Joseph, Daniel, and the Secret to Changing the World

Can God’s people ever make a real difference in the world? After all, God usually works through the remnant. Normally this means His people are far outnumbered, and they rarely come from the cream of society’s crop. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27:

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

So according to the Bible, God often works through the weak, unimpressive work of people the elite of the world write off. But is this always the case?

The Old Testament in particular gives us two somewhat surprising stories that buck this trend. On at least two occasions, followers of the true God had massive positions of influence in the most powerful kingdoms of the world. Joseph was second in command of the nation of Egypt, and during a famine when the world was coming to Egypt for grain. Daniel was chief advisor to not just one, but two world empires: Babylon and Persia.

But what I find fascinating about both of these accounts is that these men did almost the exact opposite of what you would expect someone to do if they wanted to gain power. In fact, gaining power didn’t really seem to be on the radar for them. Instead, they wanted to be faithful to God and then let the chips fall where they may. If Christians today want to turn the world upside down for God, they should pay close attention to these men, in at least three ways…

If you want to change the world, don’t bend your convictions

General wisdom of the age says that to get ahead you have to bend a few rules. Nice guys finish last, we are told. Politics is messy business, after all, and it’s worth it to give a little here and there if it’s for a good purpose. The main thing is making a difference, and there might be some moral cost involved in that.

That’s not how Joseph or Daniel thought about things. Joseph found himself being harassed by Potiphar’s wife, and yet refused to sleep with her. Beyond the promise of pleasure, if Joseph was smart (and it seems Joseph was quite smart), he had to know that upsetting the master’s wife could be politically dangerous. But to Joseph, the main thing was being faithful to God. Joseph’s explanation of why he was turning down a beautiful, powerful woman was not to maintain his position. “How could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?”

In a similar way, Daniel walked into the massive capital of Babylon with the captives of Israel and purposed that he would not defile himself. Babylon might have captured God’s people, burned God’s temple, and destroyed God’s city, but Daniel was still loyal to God. Daniel was dumped in Babylon U, where he would study with other captives from around the world and the elite of his class would earn a place advising the king of the world’s greatest empire. But Daniel’s concern wasn’t power or prestige; it was principle. Daniel made sure that he followed God’s instructions and refused to eat food that would violate his faith.

Those who will change the world will be people of conviction. They will be more concerned with honoring God than with getting ahead.

If you want to change the world, be faithful in the small things

I grew up in the millennial generation. Many of us were told that we would change the world, and believed it was our destiny. It’s almost a trope at this point to have the online keyboard warrior trying to change the world while still living in mom and dad’s basement. The problem with changing the world is that you don’t start by changing the world. You start by taking care of the little tasks in front of you. If you think you have what it takes to save the world, then you should be able to meaningfully contribute to those around you. If you can’t even do that, you probably won’t change the world.

Both Joseph and Daniel were faithful in little things. Joseph was such a good slave that Potiphar made him the chief slave. Then he was such a good prisoner he was made the chief prisoner. When two sad prisoners came in, Joseph took his custody seriously. From a human standpoint, it was Joseph’s diligence that got him out of prison. Daniel excelled at Babylon U to such an extent that everyone around him took notice. Obviously, God’s blessing was on Daniel, but he also had to put in a lot of work to be the best in the world at the most elite universities in the world.

Those who change the world will begin by being faithful with whatever God puts in front of them. If they botch the smaller tasks He gives them, why would He give them bigger tasks?

If you want to change the world, don’t take the credit

There is another thing that Daniel and Joseph both have in common. Both of them were very clear that any success they had came straight from God. We don’t hear them talk about their training, experience, insight, or natural abilities. Daniel says, “No wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay in bed were these:” (Daniel 2:27-28) When Joseph was asked if he could interpret the dream (after Pharaoh was explicitly told he could interpret the dream) he responded with, “I am not able to. It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer” (Genesis 41:16).

Both men recognized that everything that made the impressive ultimately came from God, so they pointed people back to him. The result is that both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar recognize the God of Israel. Both of these men served as mirrors, reflecting the glory of God and directing people’s gaze back toward him. Perhaps this is why God chose these men, and perhaps it’s why He chooses so few others. God wants us to point toward Him, rather than build ourselves and our little kingdoms up. It’s one thing for people in the world to do that. It’s much worse and more heinous when God’s own people try to do that.

Those who change the world will take the fame that comes their way and put it where it belongs: at the feet of our Creator.

There are a lot of overlaps between Joseph and Daniel. Both were slaves who ended up in high-level administrative roles. Both were interpreters of dreams. But perhaps most significantly, both were men who lived faithfully before God, and because of that God gave them wild opportunities that few have ever had. Ultimately, it is God who lifts up one person and brings down another. So if you want to change the world, faithfully follow God. If He gives you a chance like Joseph or Daniel, great. If not, keep being faithful with whatever He has given you. Because in the end, the goal is not to be a world changer. The goal for all of us is simply to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”