Dungy and Daniel

Daniel chapter 1. No lions real or costumed. Daniel was taken from his home, family, everything he knew and was placed into a different culture. There they tried to make Daniel like everyone else. They taught him the language. They taught him the literature. They changed his name from a name that glorified God to a name that glorified a false god. They also tried to change his diet. "Daniel resolved not to defile himself". He refused to become like everyone else. He stood up for what was right even though it made him different than everyone else and people didn't think he'd succeed if he was different. The chief official was afraid that he'd look worse than the others. Daniel and his 3 friends ate veggies and drank water for 10 days and looked better than the guys who ate steak and drank wine. Being willing to be different and staying true to God didn't hurt them but instead helped. Tony Dungy is similar. He entered the coaching culture that taught that guys must be tough and tough on players. I've met these guys in ministry. They tell you that you aren't to be friends to the people you minister to. Instead you must be an authority figure. Dungy came to coaching with the idea that serving God came first. Family was second. Football came somewhere after those. That was different. He also came with the idea that you don't have to curse/bully/humiliate (sorry flashing back to my high school football experience) to get players to play for you. You could be a Christian and a nice guy and coach football. Dungy wasn't afraid to be different in a culture that didn't value the same things that God values.