Several hundred years ago, young men from a war-ravaged city found themselves captives in a foreign nation. The conquering king ordered the very best of them to be brought into his service, specifically requesting youths who came from the noble classes of the subjugated nation. To prepare these young men to serve their new king, they would endure a three-year reset, receiving instruction in the culture and ideology of their captors as well has having their very names stripped from them. Instead, they would be given names to honor the gods of their conquerors in an effort to redefine them into true king’s men.
… Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego (Daniel 1:6-7).
Thus did Nebuchadnezzar attempt to utterly vanquish his captives. These four – Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah – were all named by their families in honor of the one true God. The suffixes -el and -yah (more notable in the original Hebrew) referred to Elohim or YHWH, two of the many names of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
By the Babylonian king’s ordinance, the men were given names to identify them with various Babylonian deities. It was a deliberate move, which coupled with the three-year re-education, was meant to fully assimilate them into the Babylonian way of thinking.
But changing the name of a person does not change his identity, nor does it change his loyalty.
All four of these young men found ways to maintain both their core identity and their faithful obedience to the Living God in culture that did its utmost to reprogram them. What’s more, they did it with grace, gentleness, and respect – often in the face of grave danger.
From the outset, Daniel and friends convinced their guard to feed them vegetables and water to avoid breaking the Jewish dietary laws1. Later, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael refused to worship an idol even though they knew the punishment was a fiery death2. During another king’s reign, Daniel, knowing full well about a plot meant to destroy him for praying to God, continued to pray at his regular times anyway, just as he had always done3.
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously (Daniel 6:10).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our names have been changed, too.
We are no longer labeled respectable, moral, upright. Instead, we are called hateful, bigot, immoral, hypocrite, homophobe, and worse.
Make no mistake, friends. These are the gods of this age.
The question is not whether we will be hated for following the Lord. He promised us as much4. The question is: where does our true loyalty lie?
Will we bow to the pressure, allowing ourselves to not only be renamed after the gods of our age but to serve them as well? Or will we face intense pressure with gentleness and respect while quietly but firmly refusing to change who we are, continuing to pray and give thanks to God just as we have always done?
There are generations of Christ-followers who have blazed this very trail. Indeed, many of our eldest brothers and sisters were tortured and slaughtered for following Jesus. Someday, it may be so for us as well. It is for this very reason our Lord Himself cautioned all, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
We are not alone, no matter how isolated we may feel. Stand firm and set your eyes on the One who endured “such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3).
Continue in obedience, in faithfulness, and in humility, prayerfully striving against the pull of sin and apathy in your own heart. One day, the Lord Jesus will return, and He will give a new name to all His faithful, a name known by no one else5 – a name I believe will reflect glorious reality.
So, friends, think less of what the world calls you and concern yourself only with pleasing the One who deserves our fidelity. After all, changing a name does not alter the truth of reality. We serve the Truth. Stand firm in Him.
Running the Race 