Every holiday season, my family rewatches Home Alone (1990). Toward the end of the movie, there’s a moment that feels almost out of place in today’s cultural landscape: Kevin goes to the neighborhood church on Christmas Eve. There, he encounters his elderly neighbor—a man he had feared throughout the film—and learns of his estranged relationship with his son. When the neighbor admits he doesn’t feel welcome (referring to his son’s home,) Kevin quickly asks, “At church?” His neighbor responds, “No, you’re always welcome at church.”
It’s rare in today’s films to hear the church spoken of as a place where people are always welcome. In fact, many productions today avoid references to faith altogether, or else portray religion in a negative light. But here, in a beloved Christmas classic, the church is depicted as what it was meant to be: a place of refuge, honesty, and hope. Over the past few decades, we’ve witnessed a cultural shift where companies, media outlets, and organizations often shy away from mentioning Christianity or matters of faith for fear of offending a loud minority.
In Biblical Babylon, Daniel had been kidnapped as a youth from his home in Jerusalem and forced to serve under the godless King Nebuchadnezzar. Though compelled to live within a pagan culture, he remained steadfast in his faith to God. His integrity and favor with the king stirred jealousy among the other officials, who plotted to destroy him. Knowing that Daniel’s only point of defiance would be his devotion to God, they devised a plan to trap him—persuading Nebuchadnezzar to sign an edict requiring everyone in the kingdom to worship only the king. The punishment was death in the lions’ den. Daniel, however, did what he had always done—he went to his upstairs room, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day to the Lord (Daniel 6:10). When his enemies caught him in the act, they reported him to the king. Though Nebuchadnezzar valued Daniel and was distressed by the situation, he was bound by his own irreversible decree. Before sealing Daniel into the Lion’s Den, Nebuchadnezzar said to him, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” (Daniel 6:16.) That night, God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the lions. At dawn, the king rushed to the den and found Daniel alive. Overjoyed, Nebuchadnezzar declared Daniel’s God the living God, whose kingdom will never be destroyed (Daniel 6:26).
Throughout history, Christians have faced persecution for their faith, and even today many are martyred in various parts of the world. While we are blessed to live in a nation where the government does not impose death for following Christ, many believers would agree that it is becoming increasingly risky to openly profess their faith. Business owners have faced lawsuits for standing firm in their convictions, peaceful voices seeking to defend the unborn have been silenced through arrests, employees have been terminated from their positions for refusing to comply with secular commands, protests against religious gatherings have become more common across our country, and tragically, Christian schools have been targeted by individuals intent on causing harm.
Faced with these realities, many believers struggle with how to navigate living for Christ amidst a secular culture. Daniel didn’t pick a fight with his enemies, but neither did he hide his devotion. He simply kept doing what he had always done—honoring God above all else. His quiet obedience carried more weight than the threats of his accusers, and God’s power was revealed in the most impossible of circumstances.
We may never face a den of lions as punishment for our devotion to God, but we do face modern day obstacles—fear of rejection, fear of losing a job, fear of being misunderstood, mocked, or labeled. The good news is that the same God who shut the mouths of lions in Babylon is with us today. His power has not diminished, and His presence has not departed from His people.
We may never again witness films or other aspects of secular society openly acknowledging Christianity in a positive or encouraging light, but Daniel’s story reminds us that God’s glory shines brightest in the darkest places. The mouths of lions—whether in Babylon or in our modern culture—can be shut by His power. Our role as believers is to remain faithful, to keep our eyes fixed on Him, and to trust that He will use our obedience to bear witness to the world around us. Just as Daniel’s faith led a pagan king to acknowledge the living God, our faithfulness in the face of cultural pressure has the power to point a watching world to Christ.