Allegiance
“Are you in?” I remember that question and the moment it was asked of me, clear as day. I was in my senior year of high school and heading into my final season of baseball. The coach for the team I had played for since I was in 7th grade asked me that question to help me make a decision to play for his team one final time or move on to another team. By that point in my life, I knew that any aspirations of playing baseball at a big Division 1 college were out, and the Lord had ignited a passion in me for ministry. So, I had to make a choice, play one last season, knowing that it meant giving up on opportunities to serve at church or switching to a different team that was a step down in competition but allowed me more personal freedom. My coach wasn’t being rude or mean. In fact, he completely understood the dilemma I felt. But he was right. I had to make a choice; either high-level baseball or ministry would get my allegiance. In the end, I chose ministry, and I am grateful to my coach for helping me make a clear choice.
In many ways, as we have been going through the book of Revelation, that same question keeps coming back to the surface for me. “Are you in?” is all through this book. It is the question of allegiance. See, there is no neutral ground in this book. You are either aligned with Christ, or you aren’t. We heard it in the seven messages to the seven churches. Jesus reminded each church what was ahead for those who were aligned with him and what was ahead for those who were opposed to him. But, there was no neutral ground offered to those churches, just as there is no neutral ground offered to us in these matters. John’s visions compels us to see ourselves in the middle of a conflict between the powers of God (ultimate good) and evil. The visions that unfold in chapters 12-14 provide glimpses of the outcome of the conflict, giving us incentive to persevere in the confidence that God will not abandon the faithful or allow evil to triumph. Here is how one scholar describes John’s approach in chapter 14,
“John insists that no one can remain uncommitted in the conflict between God and evil. Either one bears the mark and name of the beast (13:16–18) or one bears the seal and name of God and the Lamb (14:1). John did not make such a sharp distinction because the alternatives were obvious to his readers but because the alternatives were not obvious. A number of the Christians in the seven churches to which John wrote seemed willing to compromise their Christian commitments in order to assimilate into the surrounding culture (2:14, 20).”[1]
So, the question lingers for us, “Are you in?”
Jesus was clear in the gospels; he said that man could not serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). Jesus’ message has been the same the entire time, he is the only means of salvation and the only hope for mankind, and you are either in or you aren’t (Jn. 8:12; Mk. 8:34-38). Being aligned with Jesus comes with a new set of priorities. We have to daily choose to be aligned with and walk out those priorities. That is the process of faithfulness. But there is no neutral ground where we can embody the values of Jesus and the values of the world. Revelation repeatedly tells us that it is impossible. It is what got the original readers in such hot water; they claimed that Jesus and only Jesus was Lord. Their Roman neighbors claimed that Cesar was Lord. There can’t be two Lords. There is only one sovereign ruler of the universe.
This leaves us examining our allegiances. Jesus asks us, “Are you in?” Are you aligned with him and his kingdom? Or are you actually aligned with some other king and kingdom? The only king that can give eternal life, true freedom, and lasting victory is Jesus. Let us be found faithful to him and his priorities.
[1] Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018), 136.