In your book, The Daniel
Dilemma, you state that
culture’s greatest culprit is
unfocused and busy lives.
Could you explain, briefly,
what you mean by this?
One of the central stories of
the book of Daniel is “the
handwriting on the wall.”
It’s a pro-phetic warning
that unfocused and busy
lives distract us from our real
purpose in life, to love God
and love others. Our ability
to be connected online and
through social media 24/7
can make it hard to unplug
and focus on our relationship
with God, with our family,
and with each other. We’re
encouraged to multitask
as we juggle roles and
responsibilities at work, home,
school, and even church.
We’re bombarded with
countless sound bites, tweets,
texts, and emails each day.
The demands, options, and
pace of our culture contin-ue
to speed up. But in order to
draw closer to God, we have
to make time to spend with
him, giving him our singular
and undivided attention.
You talk about “standing
strong in a bow-down world.”
What do you mean by a
“bow-down world” and what
are some ways we as leaders
can stand strong in it?
I describe our culture as a
“bow-down world” because
of how frequently we’re
encour-aged, pushed,
pulled, persuaded, bullied,
and shoved toward so many
different beliefs and passions
that cause us to compromise
the truth of God’s Word.
From the avalanche of ad-
vertising we face daily to
the pressure to please others
around us and comply with
their demands, we can easily
be run over if we’re not
deliberate about standing up
for our faith and worshipping
the One true God.
You explain, in your book,
that so many people today
are busy “doing good stuff
for the wrong reason.” Would
you cite a few examples and
share with us some solutions
to this current trend?
There’s a fine line between
standing strong and speaking
truth within our culture and
be-coming self-righteous
and judgmental. I see many
Christians caught up in a
need to be right instead of
a desire to be in relationship
with people who believe
differently. But an “I’m right!”
Solutions 31