Life in a Lost World: Serving Ungodly Governments Pt. 1: A Quiet Word, A Godly Example

In a previous post I expressed my convictions about this year's election results, and how we as Christians should react to the political battle and its fallout. I gave 10 guidelines to follow in your day-to-day life in a fallen world.
I'd like to be a little more specific about what role we should play in ministering to our government. There may be some of us who are public servants, working to some capacity for our federal, state, or local governments. This also includes our brave young men and women in the military, who are bound to the orders of the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. How should we conduct ourselves when we are given a command that is in conflict with our beliefs? Should we rationalize our decision based on Romans 13, where God has given the reins of authority to whom he allows?
I believe God indeed allows leaders to be appointed/elected. I do believe that with that divine appointment comes a vast amount of responsibility to the people over which the leader governs. If a leader abuses this power, the consequences for his actions will be far greater and more severe. Christians working for the government in any capacity are called to respect and defer to their leaders - in most cases. In all cases, the supremacy of God and the truth of His Word take priority, even when the earthly and heavenly kingdoms collide.
Let's take a look at a group of high-ranking public servants who were faced with three major challenges during the course of their service, and each of the three times not only challenged the orders of their superiors but managed to sway those leaders' thinking in a positive direction. There is no better example of how a Christian is to live under hostile rule than in the book of Daniel.
Daniel lived during a time of turbulent transition; the book begins with Judah in Babylonian captivity, and ends with the area under Persian influence. Judah was a vassal state under the Babylonian empire, and as such, had its most intelligent and able-bodied men deported to Babylon. Among these men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were selected to become of members of the king's royal court.
During this time of captivity and service, Daniel and his friends underwent three tests of their loyalty to the government, which were more importantly tests of their devotion to God. One can observe from reading these three stories that there are three points to be made about the testing of our own political and spiritual loyalties.
The first such test happened shortly after Daniel's conscription. Under the Mosaic law, the Jews were not allowed to partake of food that had been offered to idols. Now, as part of their service to the king, they were to attend and participate in the royal feasts. David understood that the food and wine they were to be given had been previously dedicated to Babylon's many gods. He was well aware that the reason Israel was under captivity was a direct result of their recognition and worship of these foreign gods, and as such, taking part in the banquet, though not technically wrong, would present a harmful example to the Jews who observed him and were subservient to him in the king's courts.

But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.  But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”

 Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.  “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.”  The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.

 At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.  So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others. - Daniel 1:8-16

PROBLEM: Daniel and his friends had a moral problem with eating the kingdom-provided food and drink because it was dedicated to idols. They knew that eating the food in front of the other Jews would stir up God's anger because of what Israel had done in the past (which ended up leading them into this captivity)

David didn't go to the king, he went to the eunuch who was Nebuchadnezzar's chief of staff and made the request that he be fed a diet of vegetables and water instead of the expensive food and drink served at the king's table. The chief of staff was quite fearful, as to invoke the displeasure of the king often had a tragic, and most likely fatal, result. To calm his fears, Daniel went to his attendant and suggested they try this vegetarian diet for ten days... and if after ten days, if they were not any better than the men who had eaten the king's food, then it was up to the attendant to grant or revoke permission to Daniel and his friends. The  eunuch agreed.

SOLUTION: David and the three friends went, not to the king, but to his supervisor/caretaker, and asked permission not to eat the unacceptable foods. 

After 10 days subsisting on vegetables and water, Daniel and his friends not only lived up to the expectations that were given them, but they exceeded those of the other members of the king's court who ate the food and wine. 

RESULT: Eating a strict diet of vegetables and water, the men kept their consciences clean and at the same time served as a role model for the Jews in captivity. Without a king to rule them, Israel had a spiritual witness and leader... yet the large number of Jews still did not show faithfulness and continued to eat the king's meat and wine. Subsequently, they stood out to Nebuchadnezzar and were called upon to interpret his dreams and give him guidance over his own magicians and astrologers.

Often times we as Christians are told that our beliefs are antiquated. We certainly do not represent the views of the majority; yet when have God-fearing people been the majority? Countless times throughout the Bible, the majority had taken the easier life, which was the one that required less faith and effort to follow through - but in every case the majority was wrong! 

We need to remember this is true of America as well. Even though we are outnumbered, and the majority belittles our values, we can rest assured that we are in the right for sticking to what God tells us is the right way.. he says broad is the gate that leads to destruction, and the way of the righteous is but a narrow path that's rarely trod. Even if society makes us feel wrong for doing the right thing, we should have full assurance of God's blessings for listening to him. Though God puts in power governments that commit evil and blaspheme His name, the rewards for serving him in opposition are far greater than we can see or even comprehend.