Daniel’s Dozen, Part 6: Faithfulness, No Matter the Cost

Last week we considered number eight of twelve godly traits found in Daniel – his boldness. The man had moxie! This came from the Lord and reflected the Christ to come. His boldness led him to be number nine – faithful, no matter the cost.

God gave him a message and he retold the dream and gave the interpretation exactly as he received it. There was no editing. There was no avoiding the hard truth to win friends or keep his head. This all took boldness, but also faithfulness to his calling.

Daniel was putting his job, security, health, possessions and life on the line every time he came before these ungodly, pagan monarchs with a negative message of their demise. Yet every time, he told the truth, the whole truth.

The problem with us, the problem with many who are in positions of spiritual authority, is not that they aren’t saying some true things. Most pastors and most popular writers and speakers of the Christian faith are saying some things that are true. The problem is they are not telling the whole truth. They are leaving out parts of the message. They are editing. Some are truly Christian, just too soft and too afraid they will step on toes and lose their crowds and influence. Some are heretics, speaking just enough true things to deceive the masses and poison the souls of thousands. It takes great discernment to know the difference.

But Daniel models for us faithfulness to the whole message, all the time, no matter the cost. And he was also faithful in the mundane filing of government paperwork and the ho-hum execution of routine duties, year after year after decade. Daniel didn’t cut corners. He didn’t cheat or pilfer. He was no Wally in the Dilbert comic strip, drinking coffee and making excuses and hiding from every appearance of work. Daniel wasn’t lazy or negligent or dishonest.

How do I know? Because when his enemies wanted to find some dirt on him in regards to his government affairs, they could find none! You had two commissioners with apparently 80 satraps reporting to them, with as much time, access, authority and manpower necessary, but they came up empty handed. Apparently Daniel just sat back and let it play out, for his record and conscience were clean.

“Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him” (6:4). He was so spotless they could not even fabricate a semi-believable accusation! So they turned to his relationship with God and concocted a scheme that ended up being their own undoing.

What a reflection all of this is of our Lord! He was obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Jesus understood something very clearly – life is not a popularity contest, it is a faithfulness to God contest. That all that matters. It’s not about us, our dreams, our comfort, health, wealth, prosperity, self-esteem or kingdom. It’s about God and His glory. What He wants of His followers is faithfulness, not selfishness.

Jesus will not say, “Well done, thou good and popular servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” He will not say, “Well done, thou good and successful leader.” What we long to hear is, “Well done, thou good and faithful slave.” That puts things in perspective!