Assimilate or Accommodate?

There is no doubt that the culture has shifted.  Behaviors once considered taboo are now viewed as accepted.  As a Christian, I feel conflicted.  My values do not match up with the world in which I live.  So the question becomes; do I try to adapt and assimilate or adjust and accommodate?  Assimilation could mean I embrace the culture and in the end become part of it.  Accommodation means excepting culture for what it is but not allowing it to change who I am.  It requires that I adapt my behavior to fit the situation I am in.  Making those adjustments might require me to live in a manner that runs counter to the culture.  It also means I must remain tethered to the values and truths on which I have always based my life.

I cannot help but be drawn to the story of Daniel.  As an Israelite, he was forced to live in the Babylonian culture.  The big difference he had no choice.  He was an exile, forced out of his homeland.  He and his friend responded by remaining not only true to their faith but to its values as well.  Even his enemies could nothing to charge him with. “They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy, and neither corrupt or negligent.” (Daniel 6:4). 

As a good Lutheran I am moved to ask, so what does this mean?  Daniel was respectful toward those in authority, even if he did not agree with them.  He spoke the truth, but always with love.  He lived out his faith through his actions and did not compromise on who he was as a child of God.  The reason he could do that was he remained anchored to his faith.  “Three times a day he got down on his knees to pray and give thanks for God, just as he always had.” (Daniel 6:10b)  As a result he won the respect of those who were around him. 

Now I am called to do the same.  Culturally, I am in a foreign land, but that does not change who I am as a disciple.  I must remain anchored to the good news of Jesus Christ and live compassionately.  “God did not send his Son (or me) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  (John 3:17)