Pledging Allegience
Mike Yaconelli once said,
“The impotence of today’s church, the weakness of Christ’s followers, and the irrelevance of most parachurch organizations is directly related to the lack of being in the presence of an awesome, holy God, who continually demands allegiance only to Him – not to our organizations, to our church or our theology.”
This past weekend I referenced our loyalty to country in relation to our dependence upon God. I believe many Americans place their patriotism too high in relation to their spiritual walk with Jesus Christ. Be careful when reading my thoughts that you don’t take them out of context. I support and love my nation, but I am very careful not to substitute or equate patriotism with God’s Kingdom. If (or when) America fails/falls as a nation, God is still in control.
Taking Mr Yaconelli’s quote and these I have made, what are your thoughts on it?
moderating,
-robin
Posted on October 1, 2008, in Church Business, Daily Word, politics. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Robin Steele 
Extra clarification: I take Mr Yaconelli’s final words: ‘our church and our theology’ to mean man’s church and man’s theology. I believe it is imperative to be anchored to Biblical doctrine. That is our bone structure. (The Gospel of Jesus Christ) Through that Gospel we are connected to Him.
My thoughts are God did NOT invent religion, man did. Many people worship their religion, thier organization, their theology and thier specific church. We must stop thinking small. It’s about our allegiance to God and His Kingdom.
In churches it is easy at times to forget the big picture (God’s Kingdom) and focus small things. When we begin to gain a Kingdom perspective, not our kingdom but His Kingdom, our egos, our teritory building, our agenda’s seem small.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
For more information on Kingdom – read the book of Matthew.
I like this guy’s thinking. I have found that if I keep my priorities correct, GOD FIRST, then family, church, job, country, etc., it is easier to avoid the trap of emotional knee jerk reaction to these issues. In Luke, Jesus said we can not be His disciple unless we hate our father, mother, brother… Obviously, he does not want us to hate our family, just love them less than we love Jesus. The same is true with or church and country. We should love them, but in the correct order of priority.
Well said, dad.
I do still love you.
James and I were talking about this very thing the other day – our priorities. We were talking about a particularly rough time we went through at the beginning of our marriage and I wondered if it would last. I didn’t have to wonder because it has lasted. I attribute it all to basing our marriage on The Rock. Jesus has been and will continue to be the foundation of our marriage and our lives. It helps to have a partner who believes the same as you.