Allegiance
Allegiance, Olympics, & Jeremiah 13:7-11
Sports are a big part of life for many people, Christians included! And since the Olympics are once again upon us, they can be used as a good illustration of a Christian’s allegiance to God’s country, otherwise known as the Kingdom of God.
As a Christian, we are running a different race with different rules than the rest of the world. Even if we are temporarily a part of their races and their countries, we still give our sole allegiance to our King, and not theirs. In doing so, we honor our King and we please the rulers of this world by living how they want us to.
Honor & Respect
Think of your parents, or how you feel if you have kids when they are polite or rude. When children behave and are respectful, people compliment the child AND the parents for raising such a good son or daughter. We must ask ourselves if we are bringing this same honor and praise to our heavenly Father?
Olympic athletes participating in the games represent their country of citizenship and should act respectfully so as to bring honor to their country, and not shame, just like Christians should bring honor to God’s name. It’s a pity today that almost every area of personal and public life, especially sports, is being politicized and their propaganda is spewed everywhere! No matter how bad this gets, as Christians, we cannot let this affect our thoughts and actions! We must truly have our armor on and rightly fitted and keep our eyes on Jesus.
Patriotism
Many people are patriotic and proud to be a citizen of their country, especially if they are representing it in the Olympic Games. If you are on Germany’s team, you don’t wear a uniform from France or carry a flag for England.
As an Olympic athlete, your allegiance should be to your country. If you are not proud of your country or don’t like your country, you can choose not to participate, or you can always find another country, although not all can if they live in a country like North Korea.
Allegiance
As an athlete, you only represent one country, even if you have dual citizenship.
Some countries don’t even let you have dual citizenship because they want your total allegiance. Even if you have dual citizenship, you ultimately have to choose which country and government you will give your allegiance to.
If they go to war, which side would you be on? If to cheer for a team in the Olympics, which colors would you wear to the game, and which side of the stadium would you sit on?
It shocks me that many professing Christians think they can wear two jerseys and carry two flags.
Only One Master
As the Bible says, you can’t have two masters. You must choose one or the other. There are too many professing Christians clinging to their passports that will one day pass away. A vast majority of Christians are overly focused on the kingdoms of this world, rather than on proclaiming the Kingdom that won’t pass away.
Citizenship in Heaven
The Bible says that even though our citizenship is in heaven, we are still not of this world. Think of Jesus holding our passports in heaven, so to say, until he returns to wake us up from the dead or change us and give us our “documents” so we can get into God’s Kingdom, the country, or actually the whole world, that he will rule and govern on behalf of his Father.
Even though our citizenship is in heaven, for now, we must still live as Kingdom citizens and follow God’s rules, and obey Him. Consider the shame many Americans bring to their country when they travel abroad. I experienced this many times when I was living in Russia. On the metro when there were loud and obnoxious people, you would often hear someone say, “They must be Americans,” and almost every time they were right.
Obey World Rulers
One thing Christians are told to do is to obey the rulers of this world (Romans 13:1-7). Believers should follow the laws of their country. This, of course, is only if you are not told to do things that would be contrary to what God says is right or wrong.
We are told that this is for our own benefit so that we may live peaceful lives. Also, we are told it is so that we may silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. (1 Peter 2:15)
We must also remember that life in this age is TEMPORARY, just like the present governments. Also, the Bible does not distinguish between good governments or bad ones. No matter what country we live in or how we suffer under bad rulership, we must do our best to obey their laws, again, unless they go against what the Bible says to do or not do. We can do this KNOWING that justice will come and we will be set free from any bondage or ill-treatment that we face today. We can look forward to a day when a righteous King will govern the whole world!
Giving Up Your Life
If you choose to follow Jesus, then your allegiance must be to him, and not to any particular country. He said that you must be willing to leave behind everything in this world in order to follow him. Jesus said willing because you have a choice. Sometimes he will require you to leave things behind, other times he will let you keep them, but you must be willing to give them up and put them on the altar.
I was an athlete and I was asked to leave that life behind. I do not regret that decision at all! The life I live in Christ and the hope I have for God’s Kingdom far exceeds what sports or this world could ever offer me.
Now in saying this, I am not saying that you cannot participate in the Olympics and wear the uniform of a local team. You can still enjoy the freedom your country offers you, but you must remember that your allegiance is to God and Jesus, not to a school, a team, a state, or a country.
Loyalty
Of course, like any job you hold, you should be loyal to your school, state, or country if you are participating on their team. But, if you are asked to do something that would go against God’s rules, you must decline, even if it means you are kicked out of school, off the team, or out of the country.
Loyalty to the almighty God and His Messiah should always trump loyalty to someone or something else. If you know there will be a conflict of interests, then you must decline to participate or take on those responsibilities.
Allegiance, Trust & Confidence
Allegiance in the Bible means trusting in or relying upon someone or something. It is a bold confidence in whom or what you are giving your allegiance to. It is absolute trust. It also means to go after or follow. If you swear your allegiance to someone or something, you are binding yourself to it or to them, essentially taking an oath that you will obey and follow them.
Are you willing to put absolute trust and bold confidence in an earthly country? Are you willing to bind yourself with an oath to follow after those leaders and give your total allegiance to them? Basically, are you willing to sell your soul to a flag or political ideology?
True Freedom
True freedom is only found in Christ and it is that freedom we ought to fight for — on our knees, with our finances, and in our service. It is the only freedom worth dying for and it is never worth killing for.
So again, allegiance can only be given to one person or one thing. You cannot swear allegiance to God and to your country. You will love one, and hate the other at some point, as the Bible says (Luke 16:13).
Allegiance Can’t Be Split
Jesus told us not to swear oaths. Our “yes” should mean yes, and our “no” should mean no. We are told that our words are powerful and we will have to answer to Jesus for each word spoken (Matthew 12:36). You can’t say things flippantly and think that they don’t have any meaning. If you pledge your allegiance to something other than God, you are stating that you give your total allegiance to it. Allegiance cannot be split between things or people. You must choose.
You cannot wear shorts from China and a shirt from the USA team. You cannot be in two armies. When you join one, you give your total allegiance to that army and you can have no other commander.
Life Application
So, how should all this apply to us in school, work, or as an Olympic athlete?
When I was an athlete or would attend events, out of respect for the country I was representing or living in, I would stand for their national anthem. We are told to honor the king and show respect. But I would not sing their songs as if in agreement with what was stated in them. I would never pledge allegiance to a flag or a country. My allegiance was solely to God.
One Pledge, One Allegiance
We can only pledge allegiance to one king and to one kingdom, and it must be to God and to His King and His Kingdom.
My children were never allowed to say the pledge of allegiance. What child even knows what that really means or what they are doing? Just like you don’t baptize an infant or a 6-year-old! I personally consider forcing the pledge on children to be early brainwashing, just like all the gender talk these days.
Even that has changed and many states don’t even want you giving your allegiance to your country; they just want your hearts and minds given to their sinful ideology. They desensitize children, and even adults, with their words, pictures, social media, TV, and news. They shame them and try to scare them into their beliefs and worldview, telling them that they are racist or haters if they don’t agree or comply.
Bold Confidence in What or Whom?
A Christian should never put his trust in a worldly government or country. We cannot rely on them or give them our absolute trust. When you give your allegiance to something, you must have bold confidence in it because you are binding yourself by oath to follow it, or make it your hope. (Biblehub)
Do All As If To The Lord
But we do live under worldly governments now, so what should we do? We are told in the Bible that we must respect their authority and follow their laws unless they go against God’s laws. If we choose to participate in sports or other things, we must show loyalty to the team, because we are representing God as well in everything we do. If we shame the team, we bring shame on God by our actions because we profess to follow Christ.
That is why parents want their kids to behave in public. They do not want to be shamed by their bad behavior. But in the end, how anyone behaves, is really shaming themselves and shaming God. We must always remember that our ultimate loyalty is to God. Children should obey their parents because they are obeying God. You follow the rules and worldly laws because you are following Christ.
Dirty Underwear
I’ll end with a short story from Jeremiah…
Jeremiah was told to get some new underpants and bury them in a hole. Later he was told to go dig them out. When he took them out, they were dirty, ruined and good for nothing. Can you imagine what they looked like or how they would feel if you had to wear them?!
God told Jeremiah that this was an example of how He will ruin the wicked people who do not obey Him, and instead, follow their own hearts and desires and give allegiance to other gods by worshipping and serving them.
Rebellion
Have you ever told your parents or God, or said in your heart, “I don’t care what you say, I’m going to do what I want anyway!” Do you choose to worship sinful movies or games by watching or playing them, even though you know Jesus wouldn’t? Do you serve your friends or co-workers by listening to what they say, even though you know it is not right in God’s eyes?
These are all ways that we give our allegiance to other things and they are ways we worship and serve other gods and not our Father in heaven who is the only true God.
Worship: Time, Money & Devotion
What we give our time, money, and devotion to, is the god we worship, and that is also how we worship the one true God.
God told Jeremiah that He binds us close to him, like clean underwear close to our bodies. He intends for us to bring Him fame, honor, and praise, but if we disobey Him, we cannot, and we are then like the dirty, ruined underwear.
Be Respectful to All, But Don’t Compromise
I encourage you to be respectful of all people. Be committed to whatever you choose to do, unless of course, it is something that will take away from your commitment to follow Jesus, and, keep your underwear clean!
