Principled Living in a Politically Correct World
In this day and age of Political Correctness, it is not fashionable to set a hard standard. Many of us center our lives on being “Nice.” “Nice is a 4-Letter Word,” “Nice guys finish last,” Nice is politically correct. Yet Jesus spoke his mind and chose to disagree rather than be politically correct. Jesus, God, the Bible are not nice, but they are good. In this series, we will look at the 4-letter word
“N-I-C-E” and compare it to another 4-letter word "G-O-O-D" by dissecting one of the least “Nice” but very “Good” people in the Bible – Daniel. Daniel knew what he believed and believed what he knew, living by principle.

We live in a pretty “Nice” world. Nice people are rewarded with very little stress and next to no aggravation. The only problem with that concept is that God does not play according to the rules of “Nice.” He loves to shake things up and use people that the rest of the world thinks are foolish. Using the second installment of the life of Daniel, we will illustrate this principle. Daniel finds himself in the midst of an impossible task. So what did he do? He chose to pray to the God of the universe to solve the problem for Him. The nice guys finished last. The good guy came out on top! Nice depends on human effort, but good comes from God. What are you prepared to do with your life, nice guy and gal?

Peer pressure is simply the pressure to fit into a mold of “Nice.” We are pressured by our peers into poor choices and we give in because we want to be nice. We do not want to offend or to appear different. We want to fit in – look the same, sound the same, like the same things, dislike the same things, think the same way. Peer pressure drives the “Nice Generation.” And it often drives the “Nice Generation” to believe in nothing and stand on a rubber foundation of “No Truth.” That is where we find ourselves in Daniel 3. Daniel had three friends who stood with him in and had their “belief system” tested in the most serious way – by persecution and threat of death. What do you so firmly believe in that you would not be persuaded to act against it even in the threat of death?

We are allergic to pain in the world we live in. We hate pain. As a matter of fact, we will do anything within our power to escape the world of pain and the hurt that it causes us. However does pain have purpose in your world and in your life? Is all pain a bad thing? Pain is very real and very hurtful. Yet as we will see in the life of Nebuchadnezzar (a character in the book of Daniel), pain is used by God, like a great spiritual personal trainer, to develop us into a person of the great potential that He sees within us. Wouldn’t you like to see yourself as God sees you? God wants to use pain in our life to help us to be all He dreams for us to be!

So often, in the place of speaking the truth to others in love, we assuage our souls with a kind of “Fake Truth-telling” by gossiping to others behind their back. And all the while, the fleeting voice of God in our hearts urges us to speak the truth. Daniel finds himself in a very similar place we can find ourselves in at times. We are tempted toward living opposite of our belief system and contrary to what we know is right, because we are afraid to speak the truth to someone that can cause us harm. Nice people avoid confrontation and leave it to people who like it. Who likes confrontation? Yet it is often necessary to be a good friend or to stand up to injustice. Good people risk it in love.

We have come full circle in the story of Daniel. He is an old man in this chapter and he has risen to a very high position in the land. The avoidance of temptation to simply be nice and play the political rules has been blessed by God. The good man is on top of the world. The problem with winning? Nice guys get jealous. The nice guys hate Daniel and they want him out of the way. There will always be a nice guy ready to take out the good guy. Betrayal is around every bend. So what are we to do about it? Fear it? Stress out? No. We must believe that our God has a purpose for our life and that He has numbered every day of our life and that He is faithful and will always provide for us. The good just get better, while the nice just finish last. What is your choice? Good Man or Woman or just Nice?

Everything that is good in us comes from God. We have to live in this world, but the world doesn't have to live in us! We need a strong foundation to win that struggle. Today can be the day that each of us resolves to go all in… To begin the effort, embark on this beautiful struggle to be truly free of the things of this world that weigh us down... To take a drink and begin quenching a thirst that is deeper than we ever realized. What are you holding onto that prevents you from having “life and having it more abundantly”? Is this the time, for your life, that you do something radical?