Good morning young people and those young at heart! In following Sarah’s excellent teaching last week about running the race and since the Olympics started this week, I thought I would keep on that same theme.
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, although we do obey and honor their king as commanded.
Young people, think of your parents. When you behave and act respectful people compliment you AND your parents for raising such a good son or daughter. You need to bring that same praise to your heavenly Father, and this comes by the way you choose to live.
Olympic athletes participating in the games represent their country of citizenship and should act respectfully so to bring honor to their country, and not shame, just like Christians should to bring honor to God’s name.
People are typically committed to their country where they were born or where they live, especially if they are representing it in the Olympics. If you are on Germany’s team, you don’t wear a uniform from France.
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, like if you live in North Korea.
But you only represent one country, even if you have dual citizenship. You have to choose.
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?
As the Bible says, you can’t have two masters. You must choose.
The Bible also says that even though our citizenship is in heaven (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.
One thing He tells us to do, is to obey the rulers of the world, of the country you live in. 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 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)
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. He 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.
I was an athlete and I was asked to leave it 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 on 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 a school, a team, a state or a country.
Of course, 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.
Allegiance in the Bible means trusting in or relying upon, whether to a person or thing. It is 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 them, essentially taking an oath saying that you will obey and follow them.
So again, you can only do this 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.
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. 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.
So, how would all this apply to us in school 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.
We can only pledge allegiance to one king and to one kingdom, and it must be to God and His Kingdom.
My children were never allowed to say the pledge of allegiance. You probably know kids who don’t even know what that really means or what they are doing? I personally consider it early brainwashing, just like all the gender talk these days. And you don’t want to be brainwashed. Now many states they don’t even want you giving your allegiance to your country; they want your hearts and minds given to their sinful ideology.
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.
But we do live under worldly governments now, so what should we do? 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.
That is why your parents want you to behave in public. They do not want to be shamed by your bad behavior. But in the end, you really are shaming yourself and God. You must always remember that your ultimate loyalty is to God. You obey your parents because you are obeying God. You follow the rules and worldly laws because you are following Christ.
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.
Have you ever said to your parent or just in your heart, “I don’t care what you say, I’m going to do what I want anyway!” Or 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 by listening to what they say, even though you know it is not right in God’s eyes?
These are all ways we give allegiance to other things and are ways we worship and serve other gods, and not our Father in heaven who is the only true God.
God told Jeremiah that He binds us close to him, like clean underwear close to our bodies and 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.
I encourage you to be respectful of all people, starting with your parents and then everyone in your schools, and on sport’s teams. Be committed to whatever you choose to do, unless of course, something will take away from your commitment to follow Jesus, and keep your underwear clean!
tracy@kogmissions.com
