I pledge allegiance to...

Voice your allegiance - we can do this for many causes, right? There are animal rights groups asking for support all the time - to save the whales, rescue animals from environments that have not provided well for their needs, and provide foster homes for rescued animals. In days gone by some may remember pledging their allegiance to God and country in the form of the Pledge of Allegiance we said in our classrooms every morning. Still others will recount giving their allegiance to any number of 'activist' groups to further women's rights or get equal pay for equal work. Causes abound and allegiance can be granted or rescinded quite easily, but there is one 'allegiance' we need more than any other, and if we want to make wise choices with our allegiance, this one should never be rescinded!

So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation. Romans 10:9-10

If we were to be totally honest with each other, we might just recognize some 'split-allegiances' we have in our lives. We truthfully want to pledge our total allegiance to Jesus, but if we look at the way we have been living our lives, we are likely to find there are some times when our allegiance seems to be tilted away from him. What is happening in that area is not so much a 'pulling away' from our allegiance, but more of a struggle to be totally obedient. We still want to have our own 'freedom' and we make unwise choices, but we still want Christ at the center of our lives. I know I am not the only one with this struggle in my life, so maybe we could all do with a little honesty here. 

Life gets tough, stuff comes at us quickly, and we get stressed. Under stress do we always make the perfectly wise choices? I know I don't. Sometimes I don't even check with Jesus before I take a step forward - I just do it. Is that unwise? Yes, usually it is quite unwise, but being an 'unwise' choice doesn't stop me from making it! My own will gets ahead of my pledged allegiance! Having choices in front of me isn't always going to mean I make the right choice - I sometimes choose the worst answer, the least helpful solution, and the hardest 'choice' to be able to 'regroup' from once it is made. Whenever I find myself in these situations I have come to realize it isn't so much that I cannot recover from them - it is how I choose to recover that matters.

The choice to 'recover' from wrong choices is called 'repentance' in scripture. It is the process of 'confessing' with our lips the very thing our heart has chosen to pursue that wasn't the best choice in the first place. In the process of confession, we find God opens our minds and hearts to understand the reason behind the choice. It is that reason we need to focus on the most - because when we understand the reason, we can 'craft' the defenses to avoid the choice the next time. For example, when someone is on your last nerve, you could choose to respond with harsh words. The 'crafted' defense against saying or doing something you will later regret terribly is to choose to walk away for a few moments to 'simmer down' and recollect your thoughts. In so doing, you are choosing to value the relationship over 'being right', 'getting in the last jab', or whatever response would normally come in that moment.

We don't learn because we never make mistakes. We learn from our mistakes. So many times I think we make mistakes and then somehow believe there is something wrong with our 'allegiance' to Jesus. It is not our allegiance we need to question - it is our obedience. Learning from mistakes begins by admitting we made the mistake, then allowing Jesus to point us to the root of the mistake, allowing us to 'craft our defenses' against it in the future. In the end, we will probably feel like our allegiance is made stronger, but it is really our faith and trust that is made stronger. Just sayin!

Fickle or Faithful?

“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is the faithful God who for a thousand generations keeps his promises and constantly loves those who love him and who obey his commands." (Deuteronomy 7:9 TLB)

Do we really understand faithfulness? Some believe faithfulness to equate to 'adherence' - the idea of living by some code of conduct or rules of operation. Others imagine faithfulness relates to allegiance - pledging one's life, actions, finances, etc., to some cause or individual. I think God's type of faithfulness involves all of these, but it always speaks to his dependability and trustworthiness. It is because he is continually, without variation, dependable in all manner of thought and action, his words carry power and his actions hit the mark each and every time. 

What God requires from us is our 'faithfulness' - allegiance, adherence, and attachment. Allegiance speaks to our dedication to him and no other. Adherence speaks to our commitment to his commands. Attachment refers to the ongoing connection he desires us to have with him each and every day of our lives. It is a multi-faceted statement to say that one is 'faithful' to God or his commands. It is impossible to be consistently committed to adherence to his commands if we lack to the ongoing connection or attachment that gives us the grace to walk out those commands in our lives. 

Allegiance is really the sense of devotion we each need to exhibit in our walk with him. We are to consider him first, listen to him the most, and enjoy his presence above all others. To some, this may seem a bit 'selfish' on God's part - demanding this kind of devotion from his followers - but to me, it seems like the natural outcome of being shown grace for a debt I could never repay! To give myself totally to him means I deny myself more than once in a while. Yet, in denying myself, am I really denying myself anything as good as I enjoy when I consider him first? No way! All that comes from putting him first in my life makes everything else I could come up with pale in comparison!

There isn't an easy road to faithfulness, though. It is a road few travel with ease - for it requires denying self and that isn't going to go down too well with our desire to be in control of our lives! The more we align with what his Word decrees, the more we find being 'in control' just doesn't matter. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be! The more we make a consistent connection with him, the more we learn how fickle our own thoughts and actions really are. There is no denying how 'undependable' our thoughts can be - and that leads to some pretty 'flighty' actions at times! The more we make that connection with him, the less 'flighty' our actions become because there is a dependability in his Words and his commands help us to have a 'steadiness' about us that is noticeable. This brings us back to the idea of 'adherence' - we don't always know how out of alignment we are with the rules of sound living until we realize how unsteady our actions really have been. Just sayin!

Mor than just a merry band of men

For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”

Romans 14:11 NLT

Allegiance is more than being bound by a pledge or feeling a sense of "duty" toward something. It is the action behind that pledge - the heart that drives one into action to do as one commits to doing. There are far too many people who do little more than give lip service to whatever it is they are pledging themselves to. Their heart is in it at first, but eventually the heart's enthusiasm begin to wane a little. Don't believe me? You only need look as far as those garage sales in your neighborhood to see the treadmills, stationary bikes, and weight benches, all gathering dust, but barely used for more than catchalls! Lip service is easy - but actually doing what we say we will do requires a measure of determination we often don't possess on our own.

Allegiance begins first of all with an adherence to some form of "rule" or "standard" one believes will produce an end result. Robin Hood attracted his band of men because they were willing to adhere to the standard he proclaimed of "robbing from the rich to give to the poor". Not every standard is a good one, as some can be a little misleading - good in "philosophy", but not as good in execution! Allegiance also carries the idea of being faithful to someone or something - you have no other focus or determination in life. We can be faithful to the stuff we think will produce the results we desire, only to find it didn't work! If you have ever tried one of those "lose weight fast" drinks or pills, you know what I mean here. The idea is that you can eat whatever you want, take the pill, and still lose weight. Sure - but it is water weight, not fat!

The most significant part of allegiance is the commitment one makes - often with the heart first, followed by the mind's determination, and then with the spirit's will. This isn't easy, nor is it for the half-hearted! The commitment I am referring to is one that requires consistency - something we don't always exhibit very well in our walk with Jesus. It is a good thing none of us is measured by our commitment, because most of us would be found lacking since our commitment is often based upon what is the easiest or provides the least amount of resistance! All Jesus asks of us is devotion - to keep him central in our lives - then he assists us with the rest! The will to live as we should isn't about rule-keeping, but about "focus-keeping"! The more Christ is at the center of our thoughts, our actions are going to be more Christ-like. The more he is at the center of our imagination, we will be creative with a power not our own.

Allegiance is best when it is alignment with the right person - not just any leader will produce the same results as Christ will in our lives. We don't align with a pastor, a guru, or even a priest. We align with Jesus and he helps us live out the walk of faithfulness and commitment we are called to live. Just sayin!