The Lion's Den At Work Series

FAITH FOR EXILES: LIVING IN BABYLON

THE LION’S DEN AT WORK

DANIEL 6:1-28

INTRODUCTION… My first job (p)

My first job that I ever had was at the Wagon Wheel Theater on a US Army Base in Baumholder, Germany. It was run by AAFES which runs all of the stores (PXs) and grocery stores (Commissaries) on bases overseas. I worked usually on the weekends a few nights a week. I was 16. I was the only teenager who worked at the theater and all of the other employees were the spouses of soldiers who were on active duty.

Most of the time working was just fine and fun. No big deal. I would go home smelling like popcorn, but that was the only problem really. Except… except whenever the soldiers would ship out for training (‘going to the field’) those ladies would spend every single shift complaining and carrying on how they had to do life by themselves. They complained about their husbands, the Army, their kids, and the people who were the commanding officers. I have got to tell you, working there was eye opening and comical and what I could call a ‘Lion’s Den’ when the soldiers were gone. I never heard my mom complain like that, but to be fair my dad’s job was a bit different. I tried to keep my mouth shut because if I tried to inject some, ‘This is what you signed up for’ or ‘It is only temporary’… they would absolutely eat me alive with their comments. Besides, I was a 16-year-old kid who knew nothing. I learned a valuable life lesson: When three ladies are having a conversation when they are complaining about men… run away.

I mention that memory of mine because today we are talking about work and we are also talking about a lion’s den.

TRANSITION / SERIES REMINDERS

Today, we continue a 5-week sermon series (4 of 5) that focuses our attention on a basic truth that we no longer live in a Christian nation. We live in a land where God is not the priority in politics, dating, marriage, values, sexuality, entertainment, education, family, or worldview. Just about everything in our culture is designed to pull us away from God. We do not live in a nation rooted in Biblical values, but rather we live in ‘Babylon.’ ‘Babylon’ was a real place in the Bible, but in the Bible, it also became a symbol for a culture or a society that marches away from God and away from His way of living. We live in ‘Babylon.’

In this 5-week series, we are focusing on the life of believers in God who were forced to live in Babylon and draw important life principles for us. Today we will be looking in Daniel 6 where Daniel ends up in the lion’s den.

We discovered the first week (1 of 5) that Babylon is pressing us with clutter and complexity and a fast-paced life and the only way to be a resilient disciple of Jesus is to prioritize intimacy with Jesus and our priority must be our relationship with Jesus above all else.

We discovered the second week (week 2 of 5) that in a society that draws us away from God regularly, we must have a mindset that we stand our ground with God and be assured He is right because He is always faithful and we need to be effective and faithful right where we are at. God will be faithful to Himself and we must trust in Him and in His way.

We discovered last week (week 3 of 5) that our culture drives us to be all about ourselves and me-sized and self-centered and to prize entertainment and distractions. As a result, investing in our faith in our church and in relationships is a wise use of our time, energy, and effort to help us sharpen our identities in Christ and serve others.

This week we are focusing in an area of life where faith is not always welcome and we sometimes struggle to figure out how to express our faith. I am talking about at work. Employment. Jobs. Career. As we begin to think about this, I’d like to share a table based on some statistics from the Barna Research Group. It is all about faith and employment.

ILLUSTRATION… FAITH FOR EXILES (Kinnaman & Matlock, pages 151-153) [adapted]

I want to share with you a little bit about our culture and how it relates to careers and employment and attitudes.

The culture in which we live, in Babylon, is overall about ambition. In a 2010 survey of teenagers (Barna) who are now in their twenties, 26% expected to be famous by the time they were 25 years old. Famous on Youtube. An influencer. It is ambitious to think that you will reach a peak of success or fame while in your 20s. Fame is important in Babylon. Name recognition is important as well.