Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Pledged to Whom?


III.    Vows of Nonviolent Witness
We pledge to act in allegiance to God alone, and to resist injustice with goodness”

Dorothea Lange pledge of allegiance
by Dorothy Lange via Wikimedia
  1. I will make no oath of allegiance to any nation or government of this world, nor will I salute any flag; I will honor and respect legitimate authority, but I will love and worship God alone, sovereign and judge of all nations

John of Patmos’ letter, what we call Revelation, has been variously understood as a horrific end-times scenario. But the letter is not nearly so cryptic and fantastical as we might imagine. At its heart, John’s Revelation is about our allegiances, or rather, our one proper allegiance to only One: the lamb of God who was willingly slain. The final book of the Bible is primarily about who we worship and why (and thus, implicitly who/what we don’t worship).

In our contemporary Christianity, we casually throw around a loaded phrase: “Jesus is Lord.” We may not realize it or use it as such, but this is a statement of total allegiance, of worship. It is the earliest confession of Christian faith appearing earliest in 1 Corinthians 12:3 and seems to be an overturning of the then common proclamation, “Caesar is Lord.”

Today no American leader or party directly claims divinity, but many Americans give “America” or parts of the American Dream the kind of allegiance that rightly is for God alone. Jesus was serious when he proclaimed that we cannot serve two masters—he may have been talking about money, but it surely applies to our allegiances to ideologies, groups, companies and countries, too.  The old rutted “Romans Road” takes on fresh political consequence when you “confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord” instead of pledging with your lips your allegiance to a flag and the singular nation for which it stands. Today’s vow takes into account our sole allegiance to the Lord our God, the Lord who is One before whom we shall worship no others: “I will make no oath of allegiance to any nation or government of this world, nor will I salute any flag; I will honor and respect legitimate authority, but I will love and worship God alone, sovereign and judge of all nations.”


For Reflection and Action:
  • Read the familiar words of Exodus 20:1-6. In what areas of your life is your allegiance stronger toward something other than Jesus as Lord? What idols are you tempted to worship (your love of this country, a certain political party or economic system, a particular class or group of people, a favorite type of theology, denomination or worship style, your family, a favorite possession, a specific athletic team?)  
  • Read Colossians 2:15 and Revelation 17:9-14 as assurance of God’s victory in Jesus over all powers, including all nations, governments, and systems. We can commit our allegiance to Christ alone rather than any other god, nation or idol because Christ will be and is already victorious.
Prayer Focus
In light of Romans10:8-13, offer this CHRISTIAN PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE as your confession aloud:
I pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ,
And to God’s kingdom for which he died—
One Spirit-led people the world over, indivisible,
With love and justice for all.
©2003 by June Alliman Yoder & J. Nelson Kraybill

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