Loyal?

So first off to attribute credit where credit is due: Matthew Rock, please step up. I've been following his blog recently (i'll throw a link in at the bottom) and he's been discussing of late just exactly who we should be loyal too as Christians. 

We had TAKS today. It was boring and lame as usual yes, but it was Social Studies so the whole room finished in under and hour i'd say. After testing (i took a good nap though, an hour plus easily) we started watching legally blonde and i started to pay attention around the time they have the court scene where Brooke's daughter is about to get questioned by Elle Woods.  As the scene is introduced it show's Brooke's daughter swearing to tell the truth, hand outstreched over a Bible. Standard court procedure right?

but why?

I hope you'll agree with me that all humans just aren't truthful beings. There is a standard to be kept (however you define that) and no one has met it. If someone who had something to hide was put on the stand, would swearing over the Word of God really change their heart? I'd wager no. So why even keep the practice? We call ourselves a Christian nation, founded cheifly by the Puritans who came over long ago, but are we really still on track?

But that's not fully the road i want to wander down right now. The very fact that in this country you can go to court and be perceived as innocent is rare among all other countries. America gives us rights. But... here is the punchline. Should we be loyal to her?

Two thousand plus years ago when Christ came down from Heaven, did he ever once set out to establish ties to a political entity? no. I'm not promoting anarchy, for Jesus also did say to give to Caesar what is Caeser's. I'm talking about where our loyalties should lie. We say a pledge every morning to the glory of the U.S. of A. But we have no duty to her. when Jesus came he commanded us under the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations. but hold on for a second and check out what the word nation really means. It does not refer to countries, but "people groups" if you will. A group of people who share common characteristics and practices. So when God told us to go out to the nations, he didnt mean send somebody to every country and then call it quits, he meant to go deeper into every smaller area of the world to tell of his good news, the Gospel.

The forgotten part of that verse i mentioned earlier: ...and give to God what is God's. God saved us from death. So are we not endebted to him first and foremost? I call for a reevalution of just exactly where we put our loyalties. It isn't necissarily a bad thing to be patriotic, but Jesus wasn't patriotic. He didn't give a rip. So don't we want to be like Jesus? When we cheer on America and support the "American Dream" don't we just advocate our superiority? is that not prideful?

 Jesus doesn't want us to be an American. 

He doesn't want us to be just a part of something cool, because no matter how successful you become, you will still be a number, a face in a sea of faces. Jesus wants us to be a part of something more than a political idealogoy. Christ wants us on his team, Children of God, men and women who seek after him and have a relationship with him that moves outward towards the people around them.

Next time we say the pledge think about what you're really saying. I've started not saying it of late to be honest. i don't see why we ever unquestionally threw ourselves at this entity we call Freedom in the first place. don't go throw your head into the sand and numb yourself to where you are in the world (location wise) but really take a second (right now would be a good time) and define freedom. define the land of the free. define brave. Here's mine:

Freedom: is 1 John 4:10 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Because of that we are free to even live a full life.

The Land of the Free: Heaven, a place where sin no longer can touch us. We are white as snow and God rejoices over us for eternity.

Brave: Phil 3:14 (MSG) "...I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Bravery is living for Christ in a shattered world. and not just being a Christian, because that means nothing. I'm talking about following him with your heart and suffering for his cause.

I'll probably throw up more later. but tell me what you think about this

-matt

ps. the link to Matthew Rock's blog

http://matthewrock.theworldrace.org/?category=All_Articles