Feet of Clay

Feet of Clay

A devotional looking at the Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue with feet of clay.  Christians should recognize that we all have weaknesses like feet of clay and be more understanding of each other. 

THOUGHT:  In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that he cannot interpret. All his “learned” servants cannot interpret it correctly until he asks Daniel. Daniel goes into a long dissertation about the different earthly “kingdoms” represented by a statue in the king’s dream. Each part of the statue is made of a different kind of material such as clay, iron, bronze, and gold. In the end of the interpretation though, Daniel explains that each of those kingdoms will fall, and Gods’ Kingdom will reign perfectly and forever.

One of the materials mentioned was “clay.”  As we know, clay can be molded and formed to what we want to see or use. Initially it can make beautiful works of art to behold. Yet, in the end, clay is fragile and easily breaks under any kind of pressure such as water, heat, or outside force. That is where we get the saying “Feet of Clay.”  In the dream interpretation, it was the weakest kingdom and easily destroyed.

I have often found myself observing the many attributes of fellow Christian friends and attaching an almost insurmountable quality of Christian perfection to them. I see their admirable traits such as a good speaker, or a generous volunteer, or a Biblical scholar…and the list goes on and on. I guess I would even be said to be guilty of the sin of jealousy. I see them from the outside with envy of their so-called “perfect” qualities. Then, when they break out of my “blue sky and rainbows” interpretation, and they portray their human frailties, then my heart is discouraged. I question their Christian validity. Queries like “How can they do that if they call themselves a Christian?” or “If they were really a Christian, they wouldn’t do that!” or my favorite of all time – “They sure make us other Christians look bad.” 

The problem though lies not in the Christian who displays less than perfection in their everyday lives. The problem seems to be in HOW we perceive their attributes. If they are a Biblical scholar, and they “must know” what God wants us to do or not do, then they will never sin. If they are a wonderful volunteer, then they should volunteer for your committee even if they are busy. If they are a great speaker, then whenever they speak, even in a one-on-one conversation, they should never say anything less than articulate and loving. Wrong! We put fellow Christians that we admire up on a clay pedestal and there they stand with their clay feet. We expect them to be everything to everyone and to never be less than perfect. When they do disappoint us, the let-down can be life-altering. It almost seems as if our dreams and hopes were pinned to their “holy” behavior. Yet, that is not fair to them. They are just like us, fallible and dare I say it? HUMAN. Humans with negative aspects and humans with less than perfect behavior and humans that sometimes disappoint others, and in fact, are not even aware that they have dashed anyone’s hopes.

In Daniel, the weakest kingdom, (the one represented by clay) falls first, and falls hard. So, when we criticize our fellow Christian, we are deliberately putting too much pressure on them. We are crushing the feet of clay and are contributing to not only our downfall, but theirs as well. Daniel also says though that the final, strongest, and eternal kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven. It will rule over all kingdoms and survive forever. If we put our focus on the perfecting Grace of Jesus Christ, we need not look for perfection in others. Jesus’ Kingdom is steadfast and unwavering. It will not crumble like the feet of clay of family, friends, and colleagues. It is extremely difficult not to put someone up on a pedestal. It is easy and we trick ourselves into forgetting that all of us have feet of clay. Humans, people, and even “Christians” will disappoint us, but the absolute and divine characteristics of Jesus though will always come through for us. We do not know when the Kingdom of Heaven will rise up and reign over all the earth, but we do know it will. For it has been promised to us not only in Daniel, but throughout the Bible. We may be able to count on each other 100 percent of the time, but we can count on Jesus. “Our Kingdom come……