The New Normal: Loyal Subversion

Daniel 1

We’ve thrown around the phrase “new normal” a lot lately. That is defined by a major crisis – 9/11, the pandemic, Ukraine, etc… in that it forces people after an earth shattering experience to re-figure out how to live life. Finding the new normal is a difficult and exhausting process. Daniel had to learn that personally during the exile to Babylon, figuring out who he was going to be in this new, permanent situation. The life of an exile was his new normal.

Rebellion vs Assimilation vs Loyal Subversion

Daniel and his kinsmen were in a hopeless situation and lost all power they had. They were exiles. An exile is someone who does not and is not able to live in their homeland. You are forced into a new country, a new culture, and a new situation. In exile, you have two options (R or A) as to how you live with those around you: Rebel (fight against or disengage from the culture) or Assimilate (allow the culture to change who you are). Daniel had a choice to make. He chose to trust God by living LOYALLY SUBVERSIVE to his new culture. Consider Jere. 29:4-7 – loyal subversion means to stay true to yourself and God, but live in a way that seeks the benefit of others, giving you the chance to gain influence over those you are around. He does not succumb to it, but he also does not revolt against it. It seeks its growth and health while working inside it for God’s glory.

Seek Beneficial Influence

As member of Judah’s royal family, Daniel was pulled in to assimilate the rest of the Jews by being a word of mouth influencer for the Chaldeans. Instead, when he responded with peace and reason, they listened, gave him a chance, approved the results and Daniel went from being someone they targeted for brainwashing to letting him be an advisor! Daniel, by following Jeremiah’s instructions and seeking the good of the Babylon locals, turned a confrontation into an opportunity for God to work and opened the door for more influence later. Daniel made the chief eunuch look good, by suggesting a win-win situation! By making it a goal to benefit others and earn influence Daniel set up a situation that would truly benefit everybody and turn the king’s original plan around completely.

Willingly Submit

It’s interesting to think that Daniel would have willingly broke the food laws if his test didn’t go the way he hoped. He would have submitted to the chief eunuch if God didn’t work it out that way. That’s a lot of power to risk, and power is a hard thing to give up. But being loyally subversive means giving up of ourselves – an exercise in SUBMITTING. Consider it – the chief eunuch’s life and career were greatly aided by Daniel’s actions in this chapter. We must submit to God’s plan for us and let him walk us through things that we might not like. In fact, it may look like some combination of rebellion or assimilation. This is a Loyally Subversive lifestyle: living fully focused on God while providing benefit to those around us and willingly laying down ourselves for others. Jesus taught it to those in Jerusalem (give to Caesar…) and Peter wrote his whole first letter to those living in exile.

Next Steps

If we follow the traveling instructions to help us understand the next steps for us to take, we can rightly see ourselves as exiles in similar form to Daniel. As wonderful as it may be, the U.S. isn’t our home. We don’t belong where the buffalo roam. We may be 2500 years after Daniel living in the lad of the free and the home of the brave, but we are not yet in our final, true home and are to be living on mission for the salvation of those around us. What does it look like to live a subversively loyal life today?

1. Discuss with someone the idea of relating to the culture and how you can be loyally subversive to it. Challenge yourself to consider how you might work with the culture or city.
2. Seek a win-win with a pre-believer in your life. What can you do to gain long-term influence in their life?
3. It is impossible to be loyally subversive if you are not active in the culture around you. Get involved and get to know people.

We can’t choose our location or circumstances. But we can choose to embrace the life of an exile and challenge ourselves to live loyally subversive lives.