"Resisting Conformity" - Mike Ashcraft | Gracious Resistance, Part 1

As followers of Jesus and citizens of God’s Kingdom, Daniel’s story is our story- we too live exiled in a foreign land, in a culture that is drastically different from the culture of God’s Kingdom. We can respond to this dynamic in several different ways. We can attempt to force the world’s culture to make ourselves more comfortable or we can slowly begin to assimilate into the culture we are surrounded by. Both of these are dead ends. When we try to force culture to make us more comfortable, we typically fail and leave people angry. When we assimilate into the culture around us, we lose our distinctness. Thankfully the life of Daniel shows us a third way. The faith and character we see in Daniel didn’t spring up overnight. Daniel didn’t rely on a few faith principles to get him through his circumstances. His life speaks to the power of long obedience in the same direction- how we bend culture not by fighting against it or being conformed by it, but by entering into it with humility, courage, discernment and dependence on God. By doing so, our lives too will graciously resist and quietly bend culture around us towards Jesus!