The Hollywood Commandments By DeVon FranklinSýnishorn

You Have to Know the Rules to Play the Game

We read in Daniel that the four got their internship in Babylon, where there was a requirement of productivity. But the position also came with a dietary requirement that went against their faith. Part of studying the game was, "We know we can't eat the same way everyone else eats. Can we meet the professional requirement while still adhering to what we believe?" First they went to their manager, who said, "Listen, boys. I wish I could help you, but heaven forbid this doesn't work. I'm not only going to lose my job, but I'm going to get killed. So while I'm sympathetic to your issue, my own desire for self-preservation is greater than my willingness to take a risk on you."

They could have walked away, defeated. But they knew one of the rules of the game, which is "No isn't always no." They went to their immediate supervisor, which is where they should have gone to begin with. He said, "I will give you ten days to do this. If it doesn't work..." In today’s terminology, they were fired, but more permanently. They were given an opportunity to meet the standard, but they bore the responsibility for it.

It was a profound lesson. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got what they were looking for, but they also had to check themselves and say, "Wait a minute. Do we really want this? Because now we're going to be held accountable for it." They decided that owning their faith was the way for them to play the game on their own terms, so they agreed. They followed their diet for ten days, and at the end of the ten days, they were smarter and more productive than the others in the internship program. So much so that when the internship came to an end, they were so successful that the king accepted them into his service and gave them permanent employment.

The Hebrew Boys understood that it didn’t matter whether they agreed with the rules of Babylon or not. If they wanted the opportunity to apply their spiritual wisdom to achieve secular success, they had to understand the rules and learn to work within them to achieve their goals.

If you don't understand how your business operates, the politics and the dynamics of recognition, what success means, and who has the power, you are at a distinct disadvantage. That’s one of the rules of every profession, and that’s what this chapter is about. Thinking again about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we see they had to learn the rules just like anyone else. Babylon was a system, Hollywood is a system, and whatever industry you are aspiring to succeed in is a system as well. The strategy for success the Hebrew Boys discovered was learning the rules of the game and learning how to play the game with more integrity than everyone else around them. By honoring God with their lives despite what it might have cost them, they defied expectation, and if you figure out how to live your faith within the rules of your own system, you will find success too.