In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Daniel.
We live in a world in which compromise is often the easier path. When the pressure is on, or it’s going to come at great cost or sacrifice, it can be very difficult and challenging to do the right thing. And so it becomes easier to compromise. That may be because we want to be accepted by others, or we don’t want to fail, or we want to look like we know what we are doing, or the cost is too great, or for lots of other reasons. Regardless, it just becomes a pressure that we are not able to resist and so we compromise. That’s one of the things that I love about Daniel. He made a decision, a decision of integrity before he was ever in a situation, so that he was prepared to stay strong and not compromise what he knew to be right.
Daniel was a teenager when he and others like him were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army. He was hand-selected because of his capability and his connections as someone who was part of the noble class in Israel, and placed into a forced system of education that was intended to prepare him to be a servant leader in service of the king. But Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8 tells us that Daniel had “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” He had made the decision early in his life that regardless of what came his way, he would remain faithful to the values that had been instilled in him in obedience to his Creator, God.
And, of course, the test came, as it always does. He and his friends, along with the other captives from other nations, were given a diet of rich foods as part of their lifestyle in preparation for their service. Daniel‘s problem was that he knew the law of God, and he knew that the diet that he was being given was contrary to the diet that God had required of the Jews for their health and well-being, and to demonstrate their relationship to him. So he knew he could not follow that diet, and he decided that he would not compromise, and instead put God to the test in front of the world. God rewarded his faithfulness, and Daniel became the most successful graduate that this training system had ever produced, serving is one of the highest leaders in the country, not just for Nebuchadnezzar, but also for two successive leaders after him.
One of the most important lessons that you and I learn from the life of Daniel, and in particular from his early experience after being captured by Nebuchadnezzar, is the importance of integrity. Daniel committed himself to integrity, which meant that he was committed to living out in his actions the values that he believed. That is absolutely critical and crucial to your success as a leader. As my dad would say, and as I have often quoted on this website and podcast, “Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk, talks.“ Your integrity is demonstrated to the degree that your actions reflect the values you say you believe. Be a leader of integrity by living a life consistent with your faith, and do it boldly in front of others, regardless of what the potential cost may be. God will be faithful to ensure that your life fulfills the greatest purpose that He has for you, and your responsibility is to honor his faithfulness to you by being faithful to Him.
I think this is one of the most important lessons of character we learn from any character in the Bible. It reminds me of something else my dad would say: “It’s right to do right because it’s right.“ You will be marked in the world around you by your level of integrity. Do what is right in every circumstance, even if you stand alone and no matter the cost. Live your life without compromise.