Real Life Lessons from Daniel

Taken from Shining like Stars by Lindsay Brown  Pg 119
Want to be a Daniel?
* Remember that the world is looking for people of integrity. The king loved Daniel (Daniel 6:14) because he was a trustworthy adviser. People in senior positions appreciate those whose word is their bond.
* Work out your principles and resolve not to compromise. "Pity the man who tries to work out his principles in a time of crisis."--Goethe
* Develop a support group (Tonica Van der Meer's "honesty chains")
* Don't rationalise unethical decisions.
* Don't flirt with temptation. Look again at how Joseph responded to Potiphar's wife. He had already resolved that sexual relations with a woman other than his wife would be a wickedness against God, and that the best way to avoid temptation was to run.
* Consider the cost of compromise. A clean conscience is dearly won and be easily lost. When a conscience is sullied, guilt can be overwhelming.
* Be prepared for sacrifice. If You choose to stand against corruption and hostility, it may costly.

Is this possible today?
* Professor Jerry Gana, of Nigerian Minister for Information said, " I realise the importance of legacy. I want to help change the political landscape in Nigeria and I believe this can be done through a group of Christians exercising influence, just like the Clapman Sect in London in the early nineteenth century. Think of their influence in the abolition of the slave trade and other ways they introduced biblical value in policies. So I am asking God to give me fifty years, as the political situation in Nigeria cannot be changed overnight." Like "Daniel who served for sixty years acting as a salty influence in Babylon, Jerry Gana is committed to drawing in younger generations of Christians who will serve in politics and take things further, and investing in them so he can pass on what he has learnt. You cannot change the world in three years. We need Christians in public life who are courageously committed to the long haul. (Pg 120)"
*Samuel Olofin was Professor of Economics at Nigeria's prestigious Ibadan University.  Under the regime of the General Abachan corruption was unchecked, Prof. Olofin, a mild-mannered man, wrote an open letter to the president pleading with him to restrain the influences of evil. He knew his life might be under threat as a result.
At that time he came to an IFES conference in North America. Many encouraged him not to return, and perhaps to take a position in a US university, but he was determined to go back to Nigeria. I asked him why. His reply was striking, "I wish to return because it is my country and I do not believe God has made me Nigerian by mistake." What a sobering challenge. This brother could speak with authority because he was free of corruption himself and had attained a position of prominence as a university lecturer. It was no small decision to return to Nigeria. The situation grew more and more intolerable for Christians and the leaders of NIFES called the whole movement to concerted prayer for change. General Abacha died suddenly in 1998 and we believe the Lord used the prayers of students and graduates to help bring about this change. After a short spell under his deputy, the country elected its first Christian president, Olusegun Obasanjo." (taken from pg 121)