February 28th, 2024

Loyalty
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In our political world there are some leaders who demand absolute loyalty. They expect their followers to bow to them, to express how wonderful they are, and to do everything in the leader’s best interest. And to never criticize them or point out their inconsistencies. When any person or organization is considered disloyal, they become an enemy and are targeted for attack. They are delegitimized, threatened, and sometimes actually physically assaulted.
There are two things we can learn from this. Firstly, this total heart-mind-soul allegiance, this complete obedience is how every Christian should respond to our God. Jesus modeled this for us (Hebrews 10:9). As F. F. Bruce wrote, “Wholehearted obedience is the sacrifice that God really desires, the sacrifice which He received in perfection from His Servant-Son when He came into the world.” (The New International Commentary On The New Testament: Hebrews). We are called to follow Jesus’ example of complete loyalty and obedience to the Father. Secondly, we can see why, when we are single-minded in our devotion, only being loyal to God, those other forces that demand our loyalty will consider us as the enemy. This is why so many have suffered since the time of Christ in totalitarian nations. Any country that slides into authoritarianism will demand complete loyalty from all and will attempt to crush Christians who give their allegiance only to God. Be ready for this. As Peter said, it is not unusual (1 Peter 4:12). It is inevitable.