Just a Pinch of Incense

We know God sees the heart. He looks beyond our actions to our motives. That means he sees the sin at the heart of our sin, but it also means he knows when we really do mean well. Because of that, when persecution comes, some people will suggest we do whatever it takes to save our skin because God knows our heart. Should we compromise a little, knowing God will know we don’t really mean it?

For our next Lesson from Babylon, let’s explore how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah answered that question.

Daniel 3 recounts how King Nebuchadnezzar set up a 90 foot tall golden idol and demanded his public officials bow to it, proclaiming, “As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace” (3:5-6).

When the music began, all of his officials fell on their faces and worshiped the idol. All except Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. When called out, they refused the king to his face. A cautious person would tell them, “Just bend your knee. God knows you don’t mean it.”

We don’t know where Daniel is. Perhaps he was left to run things in Babylon. But he got his turn years later, in Chapter 6, when Darius was persuaded to order that prayer only be directed to himself. Daniel obviously wasn’t going to pray to Darius. But did he have to pray with his windows open, probably audibly, making sure no one could miss his rebellion?

Why did they risk their lives when a little meaningless compromise would have made everyone happy? As Christopher Wright points out, “They were not, after all, being called upon explicitly to deny Yahweh their God, at least not in the eyes of the king and his polytheistic contemporaries. It was just a matter of a quick bow to Nebuchadnezzar and his statue.”

Polytheists don’t really understand monotheism. “We have no problem with you having your own god. Why can’t you just honor ours, too?” It was this attitude that caused problems for the early Christians. “We’re not telling you not to worship your Christ. Just burn a pinch of incense to our gods and go on your way.”

When a little meaningless, empty ritual is enough to keep us out of trouble, when a little painless compromise is all it takes, why insist on following the letter of the law? Because that is when the letter of the law is most important.

Here’s our next lesson from Babylon: Obedience matters most when it’s easier to disobey.

It costs us nothing to tell the truth when we have no reason to lie. Who’d steal something they neither want nor need? Why would you cheat in a happy marriage? Obeying is free at this point. You’d have to be pretty messed up to sin that way.

But telling the truth when a little lie would save you a lot of pain? Refusing to steal when you’re hungry? Refusing to cheat when you feel like you have every excuse? That costly obedience honors God.

Some may still object. “Why suffer unnecessarily? Christ will forgive our weakness.” Will he? Jesus warned us, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). God forbid that we should be among those who fear mere mortals instead of him who “can destroy both soul and body” (Matt 10:28).

Instead of saving our skin, we should follow the example of the martyrs like Polycarp, who said, “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” Let us stand strong when the trials come.

I can’t tell you what tests we’ll be put to in the future. The followers of the god Tolerance are easily angered. They may require us to lie about biology. Maybe the church of the god Sex will come after the church of Christ for refusing to marry his worshippers. Perhaps the state will deify itself again and ask for some compromise we can’t even imagine now. All we know is that they will come for us because the world always does.

When it does, refuse to burn that pinch of incense. Refuse to bow to their idols. The worst they can do is kill us, and for us “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).


Image via Unsplash