Shine!

Read Time:3 Minute, 4 Second

“If you can’t beat them, join them!” We hear this phrase often and even when people don’t say it explicitly, we get the cues. We are not clueless.

Do we pretend that we didn’t hear it? Act like we didn’t know what was suggested? Or do we quietly surrender, telling ourselves, “It’s not that deep. I’m just trying to keep the peace”? After all, we’re not trying to cause trouble… right?

Do you sometimes imagine like I do, that if as an adult, the pressure to blend in is so overwhelming, how much more it must be for the younger ones?

I often wonder how Daniel and his three friends were able to live as recorded in the Bible. They were teenagers in Babylon. Foreigners, with no parents or nosey relatives/neighbors to check on them and ensure they were well-behaved. They were subjected to a different culture, different food, and even new names. I shouldn’t forget to mention: intense pressure to conform. They had every opportunity to blend in. But they didn’t.

They knew exactly who they were and even in that strange land, they were loyal to God.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8)

“But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:18)

These young boys weren’t just resisting a culture. They were representing a kingdom.

Interestingly, they weren’t the only ones. Samuel was just a boy. He grew up right in the middle of the mess. He was surrounded by the sons of Eli—boys who had titles, but no reverence. They were priests by position, but rebels by action. Imagine Samuel having evil ”brothers” living in the same house with him, being exposed to all their deeds. Also being taught by the same teacher. He could have simply gone with the flow but he didn’t.

“Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. “(1 Samuel 2:12)

Samuel had something those other boys didn’t—he had heard God.
He knew who he was.
He didn’t live from the identity of the house. He lived from the identity he had in God.

“But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.” (1 Samuel 2:18)

The truth is: “Evil communication corrupts good manners.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) But evil communication is not an excuse for bad manners.

As an adult, know who you are in Christ and before you tell your child who to avoid, tell them who they are. You can’t always shield them from bad company, but if their identity is rooted in Christ, even when they’re surrounded by darkness, they will shine.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier

The problem isn’t always the people around you—Sometimes, it’s the emptiness inside of you.
Fill that first, in Jesus.
And when you know who you are, the pressure to conform loses its power.

So…
If you can’t beat them? Don’t join them. Just shine!

“You are the light of the world… a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Photo by Erik Mclean