Freedom Only Helps You Say Goodbye
In our time, we have seen a lessening of loyalty and reliability. This is not all bad. There is certainly no virtue in being loyal to the wrong things, and I speak of reliability in the sense of faithfulness to duty, realizing that, sometimes, we have to change course. These caveats aside, people do not stick with things like they used to. Those of the prior generation (using myself as reference point) held loyalty and faithfulness as core values. To them, it was shame and embarrassment to be seen as one not fit for reliance.
It may be that we have learned to be disloyal. Loyalty is a two-way street. Many have learned the hard way that company-loyalty is not always rewarded. Those who insist that professional athletes honor their contracts often disregard the plain fact that the team can terminate the athlete in question at any time. Little regard will be given them, even if they limp away. So, things are not as simple as they sound- just as they never are. Still, we have lost something if the value of staying with a task has gone by the way.
Think of how many things we would or could give up on if we did not value loyalty. No marriages would last if we had any relationships at all. Our world would be poorer because much innovation comes as great risk and cost. Sometimes, loyalty comes easy, but it is often difficult. This is one of the great themes of Kipling’s “If for Boys.” We all need to learn the lesson of saying “hold on” long after all but sheer will and grit are gone. Those who are true to a cause will be satisfied at the end of the day.
Many times, I have seen toilers “take a break” never to return to task. The separation becomes a divorce simply because it’s hard to return to duty. Not that this is what they say. Rather, we couch the terms of our escape in flowery speech laden with accolades and well-wishes when what was needed was a strong back. Is it any wonder we have difficulty teaching the value of staying with a hard task to our youth? We all need room to breathe, but rest is for rejuvenation- not more rest. The task remains.
Jesus brought freedom as a release from the bondage of the law, but it was not a release from responsibility. Rather, our freedom in Christ was to bind us to Him with a cord stronger than any prohibitive decree. A seeming paradox but true nonetheless. Christ-followers have an unenforceable bond to Him. It is the bond of voluntary submission induced by love and grace. God could force us to trust and obey, but that is not His plan. The bond of love is strong but built on our relationship to our Lord.
The same unenforceable bond exists between believers and in the community of the church. We must love and lean on one another to hold together at all- much less accomplish any task. Life is a struggle, but loyalty in relationships will enhance the journey. We were meant to be free, but we were made to be interdependent. In the present age, we need each other. We’ve cut too many ties already. Reality and relationships are hard, but the latter makes the former bearable if we find the will to say, “Hold on.”
Sterl
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