God's Strategy for the Church

Alice C. Linsley


The book of Daniel provides a strategy for the Church when it is faced with hostility, violence, corruption, and idolatry. God's people are to "keep on keeping on" as a faithful witness to the truth of God's Word and to the power of Jesus' Name.

Daniel and his like-minded fellows exhibited that strategy. They were confronted with demands that they conform to an idolatrous system and they resolved to be steadfast in their faith, having a clear understanding of where the lines were drawn. They were thrown into the fire, yet this increased the power of their witness.

If we wish to avoid having our Christian witness compromised, we must know where the line is drawn and we must resolve beforehand never to cross it. For me, the line was the consecration of a gay non-celibate bishop in the Episcopal Church, Gene Robinson. That was the day I left ministry in the Episcopal Church.

God's strategy for the Church includes:

Addressing hostile authorities directly and with wisdom and tact (Daniel 2:14-16).

Asking God for discernment (Daniel 2:19).

Persisting even when it seems that God delays (Daniel 3:1-18).

Avoiding isolation, taking counsel, and praying together (Daniel 12:17-19)

They steadfastly resisted pressure, malicious accusations, and temptations to compromise. By following God's strategy Daniel and his fellows have been remembered as faithful witnesses who moved an unbelieving tyrant to proclaim the uniqueness and sovereignty of God. Daniel 3:26-29 gives this account:

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 

Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

Christians must understand why we cannot follow the disobedient rulers of our day. They lead the flock astray. They devour and destroy. They pose as righteous, but their virtue signaling masks deceit and corruption.

Some Christians feel hopeless at times. We wonder what can be done to restore the saltiness to the Church?  Here are actions we can take:

• Pray for our clergy, that their hearts and minds be guarded and directed by the Holy Spirit.

• Pray that Christians may have a clear and fundamentally sound understanding of the Incarnation, the Cross, the Empty Tomb, and the Eternal Kingdom. 

• Pray daily and keep a journal. Years later you can look back and see how God has answered your prayers.

• Read the Bible daily and fix your heart on the truth of God's Word.

• Be circumspect in your speech. The Devil loves a loose tongue.

• Be cautious about who you associate with on a daily basis. Daniel's associates shared his commitment to the true God. They entered the furnace together. The hard side of fellowship with Christ Jesus is that the two or three gathered in His Name often find themselves in the fire. Yet He is present there, as many Christian martyrs have experienced.

Relate Reading: Formed and Informed by the Bible; Deliverance From the Wicked