Lenses of Love: Allegiance
Love is allegiance.
One way to find out what you love is to see what you give your allegiance to. What do you find worth defending, worth making time for, worth sacrificing other things for. You may not say you love those things, but if you respond to them in ways like this, that is the substance of love. There is an allegiance and loyalty to those things over and against other things.
How many of you have seen a marvel movie? How about the first Avengers?
Loki: Kneel before me [People are slow, so he uses power]. I said Kneel! Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation, that bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power. Your identity, you were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.
Old Guy: Not to men like you.
Loki: There are no men like me.
Old Guy: There are always men like you.
A lot could be discussed from this, one thing I find fascinating is that he doesn’t say that we weren’t made to serve and worship at all, but not men like Loki, or not a god like Loki. Implicit in here is that we have been made to serve and be loyal to God, but a God that is not a man like Loki, and is the exact opposite of him!
We all recognize things that are worthy of our effort, sacrifice, allegiance. Jesus is worthy of that.
The True Form of God, Who Died for Us
Romans 5:6–8,
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God’s glory displayed on the cross is utterly unique to any other worldview or religion.
“Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe…”
Do you feel that way about God? Where does your loyalty lie? Is God worthy of your allegiance?
Do you have a holy regard for his love, honor, and glory? Or are you indifferent to it which is displayed in your casualness and callousness towards sin. We cannot say we are committed to God’s love and be so indifferent to our sins and struggles. You think little of the love and glory of God when you can so easily push it out of mind in a moment of pursuing your own will. Whether in sexual immorality, or selfishness, or anger, and envy, etc.
Are you first loyal to yourself, living for what you want, following God when convenient? Or are you loyal to God, put your allegiance in him, over yourself. Having become a new man and a new creation?
Allegiance, loyalty, and commitment connects us to something greater than ourselves. And we are made for that. To be a part of something bigger than us and put effort into it. The opposite of loyalty would be flightiness, bailing at the first sign of discomfort.
Our allegiance to God needs to be stronger than attempting to be a 3rd party observer. There are only two sides. You are either with Jesus and in his love or you are against it. So it’s less of a matter of if you will join the battle, but if you recognize it is going on and knowing where you stand in it.
There is a battle being waged in the world, but we do not fight like the world fights. Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world, otherwise his servants would be fighting.
“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.”
Are you jealous for his love, for his glory, for his truth to be seen and cherished? To not be thrown aside, belittled in the world or in your own life?
Jesus doesn’t need us to defend him in any real sense.
Jesus in his life is the perfect example of this, and God’s glory is most seen by his grace being displayed and offered to others, exposing sin and the works of the devil and rescuing others from it. So we need to be careful that a desire to defend of God’s glory doesn’t actually end up damaging the beauty and purity of the gospel. Nor does this mean we get offended by anything against God and are fragile. To care about God’s Glory doesn’t mean we always take offense.
But it does mean our love and loyalty to God has some substance to it, some backbone.
Romans 12:9–13,
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
We cannot be indifferent. We cannot be apathetic. God’s glory, and honor, and love are worth sacrificing for, worth waging war against our sin for. Fully developed love assumes commitment, it is natural, you see it in all the love songs on the radio (love you…forever…). You see it in vows at a wedding. Part of real love is allegiance to the person being loved.
Let’s discuss again.
Discussion
How do the descriptions of allegiance, loyalty, and commitment influence your understanding of love?
What does it look like to display allegiance to God? (Knowing that His kingdom is not of this world and we don’t fight against flesh and blood.)
