Challenged Champion For Christ Bible Blog 4

                                                       Chameleon Christianity

Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand. But even if he does not we want you to know O king that we will not worship this golden image which you have set up. Daniel 3 17-18

Peer pressure is something we all face everyday of our lives in one way or another. This is true both for Christian and non Christian . Peer pressure is when a person or persons feels pressure to become like everyone else. Many things can cause this. It can range from fear of rejection, wanting to be accepted by others, to feeling like a person will lose a certain job or friend if they don’t act or live a certain way. This is epically true when it comes to Christianity. I meet so many people who claim to be followers of Christ and yet they live there lives like everyone else in the world because of the fear that peer pressure places on their lives. This is what my youth professor calls chameleon Christianity. Blending in to be like everyone else in the world in order to be loved and accepted by the world. This kind of living goes against everything that the gospel teaches. Jesus tells us in his word that we are to be in the world but not “of the world”.  James in his epistle makes it clear in chapter 4 that anyone who is a friend of this world makes himself an enemy of God.

What is it that causes a person to develop a continued habit of chameleon like Christianity? I believe the main reasons is fear. Many times I meet Christians, predominantly Christian teenagers who are afraid of what will happen if they step out and dare to take a stand for   God and  Jesus Christ. Many times Christians are afraid of the fiery furnace experience they will suffer at the hands of the world when they decided to make a difference for Christ.

Just this past week I happen to run across one of my favorite Bible stories that tells what happen to three Godly men who took a stand for God and who walked through a furnace. Not just a worldly one, but an honest to goodness flame breathing real one!  The event takes place in Daniel chapter 3.  Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had built a large Golden statue based on a vision he had received from the Lord which was later interpreted by the prophet Daniel in Chapter 2.  In the dream the king of Babylon stood before a great statue which had a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, its legs and feet were made of bronze and it toes were made out of clay. The king was told that this statue that was made up of many parts and represented four different kingdoms that were to come in the future. Nebuchadnezzar was told that his kingdom was the head of gold. However sometime later the king decided that instead of just being the head of the statue he wanted to be the whole statue. So he made a statue out of pure gold and issued a command that everyone who saw the statue was to fall down and worship the statue that was made in his image. This command was not just for the Israelites who had been taken into bondage but this was a command that was to be obeyed by all nations. Those who refused to obey the command would be thrown alive into a fiery furnace.  That’s exactly what happens to Daniels three friends. Scripture tells us that when the people heard the trumpet sound they were to fall down and worship the golden image. However Daniel’s three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to fall down and worship the image. Furious, the king declared that these men were to be thrown into a fire that was seven times hotter then usual. In fact this furnace was so hot that when the attendants opened the door to throw these three men in the attendants were burned alive. We can only image the fear these three men felt as they stood before the fire.  Yet something amazing happened in this story. The Bible tells us that on that day instead of seeing three men enter the furnace the king of Babylon saw four men in the furnace and the fourth one was like a son of man. I believe that this son of man was none other then the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ was walking with these three men and was ready to deliver them from the fire brought on them by the world.  In the  same way he walks with us when we face fiery furnaces brought on us by the world as well.

Today we as Christians will face many fiery furnace experiences- there is no doubt about it. Jesus clearly states in John chapter 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble. However he also tells us to be of good cheer.  Why?   Because he has overcome the world. He did this by his death on the cross. Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross we can rest assured that not matter what we face in this world, he will be with us the same way he was with those three Godly men in the furnace that day in Babylon.  We will come through untouched by what the world throws at us.

A Challenge from the Challenged Champion.

Are you going through a fiery furnace experience right now brought on to you by the pressure to be like everyone else.  We all have those kind of experiences at different times in our lives.  Maybe it’s a simple thing like taking a break that’s five minutes too long, or talking and backstabbing people in leadership.  Maybe it’s just hanging with the wrong people who are always negative about everything.  Maybe it’s bigger than that.  Being in any environment that encourages you to behave in a way that is not Christ like would qualify as a “the fiery furnace of peer pressure”.

These three Godly men faced this same challenged and they refused become like everyone else. They took a stand for God and got thrown into a furnace. In today’s terms they “just said no!”   God was with them to helped them get through it.

Maybe that’s you- maybe you have taken a stand for Christ and are now in a fiery furnace. Or maybe you need to take a stand and step into the fiery  furnace.  If you are there ask God to give the strength to get through it. Trust me, he will be with you to help you get through the ordeal the same way he was with these three men. You must only ask for his help. Remember First Peter states,  “cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you”.