By Dennis Rowan
June 1, 2004

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" (Daniel 6:19-20)

Thousands, probably millions of young children have been taught about Daniel in the lions' den. This familiar story about Daniel being thrown into a den of lions and escaping without injury no doubt causes the eyes of young children to open wide with amazement as a parent or Sunday school teacher tells how serving God rather than the king has its rewards.

I don't remember getting too excited about the story when I heard it as a youngster, but the older I get the more that story means to me. That's what is nice about God's Word; it is an eternal source of information to increase our knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and strengthen our resolve to serve Him. My interest at this point in life has to do with the disconnect that the Body of Christ seems to have with this Scripture. While many people seem to follow God with a passion with regard to some areas of life, they totally yield to the king in others.

For example, there are many very large ministries that have many marks of success according to man's measuring stick, but they shrink when the king gives an edict. I am a little reluctant to say so, but some things we do inside a church building are humorous although we are dead serious in our actions. Let me give an example. People inside a church building often show great enthusiasm toward storming the gates of Hell and praising God for his mighty power in delivering us from all sorts of evil. Furthermore, God is proclaimed as being in control no matter how bad things look; He is a mighty God. He can deliver us from addictions and all manner of sin, protect us from evil doers, and basically meet all our needs. Praise God! That's inside the church building, but come Monday morning the government(s) is the one to whom we bow. The man filled with the Spirit of Daniel in the church building on Sunday seems to suffer from lionfobia by Monday morning.

Consider Daniel. Some of King Darius's men talked him into issuing an edict that everyone must pray to the king only, and anyone praying to any other God should be put into the lions' den. The king did issue such an edict, but Daniel continued to pray to the God of Jerusalem three times a day. In other words, the threat of being tossed into a den of lions did not stop Daniel from acknowledging the one true and living God.

What about Christians today? Not many in America have any fear of being thrown into a den of real four-legged lions for praying to God. However, today's king (any government ruling over us) is beginning to put the squeeze on Christians. The government is already paying Christian ministries to restrict what they can say. Let me put it this way; many men in the pulpit love God, but they also fear the Internal Revenue Service. That's right, they can't say certain things in the pulpit without fear that their tax exempt status will be revoked by the government. They accept the tax exempt status in exchange for keeping their mouth shut about certain political matters; they can't tell the congregation how to vote in civil elections. Since they don't have to pay taxes as long as they toe the line, it is the same as being paid to keep their mouth shut about some things. WWDD; What Would Daniel Do? If the church congregation paid tax, would God not be able to provide enough to cover the cost?

And how many times do Christian school teachers in a public school guard their speech to make sure they do not claim Jesus as Lord and Savior in the classroom........huh???????? So, we don't fear a literal lion, but we fear the king will withhold our pay check and tell us to look elsewhere for a job.

I guess my biggest disappointment is the state of affairs of Christians in America is that we make all sorts of claims about the power of God, and at the same time put our nation's children in the hands of the king's men who train them to follow false gods. It is the "fear factor" that seems to control many Christians. Parents fear the king's punishment and so does the pastor. Parents fear that there will not be enough money to send children to a Christian school. Parents also fear they cannot train their own children at home better that the king's men can. Pastors fear that there will not be enough money to build Christian schools. They also fear that their other ministry priorities will suffer financially if they put tithes and offerings into a Christian school fund. What ever happened to "What a mighty God we serve!"?

Christians in America are either being blinded or simply living a life of defeated and/or rebellious wimps.