By Ed Barnett … Loyalty is absolutely critical in today’s world. Where do your loyalties lie? Is it hard to prioritize them? Politicians are now in a race to win the November 3 elections in the United States. They want your loyalties.
During a recent Zoom meeting with RMC pastors, I presented a list of loyalties and priorities relative to pastoral ministry. The three simple beliefs presented were: 1) Ministers must first have a firm relationship with Jesus. He is our number one priority. Our loyalties must begin with Him; 2) Our second priority must be families. Our loved ones need our loyalty as well; 3) Lastly, we need to be loyal to our pastoral duties.
Our country deserves our loyalty as well.
How do you choose who and what gets your loyalties? Is it based on a biblical belief? Is it simply based on your feelings? What rationale do you apply when choosing your loyalties?
The Bible offers help for making this choice. In the words of Jesus Himself, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24, KJV).
Wikipedia offers an explanation of mammon: “Money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain.”
The words of Jesus clearly state that loyalty to God must come first. Loyalty to God is primary, as opposed to the pursuit of gain. Yes, we all need to earn money and make a living, but this can’t be the central goal of life.
At one time, Jesus was confronted by a group of Pharisees who were trying to trap Him. They came asking if it is lawful to pay taxes. He had a blunt response:
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. (Matthew 22: 15-22, ESV)
Once again, Jesus made it clear that our loyalty must be with God first and then we should abide by the laws of the land. Scripture is clear as to what comes first—our primary loyalties are to be with Jesus and other loyalties follow.
To underline this loyalty principle, 1 John 5:11-13 points out that “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
The words, “life is in His Son” make it clear why Jesus has to be our first loyalty and priority. Our eternal life is dependent on whether Jesus is our top priority.
May you be sure that your first loyalty is Jesus. You can count on His loyalty and be assured of eternal life.
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Recognizing the importance of loyalty in our broken world, we are presenting this edition of Mountain Views as a contribution to our personal and church evaluation of who and what should be the object of our loyalty.
–Ed Barnett is RMC president. Email him at: [email protected]