibility has been given to the people. We need to very carefully exercise that sovereignty by involvement in the political process, lest God remove our right to govern.

Healthy Paranoia

               I’m not paranoid, but I am suspicious. You see ‘paranoid’ means that you falsely believe that ‘someone is out to get you.’ I’m suspicious that someone actually is ‘out to get me.’ And I do have some good reasons to be suspicious… That marks the difference between paranoia and suspicion, the paranoid doesn’t have good reasons to believe he’s in danger, but the suspicious man does have good reasons. It seems to me that the line between the two is pretty thin. It could be that a little healthy paranoia (apparently excessive suspicion) could save a fellow in a tight spot. But then he’s not paranoid, because the sudden appearance of the ‘tight spot,’ proves that his paranoia actually was healthy suspicion. 

               Reading through the book of Daniel for an excellent class in seminary; chapter 2 reveals a restless King Nebuchadnezzar who has had a dream. He calls for his wise men and demands that they tell him both the dream and the interpretation. When reading biblical narrative, paying close attention to details can clue you in to important elements in, or the reason for the story. In verse 8, the king accuses the wise men of bargaining for more time which seems reasonable. But in verse 9, the time reference intensifies as the king accuses the wise men of wanting to lie to him ‘until the times change.’ So perhaps the wise men are stalling… until there’s a new king. Ancient near eastern politics was a contact sport to be sure. Stop watching your back for even a minute and your best friend might decide to become your replacement. As the passage moves on, Daniel receives the dream and its interpretation from God and before reporting to the king he exults that God is the one who ‘changes times’… And the meaning of the dream relates to the changes of kingdoms. I wonder if Nebuchadnezzar’s paranoia was actually a healthy suspicion after all…? In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar comes out okay, after some pretty bizarre and humbling circumstances. It’s worth a close read, and the story got me thinking about when is paranoia healthy for the Christian? 

               It seems to me that a little paranoia can go a long way to help the believer avoid sin. You remember, sin, right? That sneaky little thing just waiting for the moment when you feel like you have it under control and then BAM! It’s got you, again (sigh). It’s out to get you and you know it… because it’s happened before and you’ve been warned about it! My favorite example is when God tells Cain that ‘sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it’ (Gen. 4:7). In this situation, what is true for Cain is true for me and you as well.  Sin is waiting for you; it’s just right over there. And if you’re sitting there thinking that you know someone who needs to be a bit more paranoid when it comes to sin: dear reader it’s you… and me… and everyone. As the saying goes: ‘Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you.’

 Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”