Book review: The Daniel Dilemma

June 27, 2018

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It can be daunting to grasp the full meaning of the book of Daniel. Many leaders might zip past the part about being re-named, and skip to the faithfulness of Daniel and his colleagues and their escape from the fiery furnace.

Pastor Chris Hodges helps us capture the full intent of the book of Daniel in his new book, The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm & Love Well in a Culture of Compromise (Thomas Nelson, 2017). Hodges tells us at the git-go, “Receiving new names and being invited to eat at the king’s table may, on the surface, have seemed like welcoming acts, but they were, in fact, the start of a full-scale assault on the young Jewish men and their faith, much like the broader scheme the Devil uses in our lives to convince us to compromise our standards.” Whew!

This book is about one’s core convictions and the essence of leadership in the workplace, the home, the family, and the church. Hodges continues to explain the central focus: “That’s why you have to know what you stand for before that moment comes when you’re offered that hit, that drink, that touch, that glimpse, that purchase, that taste.”

“Pre-decide what you will do when those temptations come your way—and they definitely will come your way, often when you’re at your weakest or when your defenses are down,” says Chris Hodges, founding and senior pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama. 

In many ways, those quotes are what the entire book is about: know your core convictions, pre-decide your response when tempted, and anchor your life in God’s Word, not the current culture.

The question you will need to ask as a leader “is whether it’s God’s truth or man’s truth. Culture will try to convince you that there are no absolute truths. 

“What we hold true will be questioned: that the Bible is God’s Word, that Jesus is the Son of God, that we must be born again. We will be questioned about our ministry values and challenged on our stand on social issues like marriage and family, money, and the sanctity of life.” 

And that is only from page 24 in this terrific book! The book works through worldview, core convictions, being tried and tested, persecution and courage. 

You will be rewarded when you work your way to what Hodges calls the “four parallels between Daniel’s Babylon and the world around us [which] are no coincidence. There’s more going on than what we can see on the surface.”

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