Attention Economics

It’s a world clamoring for attention. Everyone wants to be seen, followed, admired, liked, loved, connected, networked and heard. To me, it’s getting exhausting. The quest for attention dilutes our competency around what actually IS worth our attention. Click bait ropes us in with false/misleading headlines. I’ve seen something emerge called engagement bait where a post is obviously misconstrued by the author simply to illicit comments from readers. In other words, the poster is asking for people to correct an obvious mistake they purposefully made simply to get attention from others. 

Maybe it’s a lack of cohesion in family and community. Our neighborhoods are now HOA drama-fests. Our families are often fractured by politics and opinions. Our churches have dwindled and social clubs like the American Legion and K of C are a thing of the past. 

But there’s a far deeper issue. We seem to be a culture of dead fish all swimming down stream and on our way to the dead end, we’re grasping for other dead fish to counter the narrative that we aren’t actually living. 

Which brings me to Daniel. Think of this man and the attention he STILL receives. The book that bears his name, the name that reverberates to this day in English vernacular. The lessons of his life still motivate and inspire others to follow his lead. We DO pay attention to him, don’t we. Why? Not because he went with the flow, but precisely the opposite, he swam against it. 

Daniel 1:8–9 (ESV) But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs

He made a decision not to fit in with Babylon. It seemed small - a dietary preference. What’s so grand about that? He will be educated in Babylonian astrology soon. He will excel in their graduate programs. But he will not eat the food from the king. Why? Because he had a diet laid out for him in Leviticus. He would be Jewish with regards to his body and not Babylonian. And the chief eunuch paid attention to him, eventually the king would as well. 

If you want to be noticed, you can’t do what everyone else is doing. But there’s more to it than just being different. You have to know what God wants you to do that stands opposed to what the world wants you to do. You have to do it knowing that God’s ways are more profitable than the world’s agenda. 

Daniel 1:17-21 (ESV) As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

There it is. A testimony to faithfulness. Daniel is exalted in the sight of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel stays exalted through the subsequent empires. He’s seen by all because he first decided to be seen by God - faithful to His standards and calling instead of simply going along to get along. 

Dare to do likewise.