Loyalty: Do You Know Where Yours Is? Capt. Kelly Durant 10-11-15
Matthew 6:24 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.
2. Don’t disloyal people make you angry? This world is full of disloyal backstabbing people! One of the common illustrations that preachers give about their discontentment with church people’s behavior and disloyalty in the church is this: How can it be right that a person eat at Jose’s Restaurant but then when finished cross the street to pay McDonalds for the bill? This refers to how many people go regular to a certain church, but then they don’t help the church as they should but rather send their money to some other church, or to some other country, or to some rich pastor on TV or something.
Obviously it is offensive and it hurts to discover that a person expects their church to provide for them bible teaching, spiritual food, trustworthy friends, free meals, camps and other benefits but then they decide to put their money or time into some other church or ministry?! You have known a few people like this who have come and gone, right? There are those who rarely volunteer or help with very much at all! It is common to see in this world that people use people, churches, or systems. Then they betray the ones used by ‘moving on’! Please pray for our Corps and for each other! How loyal are you anyway to your brothers and sisters and to this church Corps despite their flaws?
And churches and other establishments can be disloyal to their people as well! Usually it is over money. I have known people that have told me they have sent some mega church $1,000 because the preacher on TV said they would get back 100 times more if they sent it in?! (What a misapplication of Matt 19:29!) They never got rich as promised! And these friends were poor and didn’t have a spare $1,000! And for sure their local church was in a dire need of money to keep things going! Jesus warned that in the end times they would make “merchandise” out of the followers. 2 Peter 2: 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Do you see how disloyalty works both ways and it is Satan’s tool to divide us as Christians?! Once burned, twice shy!
3. Time reveals a person’s loyalty. Today we must apply much precaution to whom or to what we are loyal to! Most people do not deeply reflect as to why, or from where, they get their loyal convictions to someone or something, be it a friend, sports team, political party, or a religion or church! Often people blindly follow a family tradition, or their peers, or they are just fascinated by people who are outlandish. Sadly, discernment of truth is becoming a lost art! Pray for it!
Over and over we observe stubborn people turning a deaf ear to the acknowledgement of truthful facts about leaders; facts which reveal inexcusable evils done by people they should never have been loyal to ever! An intelligent person learning of the corruption of someone should immediately exchange their admiration with disgust! When God’s truth reveals lies pay attention. Appallingly you and I observe a blind allegiance and loyalty over-riding common sense and intelligence in today’s world! (repeat) How is it people are so blind to continue to support blatant criminal abusers and put up with insulting absurdities from so called pretend be leaders who count on charisma to justify whatever they do? Jesus warned that the blind do lead the blind! Errant loyalty blinds the soul!
The people of the world who have sought power, money, and high positions are usually the most unworthy of anyone’s loyalty or dedication! Why would anyone be loyal to the abusive cruel rich who only use and exploit you and me? Consider James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
But despite this warning in God’s word, people continue on to be supportive and loyal to the ultra-rich powerful despotic abusers!? If you have a blind loyalty then you are like the wife who will not divorce the husband who beats her every weekend! What a Satanic curse to be loyal to the people of the world who are exposed to be liars, users, and even murderers! These people gain position and power by deceiving and winning loyal followers doing as Satan taught them how to do as in the Communist manifestos employing people as ‘useful idiots’! So beware of your loyalty to dubious world rulers, controversial religions and religious leaders, or adoration of the arrogant rich and famous.
4. Your loyalty or identity with something or someone will either bring you praise and salvation or death and condemnation! Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
My first concern to know about a person’s soul is to question if they authentically have Jesus deep inside or not. With Jesus as the foundation, no other person of the world can be built upon in. Those of Jesus speak of Him and they are not swallowing, following, or being deceived by all the filth of the current culture. It is my job, and every true Christian’s job, to bring Jesus saving love to everyone and liberate each one from false prophets or oppressive leaders of horrific religions, and of wicked criminal empires reigning in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
Some people authentically are loyal to Jesus and by the fruits in their life we can see they are passionately seeking holiness, love, and God’s will. We can observe by their actions, words, and opinions that they are revealing the transform-ness, or lack thereof, by their heart simulating the mind of Christ. Loyalty involves imitation, the imitation of Christ! Loyalty requires obedience and loves!
5. I have covered how some people with misguided loyalties are hypocrites and betrayers but there are people who contrastingly display no solid values of loyalty to God or any mission at all, but rather they just go with the flow of whatever the worldly crowd is following. These non-committed, no loyalty types may say they believe in a God, they may even go to church once in a while to convince their selves that they are a nice person, but their scarce good actions are usually just to appease their deceived minds. James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
This kind of person usually makes excuses for their lack of dedication and loyalty to God’s cause in their church because someone did something they disliked. People who quit with complaints reveal that they are not serving for their loyalty to God, but rather serving for their own interests. Loyalty is a life-long commitment!
The disloyal lukewarm people who ride the fence and never choose sides often do not want to get identified with anything or any church and in particular be labeled for being a religious conservative Christian. In reality they do not have enough loyalty to God to prove that they are living repented, righteous, and compassionate selfless lives serving Jesus and others. Non-commitment is disloyalty.
6. Again, disloyal people are hypocrites and betrayers. Hypocrites often accuse everyone else of being a hypocrite while they are one big one their selves. How many times do we hear about people who dedicate little or none of their time, talent, and treasure to God then accuse that the church people are hypocrites not doing what they should but they are not doing it either. The reality is these disloyal ones deceive their own selves to think they are so good and nice yet they live self-serving having deep character flaws obvious to all. Do you know your character flaws? How much loyalty does God and others observe in you?
Who did Jesus condemn before? Was it the sinners and prostitutes? No, it was the hypocrites, the ones that knew to do good and did not do it. James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
The most loyal people Jesus should have had obeying and following Him in His day were the religious leaders, but to the contrary they were the most disloyal! Hell is hot for those who are not loyal to Jesus! John 3: 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil
7. I urge you to investigate inside to what and to whom you are loyal! If you are truly a Christian you know commitments matter greatly! But can your convictions be justified with God if you support, like, or campaign in favor of an evil compromised person? Being guilty by association destroys one’s testimony as a Christian! Or playing both sides! It is like the miners in Bolivia who have a shrine in the entrance to the tin mines with an image of the virgin and an image of Satan beside it so both are honored just in case of danger. The ignorant idea is to keep both Satan and God both happy being loyal to both so nothing bad happens while in the mine. But a compromise of loyalties brings a person under God’s condemnation! What willful ignorance!
For example, if a person praises some world despot leader saying, ‘Oh, ‘Mao Tse Tung was not so bad but good, he helped a billion people, he saved the Chinese from poverty!’ What this person is doing in essence is justifying this: The end justifies the means! ‘So what if he murdered 26 million of his own to make them accept his communist agenda, it was for the good of the country and humanity!’ What? How hypocritical and absurd to affirm that Mao (or any dubious politician for that matter) is acceptable when they have a horrible record of evil!? How diametrically opposed to Jesus message and example of laying down His life for His friends, right? Evil and good cannot coexist!
8. I am disturbed every time I hear of a Christian supporting someone with the values of the world! Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I personally am very bothered that there are many Christians out there who rarely study their Bibles and they are far from being loyal to the truth of God, discerning with the Holy Spirit what is evil and what is good in this world! These people will probably be some of the ones deceived to think that the anti-christ when he comes would be good for the peace of the world! Never forget, millions were loyal to Hitler and got murdered their friends and family for his evil empire!
According to Barna Research (a respected Christian stat group) there are millions of Christians out there who deny the faith by being loyal to false teachers, secularism, and anti-Biblical cultural trends instead of being loyal to God’s word! Christianity and faith are not politics where you believe you need a compromise and acceptance of perverse corrupt and evil practices! My loyalty lies with God’s word 100%, and you?
9. Here is a quote that often circulates on Facebook, ‘Some people are not loyal to you, they are loyal to their need of you, once their need changes, so does their loyalty.’ Horrible, right? Don’t let that person be you! As for myself, I will always be thankful to Jesus as true Christians, and true ones in The Salvation Army opened the doors to me and my family to survive and spread the gospel of Jesus and minister to others. You got to be loyal somewhere, isn’t here the best?
In this life I have learned something, you can only trust Christians to be honest and sincere, to be loyal, loving and caring, and praying for you! And then not even all of the Christians, as mentioned here, are even so loyal to Jesus, the church, the Captains or pastors, or even to those of their own family!
Take it serious that I and God’s Word warn that rulers, politicians, government leaders, false religious teachers and fighters of false religions will condemn your soul with their evil and a misplaced loyalty will take you to hell. 1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” With God & Jesus, it is loyalty to Him all the way! You cannot be loyal to Him and to someone or something else. Will you pray to be His loyal servant, loyal only to Him?
