Is Daniel a Model for Christians Today?

            In this article, we proceed as if Daniel and his companions model actions and attitudes that Christians can learn from and apply to their situations today. But is this really so?

            The reasons against viewing Daniel as a model are his unique situation and gifts. In the Book of Daniel, the future of Israel and the entire Near East for the ensuing 500 years is at stake. Israel is an enslaved, occupied nation. When things get rough, Daniel and his friends can’t just quit their jobs and go somewhere else. Lives are at stake. Given the crucial importance of the events to the nation of God’s people, perhaps God took a more dramatic role in Daniel’s situation than he might in ours today.

            And indeed, God endows Daniel with miraculous abilities that few if any workplace Christians can expect today. Knowing and interpreting another person’s dream without being told it, surviving a den of lions, seeing the future history of nations for hundreds of years — these are gifts far beyond what we experience in the contemporary workplace.

            These factors suggest that we should emulate Daniel’s trust in God, admire his character, marvel at his gifts, and stand in awe of God’s mighty works. But we should be reluctant to try applying all of the particulars in the Book of Daniel to our lives at work.

            On the other hand, why is the Book of Daniel in the Bible, if not because God means it to give us guidance? Is it only a history of what happened thousands of years ago? Does it apply only to Israel in exile? One clue may be given in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, which has striking parallels to Daniel chapter 4.    In both, the pagan rulers of their ages cannot understand a mystery put before them by God, but the spirit-filled person(s) of God can understand. This parallel — which seems intentional on Paul’s part — makes Daniel a role model for Christians, or at least for spiritually mature Christians. “Those who are spiritual discern all things” (1 Cor. 2:15). Daniel may be exceptional, but that is exactly what makes him a role model worthy of inclusion in the Bible. Moreover, the Book of Daniel itself may suggest that others follow in Daniel’s footsteps. His friends — like us, far lesser in gifts and stature than Daniel — are nonetheless gifted by God for their particular roles in their specific circumstances.

            The Steering Committee of the Theology of Work Project did not arrive at a unanimous view on this question. The majority held that Daniel does apply to today’s workplace, while the minority viewed that it does not, or does so only lightly. We offer this article for those who wish to explore Daniel’s possible contemporary applications. But we do not claim that this is the only correct approach to Daniel. At the very least, we caution readers against making simplistic applications, against expecting God to do everything in our lives that he did in Daniel’s, against the arrogance of thinking we are as righteous as Daniel, and against the narcissism that our situations have the cosmic importance that his did.