Loyalty is
a word that seems little used today. The cynic is ever with us, and loyalty
seems an easy target. The Christian is commanded to be loyal to the person
named Jesus, the Christ.
For most
of us, loyalty to a cause is much easier than loyalty to a person. We are loyal
in varying degrees - we are fans of a sports team, to being fanatics (the root
word is the same) for a cause such as communism, socialism or spelling reform.
Why do we have such loyalty to a cause, and renounce loyalty to a person (such
as our wives?) I submit these reasons:
~ A cause, being abstract, never has human
failings. Therefore, it never disappoints us. A cause is never shamed by its
betrayers; a man is reflected by them.
~ A cause often satisfies the deep longing of
man to "solve the problem." For the same reason we like detective
stories, we look for the neat and plausible answer. Neat, plausible, and wrong.
When true communism comes, we will all eat strawberries and cream.
~ Being part of a cause gives a sense of
approval. We are the enlightened, crusading against the evil ones. One of my
coworkers has posters of noted ecologists on her cubicle, titled "Saviors
of the Planet." We have both the congeniality of the group and the pride
of being righteous.
Loyalty to
a cause is an adult phenomenon. Have you ever seen a child loyal to a cause?
They don't know how; they only know loyalty to a person. They don't know the
answers; they know the Answerer. Oswald Chambers put it this way:
"Spiritual
life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what
He is going to do next. If we are only certain of our beliefs, we get dignified
and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly
related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and
expectancy."
Paul
begins our passage this morning on this note.
{4:1} Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this
ministry, we do not lose heart. {2} Rather, we have renounced secret and
shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On
the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. {3} And even if our gospel is veiled, it
is veiled to those who are perishing. {4} The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God. {5} For we do not preach ourselves,
but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. {6}
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light
shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Christ. ‑‑ 2 Corinthians 4:1‑6
(NIV)
Loyalty to the person - Jesus Christ
Paul, in
this passage, gives us the secret of loyalty to Jesus Christ. He does not
preach himself, but preaches Jesus. Notice how he maintains that loyalty:
Renouncing secret sin. C.S. Lewis, in his
classic Screwtape Letters, describes one
particularly common form of secret sin. He describes, from the demon's point of
view, a man living a dual life:
"...
He can be taught to enjoy kneeling beside the grocer on Sunday just because he remembers that the grocer
could not possibly understand the urbane and mocking world which he inhabited
on Saturday evening; and contrariwise, to enjoy the bawdy and blasphemy over
the coffee with these admirable friends all the more because he is aware of a
"deeper", "spiritual" world within him which they cannot
understand. You see the idea - the worldly friends touch him on one side and
the grocer on the other, and he is the complete, balanced, complex man who sees
round them all. Thus, while being permanently treacherous to at least two sets
of people, he will feel, instead of shame, a continual undercurrent of
self-satisfaction."
The
Saturday sinner/Sunday saint is ever with us.
We need
not go that far. We can conduct secret sin just by being quiet. One of the
class tells the horror story of the Sunday School teacher who called for prayer
requests - and got "please pray for me and my wife - we're getting a
divorce" from a supposedly solid couple. Is this loyalty to Christ?
Not using deception. One of the great
temptations is to do a wrong thing for a righteous cause. One of my pet peeves
is the "preacher's story" told in the first person. The number of
preachers who have that brother-in-law who solved that problem with Joshua's
long day is legendary......
Another
form of this is the "pet Scripture." The worst sin, of course, is the
one I am never tempted to commit - but always seem to recognize in others. This
works best with a short verse taken out of context - or even simply misquoted -
as blanket condemnation. Since such a verse won't stand up in public - we hide
it in our hearts, and thus judge our brothers unseen.
Plain preaching. Some people don't like this.
After all, I might offend someone ["I came not to bring peace but rather a
sword."] But note that the appeal is not to the sensibility or to the
affections but rather to the conscience.
There is
an aspect of "money where the mouth is" to this. By plain preaching,
I make it clear where I stand. In addition, by public preaching I invite public
examination of my life. This, of course, will eventually fail - if I preach my
own virtue. I invite comparison to whomever I preach. And I preach the man
without compare.
One of
those preacher stories: attributed to Billy Graham and D.L. Moody. The great
evangelist meets a drunk - who promptly recognizes him and hails him as
"the man who saved me." The preacher replies something like,
"you look like someone I'd save - now let Jesus save you."
Servant of others. It's hard to argue with a
man while he's doing you a favor. By being the servant of others, Paul sets up
an example which points to his Lord. He begs you to ask the question, "why
is this man doing this?" The answer is his loyalty to his Lord.
Combat Christianity
Such a
life is not without its little problems, says Paul:
{7} But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that
this all‑surpassing power is from God and not from
us. {8} We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
in despair; {9} persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
{10} We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be revealed in our body. {11} For we who are alive are always
being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in
our mortal body. {12} So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in
you. ‑‑ 2 Corinthians 4:7‑12
(NIV)
We see at
the beginning one of the great principles of God's strength - and one of the
prime movers for loyalty. God's strength is shown in our weakness - his
treasure in our jars of clay. By letting God's power flow through us, we show
the world who our Lord truly is.
The
trouble with that is that it hurts. When we are hard pressed, we don't enjoy
it. But as Winston Churchill once said of 1940, "These are not dark days.
They are stern days, but they are not dark days." He viewed the situation
not as desperate, but one in which Great Britain "had the honor to be the
champion in arms of freedom." Sometimes we can't tell a good day from a
bad.
Look at
Paul's comparisons:
We are pressed - from the
outside
but not crushed - because
the inside is full of the Spirit.
We are perplexed - the
outside world won't tell us the future
but not in despair - still
having holy hope on the inside
We are persecuted - by the
outside world
but not abandoned - by God.
Paul puts
the point even to using death as an example. See it as a sequence:
Christ died, that I might live
I am dying, that you might live
...and you?
We need to
die to ourselves to pass the faith along. One of the consistent pictures of the
Scripture is that something must die to be reborn in new life. We pass the
faith along in times of trial much more easily than in times of ease - for it
is much easier to see it then. We become the seeds of the next generation of
faith - and the seeds must be planted ("die") to blossom in new life.
Faith
cannot be held. It can flow through us, and be a clean running river of life,
but when stopped up it becomes a stagnant pool. If we are not willing to be
poured out as an offering before the Lord, we will turn sour in the bottle.
"To live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Testimony - the outward loyalty
Paul now
works out what has been worked in:
{13} It is written: "I believed; therefore I have
spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore
speak, {14} because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the
dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
{15} All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and
more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. {16}
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly
we are being renewed day by day. {17} For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. {18} So we fix
our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ‑‑ 2 Corinthians 4:13‑18
(NIV)
Testimony
is one of the things most of us avoid - especially in a public speaking
environment. Where do we gather the courage to testify for God? Paul gives us a
hint here by quoting the Old Testament. Here's the Psalm in full:
{116:1} I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my
cry for mercy. {2} Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long
as I live. {3} The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came
upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. {4} Then I called on the name of
the LORD: "O LORD, save me!" {5} The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion. {6} The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I
was in great need, he saved me. {7} Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the
LORD has been good to you. {8} For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from
death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, {9} that I may walk before
the LORD in the land of the living. {10} I believed; therefore I said, "I
am greatly afflicted." {11} And in my dismay I said, "All men are
liars." {12} How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? {13} I
will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. {14} I will
fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. {15} Precious in
the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. {16} O LORD, truly I am your
servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant ; you have freed me
from my chains. {17} I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the
name of the LORD. {18} I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of
all his people, {19} in the courts of the house of the LORD‑‑
in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD. ‑‑ Psalms 116
(NIV)
The
Psalmist gives us three methods of public testimony - the evidence of our
loyalty to God. They are
~ speaking to others. Do
we tell others of the goodness of God in our lives?
~ fulfilling our vows. Do
you keep your word, even when it's costly? ("If a man's principles don't
cost him anything, they aren't worth much.")
~ offerings of
thanksgiving. Not saying "thank you" - but putting our money where
our mouths are. If a man gives money to a cause, you conclude he really
believes in it. How much more for Christ?
And what
gave Paul the courage to do such things? By the power of God! Just how many
resurrections do you need to discover who has the power over the grave? And
what greater power is there? All our sciences have produced great power - but
there is no cure for death. No cure - but one.
Therefore - Paul prepares us for the
conclusion. We do not lose heart. Can we
really say that? We can! I call it the "Indiana Jones" principle. If
you had to live a life like that, you would be panic stricken all the time; it
would be terrible just to watch it. Yet we pay to see it in the movies. Why the
contrast? Because we know the hero wins in the
last reel.
It's the
same with us. We ride the roller coaster of the freeways of life - and panic.
Then we go to the amusement park - and ride the roller coaster for fun. We know
the answer; we know who wins.
That
produces in us (or should) great inward strength. Strength, like its feminine
equivalent beauty, comes from the inside. If we focus on the eternal, and pass
through the temporal. we can be very strong in Christ.
It's
called hope. C.S. Lewis expressed it this way: "Aim at Heaven and you will
get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."
There it
is: the high, hard calling of God. Not to the drudgery of ordinary life, not to
the greatest of causes, but to the highest itself: Jesus Christ, the name above
all names.. Loyalty to Him is the road that leads to Heaven - whatever the
bumps along the way.