Daniel 1:8-21
Jeremiah 29:1-14
1 Corinthians 5:9-10
Daniel 1:17-21
Hebrews 1:1
1 Peter 3:13-17
I will use primarily four major sources for our study.
• The Bible (ESV)
• “Against The Flow” by John Lennox (2015)
• “The Church in Babylon by Erwin Lutzer (2018)
• “Faith For Exiles” by David Kinnaman & Mark Matlock (2019)
David Kinnaman makes this observation:
“Empires subjugate weaker nations of the earth using a variety of tactics, not all of which are military. Yes, empires use violence and power to achieve dominance. But military means often go hand in hand with colonial strategies deployed to transform the language, economics, and cultural imagination of conquered peoples. The Jewish elite were captured after Babylonian’s military conquest of Judah, forcibly taken to the empires’ capital, and subjugated to a cultural conquest nearly as devastating as their martial defeat. (The Book of Daniel is a vivid account of Babylon’s culture-eradication campaign and how some exiles successfully resisted.)
If a literal Babylon were around today, the internet would certainly be in the imperial toolbox – and insofar as we thoughtlessly consume whatever content comes our way, we’d be cheerful participants in our own colonization. Even without a literal empire knocking on our door, many of us are willingly held captive. The idea of digital colonization may seem extreme, but here is the point: screens inform and connect, but they also distract and entertain. Through screen’s everywhere presence, Babylon’s pride, power, prestige, and pleasure colonize our hearts and minds.
Pop culture is a reality filter. Websites, apps, movies, TV, video games, music, social media, YouTube channels, and so on increasingly provide the grid against which we test what is true and what is real.
Screens demand our attention. Screens disciple.”
Tim Keller in his book “Exiles in a Foreign Land” (2006) writes:
“Christians should be humbled before the new pagan pluralistic situation. Just as with the exiles, the situation is due in large part to our own failings. The church did not lose its position of privilege simply because of evil enemies of the faith. We lost our position as part of God’s judgment on our pride, our hypocrisy, our love of power, our prejudice, our bigotry and failure to hold onto the truth. This is the way in which God get’s people’s attention.”
Erwin Lutzer makes this comment:
“Daniel’s conviction was rock solid. He had made compromises he could live with, but some matters were non-negotiable. “I can help the king, I can advise the king, but I will not compromise my faith in Jehovah. It is all a matter of resolve. I certainly don’t want to give the impression that I think we can imitate Daniel and his friends in being indoctrinated with an occult education.
My point is that we should never underestimate God’s commitment to keep us where He plants us.
There is much in pagan society that you can conscientiously be associated with; but there is much that we must stay away from. That line might not be drawn in the same place for everyone. May God give us the wisdom to know where it should be drawn for us.”
